HCA: Hermit Crab Association

avocadocrabbies wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:12 pm

Both my salt and freshwater pools are deep enough for my crabs to submerge- the depth of the salt water is about twice the height of my biggest crab, the freshwater is more of a submerging depth. Anyway, I have seen a lot of contradicting posts pertaining to the topic of how deep it should be. Neither of my crabs have done more than sit on the edge of both pools with a couple legs hanging into the water, so I'm wondering if they are scared of drowning/don't know how to swim? I've been sitting by their 50gal for hours watching them perched there, gnawing on my nails and hoping they don't plop in and drown...

p.s. pool guy is named pool guy because when we first put him in the 50gal with the deeper pool, he sat on the edge of the pool for a solid twelve hours and didn't budge :roll: he has a little cave tunneled in beneath that same pool

Crabby7Crabber wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 8:11 pm

My crabs, at least I haven't seen them, don't normally submerge. They just sit at the edge and dip their claws in (they have that chill vibe when doing so, y'know?). As long as it's deep enough for them to submerge obviously, and they have a way out (I have a strip of mesh in each pool so they can crawl in and out) they should be good!

Hermiesguardian wrote: I've had mine fall in the pools. I even have a crab that created his own water park. He would purposely drop from the vine into the pool. As long as they have a way out it's no problem.

avocadocrabbies wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 11:14 pm

haha, love that chill vibe right?

avocadocrabbies wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 24, 2020 11:08 pm

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have a rock pile siliconed to one wall of the pool, kind of forms a mini staircase. Also, just finished the last touches on my new 50gal! Pool guy and sandy buried themselves right away and i caught sandy in her little air pocket right up against the glass before she pulled up a curtain


avoiding my phone light

As you can see, pool guy has definitely earned his name (see above)

Sandy's favorite pasttime is trying to eat fake plants instead of Arizona-grown cholla


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 25, 2020 10:49 pm

I have been experimenting with pools for about a year. I can't speak for anyone else and my general thoughts.

I stared with maybe 32 ounce containers with bubblers. They were maybe four inches deep. My strawberries would swim and hang out in them. My purples I only saw toe dip.

I did a few tweaks with those pools like adding toppers to help with overspray. I think if you search cabana or water cabanas it should pop up. I still saw the same behaviors.

In August I upgraded my saltwater pool to a 2.5 gallon tank with bubblers and a filter. I tried several ramps and platforms at different depths. Once again the straws will go all the way to the bottom and also hang out above the water and on a platform that's just below the water surface. I see the purples on the platforms above and just under the water. The only time I saw a purple swim was when I startled him. He hid and sunk like a rock.

I can't say my purples don't swim, I just never saw them. I personally think there is more to water than just putting a bowl of fresh and salt into the tank. I really think it's one of the last areas in hermit crab care that can still advance. Water went from having a wet sponge, to a shallow dish with a sponge, to no sponge and deeper pool. Then bubblers were added now it's slowly moving to bio active pools.

The caresheets and guidelines are great resources of proven techniques and practices. By taking that information and experimenting and trying different things is how progress is made. With the standard pools I'm my 29 I don't scrub them. I rinse the gunk out then and fill them up. The salt pool has had a green layer of algae on the mesh and walls since October. I see the purples hang on the side but still don't swim. Maybe I'll add bubblers and see if that does anything. I think the algae is creating a good bacteria making the water more natural.

I post this video all the time when it comes to water questions. I saw this at last year's Crab Con. After watching this I wanted to start experimenting with my pools. I think Courtney makes a lot of valid points and really makes you think. I think it is well worth a watch or two. I problably watched the water portion a dozen times.
https://youtu.be/4ZvBcrxy8Ic

I'm kind of going off the road with this post. Basically all summed up. Don't go for bare minimum depth. Experiment with what you are comfortable doing. Think about pros and cons of anything you want to try. If you have any questions because you aren't sure, ask!

Crabby7Crabber wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 25, 2020 8:07 pm

I love your crabs, especially the parkor pro, Pool guy!

avocadocrabbies wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:40 am

Thanks so much for this info! Also, could someone explain to me how Crabcon works/when it is and where? It sounds really interesting and exciting!

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 26, 2020 10:18 am

Here's the thread about Crab Con 2020. So far it is still going on as planned. It's just too difficult to guess what things will be like in just over two months with the current state of everything. If it isn't going to happen as an actual physical event the coordinators are looking to stream it somehow.

Crab Con 2020 is shaping up to be bigger than last year's. More speakers, more vendors, more captive bred baby adoptions! I think five of us on the HCA attended last year's. I believe I can honestly speak for every here that attended, we all had a great time and are looking forward to this year.

Crab Con 2020 thread
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=121125