HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi. I just got 3 new crabs yesterday from a local pet store. One of them has been very active - drinking, eating, climbing, changing shells etc. The other two just hide in the corner and barely moved since yesterday. I am just wondering how long will it usually take for new crabs to get comfortable & active?

I am a bit concerned for one crab if he is unwell. Because I think he has been at the pet store since last month and their crabitat condition was not optimal - they feed them pellets + the substrate was only like 1-2 inch deep. I went there last month and noticed him but I wasn't ready to get crabs at the time yet. Hope he will recover after awhile.

For the crabitat I did plenty of research so I think they'll do fine. I have a 15 gallon tank for the 3 of them right now. Two of them have 2 inch shells and one has 1.5 inch shell. I am keeping the temp & humidity @ around 80. There's both drinking water & salt water. And I put dried veggie + dried shrimps + calcium supplement as food. Plenty of stuff to climb & empty shells to change into.

Welcome to the HCA! It sounds like you are off to a great start! I'm pretty new here myself and you asked a great question! In my experience every crab seems a little different and over time some of them seem more active and social and others hide or like to stay buried more. Your temp is good and they can be less active with lower temperatures. I don't have a good answer to your question other than just try to keep you conditions good and make sure they have everything they need and when they feel comfortable they will move about and be more active. Try to resist the urge to disturb them too much while they have time to get used to the new and improved conditions you have put them in.

I have one that buried him/herself and went to molt the second day it was home, (S)he's been out a few times after the molt which took about 30 or so days and is buried again probably destressing, but that crab was in the worst conditions of the 7 I have so I'm trying to just be patient and when it's ready it will come out. I have 2 that are definitely more active and social (less afraid of me) than the others. 2 of them are definitely more shy and cautious and less active than the rest of the group.

I have one that is a real diva with shells and has changed more times than I can count (although it really has enjoyed the tapestry turbo it is in right now and has stayed in it a while and went back to it almost immediately yesterday when I rinsed shells in saltwater and set them out) I have others that same to stay in the same shell and never change.

In the beginning I was watching very closely and tried to track the food intake. You can try and smooth the sand and watch by where you saw them last to see if it was disturbed at all and that well tell you if they are actually moving about or just staying in the same spot all the time. They are nocturnal so sometimes it's hard to know if they have been out and about or not. I SWEAR that my group have different periods of activity and inactivity even given stable conditions... sometimes they are out and moving about and others they don't seem to do very much for a few days.

It's a good idea to read over some of the care sheets if you have any questions there is SOOOO much useful information there and I find myself going back to it time and time again.

https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... .php?f=120

yic17 wrote: ↑

Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:54 pm

Hi. I just got 3 new crabs yesterday from a local pet store. One of them has been very active - drinking, eating, climbing, changing shells etc. The other two just hide in the corner and barely moved since yesterday. I am just wondering how long will it usually take for new crabs to get comfortable & active?

I am a bit concerned for one crab if he is unwell. Because I think he has been at the pet store since last month and their crabitat condition was not optimal - they feed them pellets + the substrate was only like 1-2 inch deep. I went there last month and noticed him but I wasn't ready to get crabs at the time yet. Hope he will recover after awhile.

For the crabitat I did plenty of research so I think they'll do fine. I have a 15 gallon tank for the 3 of them right now. Two of them have 2 inch shells and one has 1.5 inch shell. I am keeping the temp & humidity @ around 80. There's both drinking water & salt water. And I put dried veggie + dried shrimps + calcium supplement as food. Plenty of stuff to climb & empty shells to change into.

Welcome! Sounds like you're off to a great start. How deep is your substrate? Is it sandcastle consistancy? What are you using for substrate? Remember they've been through horrific conditions before you foind them. Usually after their first successful molt you can breath easier.

Thanks for the welcomes. =)

My substrate is a mixture of Zoo Med eco-earth + Fluker's sand substrate mixture. Originally I was only going to use Fluker's because it's already a mixture of sand + coconut fiber. But the tank I bought came with the eco-earth so I went ahead and mixed the two. In the future when I change the substrate I think I'll just stick with Fluker's though. I have the substrate at 6 inches deep as that's what I read from several guides.

I am quite worried about molting. I've read about crabs digging molting crabs out and eat them and stuff ........ That's why I put dried shrimps because I read that if they have enough nutrient then they will be less likely to eat other crabs.

Definitely providing proper nutrition, including sources of protein and calcium daily, is good. Be sure to read the food guide, and the nutrition pyramid.
What brand of dechlorinator and salt are you using?
As long as you have enough room (ie - not too many crabs in a tank, depending on size of crabs and tank), and deep enough substrate, the chances of them digging each other up is pretty rare.
Also, you don't need to fully change out the substrate, ever, unless there is something terrible like a bacterial bloom. In the 9 years I have had my crabs, I have never done a deep clean; I have only added substrate as I upgraded tanks and the crabs have grown. Buying the play sand and EE separately is probably quite a bit cheaper than the Fluker's sand mix.

For dechlorine I use Prime. And for salt water I use Instant Ocean.

So one of the shy crabs just came out of its shell a little bit - still in the corner not moving. The active crab went up in front of that crab and they've been staring at each other for hours now. I think they're communicating. Their antennas are moving around.

They are talking about how cute the resident dog is! LOL!

curlysister wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 31, 2019 11:04 am

They are talking about how cute the resident dog is! LOL!

curlysister wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 31, 2019 11:04 am

They are talking about how cute the resident dog is! LOL!

lol thanks.

So it looks like there's some good news. Last night I saw the shy large crab change into a new shell. It also went to the water dish to drink water. Today morning I saw it at the food dish eating food. And the smaller crab also switched into a new shell. So now all 3 of them have new shells. =)

Currently, the active crab & smaller crab are hiding against the wall. The shy large crab dug a hole in the substrate but not very deep. Wonder if it'll start molting soon.