HCA: Hermit Crab Association

In a couple days i am adopting 2 more hermit crabs i’m so excited! the only thing i’m a little nervous about is the drive is 2 hours long. what is the best way to go about this? the person i am adopting them from is giving me the tank so i don’t have to bring anything extra, i believe it’s a 20 gallon then when i get home i will move them to a proper temporary tank i am working on setting up. i’m going to bring a cardboard box to put the tank with the hermies in and cover the top with a beach towel so that it stays darker and warm to hopefully reduce stress, is there anything else i should do to make the drive less stressful?

You won't want to move the tank full of substrate, it will be heavy and the tank may break.
Depending on your weather, you may want to consider a source of heat (even some water bottles filled with hot water, or hand warmers, etc). And something so they have some humidity, like some damp moss or coco fiber. Consider putting each one in their own smaller container, rather than both together where they might injure each other trying to crawl around.

When I transport small pets in winter, I use a vented container with bedding/padding inside of an insulated lunch pail, with a small heating pad. (We have snugglesafes for our cats, but hothands work, too!) For hermits, it'll be moistened moss or paper towels in a deli container, with holes punched in the lid. That way there's no need to worry about temperature extremes, or keeping the car roasting during the drive. I've even brought them into restaurants and rest stops this way, so if it's a long drive I don't have to panic about freezing temps or leaving them in the car for a minute.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 17, 2024 12:46 am

You won't want to move the tank full of substrate, it will be heavy and the tank may break.
Depending on your weather, you may want to consider a source of heat (even some water bottles filled with hot water, or hand warmers, etc). And something so they have some humidity, like some damp moss or coco fiber. Consider putting each one in their own smaller container, rather than both together where they might injure each other trying to crawl around.

that makes sense, i’ll definitely bring a tupperware container with some damp ecoearth and i will bring some thermal water bottles with hot water to put around the tupperware. thank you!

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 19, 2024 9:36 am

When I transport small pets in winter, I use a vented container with bedding/padding inside of an insulated lunch pail, with a small heating pad. (We have snugglesafes for our cats, but hothands work, too!) For hermits, it'll be moistened moss or paper towels in a deli container, with holes punched in the lid. That way there's no need to worry about temperature extremes, or keeping the car roasting during the drive. I've even brought them into restaurants and rest stops this way, so if it's a long drive I don't have to panic about freezing temps or leaving them in the car for a minute.

that’s smart thinking i will put the tupperware that i put them in inside a insulated lunchbox so they stay warm on the drive!:)