HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello! yesterday i rescued 3 small hermit crabs. i have a tank that’s a little over 20 gallons, 5 inches of playsand/coconut substrate, a ton of plants, climbing toys, hides, and 2 water dishes (one salt and one fresh) that have been primed with seachem prime. i feed them dried worms and bugs, shrimp, fruit and veggies, oats and some oils, along with greensand and worm castings. they also have a adhesive heat mat and their heat stays around 72-73 (i’m getting a second heat mat because it gets around 68 at night) and the humidity stays in the 80s and 90s. they seemed to do great last night when i first brought them home but overnight my smallest one (Shelly) has burrowed in the sand (possibly molting?), Clawdia explored and ate all night, and Sebastian won’t come out of the corner and only eats if i put the food in front of him. should i be worried about Shelly and Sebastian? also should i keep bringing the food over to Sebastian or help him out of the corner to see if he will eat and drink? Thank you!!

Hi Happyhermies33!
I wouldn’t be worried about Shelly, all of my crabs have burrowed when I first brought them home, I would leave Sebastian be for now, he is most likely overwhelmed and stressed, as long as you have placed food near him and he has access to both water dishes he will most likely make his way to them when he feels safe. I have also found that they may prefer to move about at night when they feel safer and can’t see us. I hope this helps ease some of your concerns. If you need anything else fill free to PM me. Good luck with your Hermies!

Ok thank you!! Clawdia switched shells today! also is 68 degrees to cold for nighttime? i don’t run the heater at night or while me and my family are not home, but during the day without the heater it’s about 70, and with the heater i got it to about 75-80. are these temps ok? thank you again!

Hello! I would not recommend keeping your tank that cold, it can be harmful to your hermies. A minimum of 78° is advised though the recommended is 80°. An easy way to remember where your tank should be at for temperature and humidity is 80°/80%. If you are concerned about a fire hazard while you are away or asleep, I would recommend a under the tank mat, they are meant to be left on non stop, I’ve had the same heater under my tank for a year now I never unplug it and it is perfectly safe I even leave it on when I’ve left for vacation. They have them online, just search for “Under the tank reptile heater” and look for the recommended size for your tank. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Hermiecaptain wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2024 6:38 am

Hello! I would not recommend keeping your tank that cold, it can be harmful to your hermies. A minimum of 78° is advised though the recommended is 80°. An easy way to remember where your tank should be at for temperature and humidity is 80°/80%. If you are concerned about a fire hazard while you are away or asleep, I would recommend a under the tank mat, they are meant to be left on non stop, I’ve had the same heater under my tank for a year now I never unplug it and it is perfectly safe I even leave it on when I’ve left for vacation. They have them online, just search for “Under the tank reptile heater” and look for the recommended size for your tank. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Having the heat mat underneath the tank is a fire hazard - they are not meant to heat through all the substrate we use for crabs. The UTH should be mounted on the back or side of the tank. And for crabs, look at the physical size of the mat (it should cover most of the area above the substrate) not the size of tank it says it is for (that's for reptiles).
Also, over 72 is safe for PPs, although crabs are more active closer to 80, and having it there gives a bit of leeway if the temp drops.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 16, 2024 12:06 am

Having the heat mat underneath the tank is a fire hazard - they are not meant to heat through all the substrate we use for crabs. The UTH should be mounted on the back or side of the tank. And for crabs, look at the physical size of the mat (it should cover most of the area above the substrate) not the size of tank it says it is for (that's for reptiles).
Also, over 72 is safe for PPs, although crabs are more active closer to 80, and having it there gives a bit of leeway if the temp drops.

thank you for letting me know! i have the heating mats mounted on the back of my tank 1.5 inches above the 5 inch substrate, and i have it staying 78-85 during the day and at night, I run a space heater in the room i have them in for an hour or so before I unplug the mats and the space heater, and overnight it stays around 73-75. next summer i plan on upgrading their tank a ton and moving them into my room, me and my stepdad are going to build a big tank out of plexiglass (24 inch height, 62 inch long, 22 inch wide that will fit on a cute tank stand i am saving up for) and i read that using ceramic heat emitters are a better option for larger tanks because it heats the air better than a mat can and is safer. is this true? also not related but Clawdia is getting more used to me and doesn’t hide in her shell when i pass by their tank or peek at them! Shelly hides a lot but has been coming out to explore more and more and even changed her shell, but i’m a little worried about Sebastian. he hasn’t eaten in 2 days, and he only sits in the corner even at night and never gets in the water pools. is there anything i should do for him or do i wait it out? thank you again!

You can offer Sebastian some high energy food like honey or peanut butter, but otherwise you might need to just keep waiting. You might consider isolating him if you think he might be weakened or vulnerable to being harmed by the other crabs.

I have no experience with ceramic heaters, so can't help there, sorry.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 16, 2024 11:14 pm

You can offer Sebastian some high energy food like honey or peanut butter, but otherwise you might need to just keep waiting. You might consider isolating him if you think he might be weakened or vulnerable to being harmed by the other crabs.

I have no experience with ceramic heaters, so can't help there, sorry.

ok i will make him his own separate dinner dish and put it in the hide with him. i’m sorry i’m asking so may questions but Clawdia switched shells a few days ago, and it seems to big for her and she looks like she has a hard time carrying it and she has tipped over and fallen out due to the weight and size and got back in it, but i have a very wide variety of shell types and sizes and i easily have 5 shells she could fit into properly. is she ok to be in a shell to big?

thanks!

What type of shell is he in? Do you have others of that same type that are smaller?

curlysister wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 19, 2024 8:48 pm

What type of shell is he in? Do you have others of that same type that are smaller?

a green turbo shell. i do have a lot of the same type in smaller sizes, and she still hasn’t switched it so maybe she just likes it she is a big personality lol. Sebastian still won’t come out of the corner hide and rarely eats and is very pale is there anything else i could do or do i keep waiting for him to come around? thank you!

Sometimes they do just like a different fitting shell than what we think they should be in LOL. You could offer something similar but lighter, like a polished turbo?
It's hard because we can't run any diagnostics to see what is wrong when a crab is unwell. All we can really do is keep the temp and humidity in a good range, and offer high quality, high energy foods and hope that they can pull through.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 21, 2024 11:01 pm

Sometimes they do just like a different fitting shell than what we think they should be in LOL. You could offer something similar but lighter, like a polished turbo?
It's hard because we can't run any diagnostics to see what is wrong when a crab is unwell. All we can really do is keep the temp and humidity in a good range, and offer high quality, high energy foods and hope that they can pull through.

I tried making a new post but since i’m new i couldn’t figure out how lol. shelly has been digging holes like crazyyy for the past few days and has been super active so i think she might molt soon. i’m still worried about sebastian and i have checked in on them at different hours of the night and i literally have never seen him leave that corner, eat, drink or anything, but i do see him move a slight bit every now and then. i made him a separate food dish and he still won’t eat:( . but also lately i have not noticed clawdia moving either and she is always is in the exact same place. i’m not sure if i’m doing something wrong or if they are still adjusting. their temp has been around 80-85 during the day and around 73 at night and the humidity stays in the high 80s