HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys! Haven't posted in a while, but a few things have happened recently that I wanted to ask about. First and foremost the first hermit crab I ever got passed away yesterday unfortunately after a few months of having him, he had never molted like my other crabs and I thought his recent behaviour was indicative of a molt but he was unfortunately dead . He died in the saltwater bowl and it was time to change their water again so I was going to change it when I realised one of my hermit crabs had dug right up against the water bowl. I need to remove the bowl which is in ground to change it but I'm worried I'll collapse the crabs tunnel, he's also managed to push a ridiculous amount of substrate into the freshwater so it definitely needs to be changed...what should I do?

I had a lil crabbie get right next to the bowl on me and I thought she was gonna molt. It was suggested to me by Gotbutterflies to use a turkey baster to change the water till she moved. Or you could soak it up with a clean dish towel which is what I ended up doing once. Also another great piece of advise she gave me was to use double nesting tupperware dishes in the future. So if u have a crabbie molt against the bottom dish it won't be disturbed by removing the top dish for water changes. I did this as soon as I was able and it has made water changes much easier and I can see where the crabs have dug out a cave underneath it.

Sorry for your loss ... are u sure he is gone and not just doing a surface molt?

Could you use a turkey baster to suck out the water, to leave the dish in. I assume its not 'doubled bowled'?

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Thanks for the replies. I'm sure he was dead as he actually died in the saltwater and had started to go bad because of it :/ . I could use a turkey baster I'm just concerned about filling the water back up when there is already substrate in the dish since I read this would raise ammonia levels very high, and no it's not double bowled but I will be doing that ASAP. Also I doubt this specific crab is molting since he's molted In the last couple months, if he's not molting could I just dig him up and then double bowl to avoid this issue?


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Depends on the substrate. If sand, then not ammonia will not be raised. If its EE, then it can break down and contribute as an ammonia source, but will not be overly bad. Id be more worried in food or crabs increasing ammonia, not substrate.
If the crab is directly under the bowl, to the point where you dont dig then yeah, you can relocate. If not, id personally just remove the bowl make the hole wider if needed and then "double bowl". Just ensure when backfilling to not press down the substrate... or the bowls.

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