HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i want to move and add some stuff to my tank should i move my hermit crabs while i do it or leave them?? they are all on the surface

Hermitcrabzzz wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 17, 2023 6:56 pm

i want to move and add some stuff to my tank should i move my hermit crabs while i do it or leave them?? they are all on the surface

I would say yes, I know you don't want to stress them out by moving them, but moving the stuff around them with them in it will probably stress them out more. Also, by moving the tank with them in it you could injure them by then slipping and tumbling down if you where to drop the tank or move it suddenly, I would just say it's safer for them, both stress wise and physically, to take them out and put them in a container, I would put them in a Tupperware, I always put mine in a big round tubbarware with a little decorated water in it and some extra shells (not to bathe them, to clean the shells). I then take them out when I'm done, gently dry their shell off a little if they got some water on it so all of the sand doesn't stick to them put them into the tank, and then dry all or the shells before putting them back into the tank! This way they get to browse the shells and are safe while the shells get a little cleaner and I clean the tank!

I would say that there is no evidence that any way is less stressful or better than another way, and don't think it is something that you need to over think.
I have only ever put my crabs into another container when changing tanks, so that I could move all the substrate to the new tank and add new sub. I have never moved them out of the tank when adding or moving around tank items.

When I'm rearranging, I always take the crabs out. This is because I usually take every single item out and rotate the substrate before putting things back in. (I only do this when none are buried/molting.) I feel that they would feel exposed if I left them in while I was taking literally everything out (including their hides). I also don't want them to accidentally get buried while I'm mixing the sub, and I don't want to give them the opportunity to escape!

hermitsinnc wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 18, 2023 12:18 pm

When I'm rearranging, I always take the crabs out. This is because I usually take every single item out and rotate the substrate before putting things back in. (I only do this when none are buried/molting.) I feel that they would feel exposed if I left them in while I was taking literally everything out (including their hides). I also don't want them to accidentally get buried while I'm mixing the sub, and I don't want to give them the opportunity to escape!

I agree with this! I take out everything, the water dishes to rinse and clean, their favorite hide to get the sand out of the bottom of and scoop all of the poop they leave under it, the food dish so that I can clean it and provide fresh food, the plants they like to hide in so I can scoop the poop out of the substrate, their cubes, the extra shells, everything! As said before I put them in a tubbarware container with a bit of primed water and the extra shells, this cleans the shells (for the most part, a quick rinse is done after this) and let's then check out all of the shells while they wait! I wipe down the glass, sift through the poopy spots to remove pop (and uneaten popcorn kernels, and then I mix up the substrate, I give it a quick spray, and then rest it's consistency, if it's sandcastle consistency it's good, if it's not I add more water until it is! I then while down the glass one more time and spray the air a little more, I put the plants back into the substrate, put their hide back into the middle of the tank, rinse the bowls and refill them with water/food. I then take the bowl with the shells and crabs into the bathroom and grab another bowl, and a towel, I put water in the extra bowl, dechlorinate the water with prime, and then put the shells into the water to get any of the (now very wet) sand out, and it just slides right out! I then empty the bowl and put the shells back into the now empty bowls, I then dry them, and move both the bowl with the crabs in it, the bowl with the shells in it, and the towel, back into my bedroom. I then dry the shells one final time with the towel and put them into the crabitat. Finally, I pick up my crabs gently and lightly get most of the water off of the outside of their shell if they got any on it so the stand doesn't stick into it, then I put them back into the crabitat, and put the lid on.
I don't do any of this if my crabs are underground and/or molting because I disturb all of the substrate, when they are underground and/or molting I change the food and water every few days to keep it nice and fresh. I do this full cleaning every week sometimes every other week to keep their tank nice and fresh! I actually plan on getting some springtails for my new tank so I don't have to deal with all of that substrate cleaning, but I still plan on doing a nice cleaning every other week and mixing the substrate up and moistening it as needed, this way I have nice moistened substate, happy crabs, and a clean tank! I won't do that if they crabs are underground ofc, I will just put water around the edges of the tank to keep the substrate moist if I see it starting to dry out!

Crab keeping does not have to be difficult or take a lot of time - unless you want it to. A person can choose to make crabbing complicated, expensive, and elaborate as they would like. Personally, I'm thrifty, basic, and like to keep things simple. It has worked well for me, I have had my crabs for almost 13 years!
It has probably been two years since I took everything out of my tank and washed it. When I want to 'fluff' up the sub, I move everything over to one side, crabs included (they will just go into a hide usually), and mix it up on the one side - then move everything over and do the other side.

thx for the help!!