I had no idea crabs needed saltwater...help?

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 2:25 pm

I have had the same three hermit crabs for five years now and I never knew they needed saltwater... I also don't know what the purpose of the saltwater is. Any tips, suggestions, and information would be great, because I've had these hermits for awhile and I really don't want to lose them!
If it helps, I'm preeeetty sure they are all PPs, but I guess for all these years I have been taking care of them wrong, so I could be wrong. Other than the water I think I have everything right- deep, moist substrate, fresh water, tons of shells and heat and humidity and lots of varied foods and climbing and hiding areas

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:26 pm

They need saltwater because, well, they're beach animals, LOL. In the wild they have regular access to the ocean. They've developed a dependency on ocean water. PPs can go quite a while without salt water (as you've found), if you had any other species they probably would not have lived so long. However, PPS definitely enjoy saltwater!

The easiest way to provide saltwater is to get a small packet of Oceanic at a pet store (any place with saltwater fish should have it). The small packet makes 5 gallons, which should be enough for several years for your guys! If you mix a quart at a time, add 2 tablespoons of salt per quart.

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:57 pm

thank you so much! i will definitley look at that the next time im at the pet store, hahah im kinda excited to see how my hermit crabs like it

CrabbyMom33 · Post by **CrabbyMom33** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 5:37 pm

My understanding is that the salt water helps them to pop off their old exo when they molt. In addition, they will mix their shell water to be a level of salinity that they like by mixing fresh and salt water.

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:20 pm

i never knew it was so important, because theyve always molted with ease before, but ill definitley go buy some the moment i can!

CrabbyMom33 · Post by **CrabbyMom33** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:33 pm

I have noticed that my PPs spend a lot of time at the salt water dish right before they molt, not so much the rest of the time, although they do check if out from time to time. It will be interesting to see what yours do since they have been doing well without it. After you get the salt water please let us know what you observe.

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:02 pm

haha i will, but i dont think it will be for awhile. for some reason, all three have decided to molt at once... so i guess itll be a nice surprise when they resurface:)
hahah i dont know why they do that, but if i have one molter, chances are at least one of my other crabs decides to molt too. maybe a hormone thing?

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:38 am

How long do I leave the saltwater in the tank before changing it?

Aetyrno · Post by **Aetyrno** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:21 pm

I usually just top mine off, alternating salt and fresh water since I figure most of it evaporates and I don't want the salt concentration getting too high. Eventually the bottom of the dish has a nice coating of substrate, that's when I dump it and refill. I empty and rinse the fresh water dish every 3 or 4 days though, otherwise I get algae

edit - eventually being 1.5-2.5 weeks

Unknown10101 · Post by **Unknown10101** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 4:48 pm

I never knew they needed that either!!!! , how do the hermit crabs know whether or not the water is salt or fresh? Like, what if they "take a dip" in the wrong one?

sararoseey · Post by **sararoseey** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 6:47 pm

I just bought a bag of oceanic from pet world ( they had four million crabs with low humidity, but other than that it's better than I've seen in awhile) and I can't wait for the crabs to finish molting so I can use it! It's super cheap too. Instant ocean wasn't sold in small packages by me, only mongo ones!
I think they can smell the salt in the water?

And thank you!

Unknown10101 · Post by **Unknown10101** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 7:14 pm

Oh cool! Yeah, that's what I thought maybe. I think I have a molting crab, too. I ISOd him.