HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Ok so I got my crab 2 weeks ago he’s a purple pincher he’s in a 10 gallon tank and the temp and humidity usually stays around 72° and 75% he has new shells and a pool of salt water and a water bowl and literally a whole buffet of food but he stays underground during most the day and night in the same spot last night I stayed up til 3am to check on him and he didn’t move from the spot but he was on the surface and not hiding in his shell. Is he just getting used to his environment? Or is he maybe in the beginning stages of molting? I don’t know but I really want to be sure he’s ok

Hello, welcome to the HCA!

It sounds as if the your carb is still adjusting to the new environment. We recently rescued a crab from not so great conditions. Our Crab has been hiding in a log hide for the past week. The biggest thing with new crabs is to allow them time to adjust. We can't really tell what that crab has gone though in the last few weeks or months. All you care really do is fulfill their requirements and give them time.

This guide should help you and your crab.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=92531

Hi and welcome to crabbing!

Be sure to check out the basic care sheet. It has so much good info on there:

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=119273

Temps for Purple Pinchers (PP) should be 75-85°F. Anything lower might make them a little more inactive. Since your crabby is new, he could just be destressing and acclimating to his new surroundings. Crabs will dig to molt and destress, and it's best to just let him do his thing. I'd try to be as hands off as possible at this point to let him adjust. My crabs come out during the day, but get most active at 10-11pm, when they know I'm about to turn off their lights for the night.

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Thank you guys so much! I’ve been so worried about him

You're welcome!

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Ok for food I heard pallets aren’t the best for them so I have
•carrots
•celery leaves
•egg shells (I heard they’re good for calcium)
•river shrimp
•apples
And peanut snacks and I still give pallets just because I’m still trying to see what he likes does anyone have any more food suggestions for him? Or even food i should stop giving him

Have you checked out the nutrition and the safe/ unsafe foods care sheets?

EVERYBODY!! I just wanted to let you guys know it’s 10:30 and I went to check on leeroy (my crab) AND HE WAS UP
AND EATING SOME APPLES! ) I’m so happy I saw him eating I was worried he wasn’t

Tpwk.kate wrote:EVERYBODY!! I just wanted to let you guys know it’s 10:30 and I went to check on leeroy (my crab) AND HE WAS UP
AND EATING SOME APPLES! ) I’m so happy I saw him eating I was worried he wasn’t

Yay!!

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Great news!


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Tpwk.kate wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 6:09 pm

Ok for food I heard pallets aren’t the best for them so I have
•carrots
•celery leaves
•egg shells (I heard they’re good for calcium)
•river shrimp
•apples
And peanut snacks and I still give pallets just because I’m still trying to see what he likes does anyone have any more food suggestions for him? Or even food i should stop giving him

For the peanut snacks and pellets check the back of the container for any preservatives, as these can and will kill crabs (I happened to my best friend's crab recently, really sad about it). They were giving some peanut thing (can't recall the brand, either thrive or zoomed) and we checked to back and found that it was stuffed with preservatives.

Sad.


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