HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm a new crab owner and still confused about water... we drink well water, is this safe for the crabs or do I need to do something to it first?

You should treat it with some water conditioner first. Or a simpler option, in my opinion, is just to get a big jug of bottled water at the dollar store. It lasts pretty long and is safe for the crabs.


Proud owner of 5 PPs,Twinkie, Tweedles, Tiny, Nugget, and Squidgy.
R.I.P Bumbie

Hi! Welcome to HCA, this link will probably be helpful to you. IMO bottled water gets expensive quickly as crabs need pools deep enough to submerge in and if they are small, the water needs to be changed daily to avoid harmful ammonia build up from crab waste breaking down in it. They like to poop in the water, I don't know why but they do, lol.
A bottle of dechlorinator/conditioner is cheap and will treat gallons upon gallons for the same price as one or two gallons of bottled water. Bottled water also has some elements that we want to stay in the water removed so it's not always the best option.
Here is the link to our water guide:
viewtopic.php?t=92553
Let us know if you have any additional questions.

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From the thread on water:

Well water that has not gone through a treatment process does not contain these chemicals [chlorine, chloramine] and can be used without worry so long as it's been tested and is safe for human use.

Here: viewtopic.php?p=852656#p852656

Personally, I use my well water. I have for all of my pets for years, fish included. It does depend on your water though. If it doesn't test safe or I think if it's very hard, you may want to consider another source.