HCA: Hermit Crab Association

New crabitat, new crabber here. For my saltwater (bottled water) mix I'm using, per instructions, Instant Ocean 1/2 cup per gallon (1.026 specific gravity) Haven't seen the guys go anywhere near the saltwater (no telltale sign of sand in the bottom) Seems like they always gravitate to the fresh (bottled) but just for drinking...no baths. I thought they would go right to the saltwater after two of them did a recent mobile home swap but it ain't happening. Both fresh and saltwater bowls get cleaned and refilled every two to three days.

Don't worry about it. Some crabs will use both pools, some favor one over the other, some will just sit on the edge and drink but never go "wading" or swimming. As your set up is still new (as are your crabs), they could still be adjusting to their surroundings and may "discover" the full use of the pools as time goes on.

The only one of my five guys to get fully in the pools on a regular basis is Big Enzo and that is only because he is incredibly clumsy and falls into the pools when trying to navigate his fat self along the overhanging vines . He'll sit in the water for a while, looking surprised but seeming to enjoy it, before clambering out. Felix will lean into both pools with his pinchers and front walking legs but doesn't go any further. Marble and Charles Paris just dip their feeding claws to drink and heaven knows what shy Harry does as I never see him near the water!

I never catch mine in the saltwater. I had a nice deep pool set up with a bubbler, left it in there for quite a while, and finally took it out because it was a waste of space. Now I just use 2 smaller dishes, and I occasionally see sand in the bottom of the SW dish but that's about it. I've seen a few crabs fall in, of course. They'll get in when they're ready!

How deep is the SW?
I have seen PPs and Es sit and roam in SW for hours. They were with me for 2-3 months before they would start doing that. When i had smaller pools, the crabs would go in and dirty it up as soon as the water was changed, so i had to constantly change it, as it was getting soooo dirty.


Crabbers unite!!!

My crabs never touched sw until I started using dechlorinated water for the mix. I see you are using bottled water. Might be worth a try.

Using bottled spring water plus a shot of Prime dechlorinater. They hit the freshwater like gang buster (for drinking only, no "toe dipping" that I've seen yet) but the saltwater is a no-go for now. Time will tell. Thanks everyone for your help.

I just caught my extra large going down the ramp and into the sw pool on video. At first she sat at the top so her claws were barely in the water and splashed like my 2 yr old in the bath. I laughed so hard. Then she went down to sit on the bottom under the filter so the water would waterfall on her. Silly girl.