HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey everyone,

I guess I'll start by introducing my problem: as of this year, I began an overhaul of my old setup and went through a bunch of things. Right now, as a final product, I have 5 PPs - my oldest, Ray and the littlest, Cracker are in the 55 gallon. Three medium sized ones are in a 10 right below it.

Ray moved from the 10 gallon around March and into a 20 gallon. He's a fairly large size so I brought my dad's 55 gallon, cleaned it, and set that up for Ray.

I also decided that Ray needed friends since he had been alone for 7+ years so that's where Cracker, Mike, Marshall, and Percy came into the story.

So everything seemed to be going fine - I switched from a bubble pool system to Bundy's Humidifier since the pools just weren't doing it for the humidity. That seemed to be keeping it stable for a while - right before I left for college, it was at a constant 80% throughout the tank.

However, this is where my problem starts: This is the first winter with this new setup - with the winter came some frustrations. The humidity doesn't seem to be stabilizing anymore - in fact, I'm not even sure if the Bundy system is even doing anything. It's always above 70%, but not in that ideal range.

Plus, now it's cooler in my house and the temp in the tanks seem to have dropped as well. They used to be a definite 80 or close to 80 degrees - and I could tell that it was definitely warm enough for them with my hand in each tank. But now it's definitely not that - not sure what the actual temp is, but it's not that - my gauges read around 75°F, but, as I said, that's not the ideal range. And this seems to be showing in the crabs as Ray is usually quite the hyper one. Ever since he came up from his molt the other day, he's been lounging by the heater, which worries me so much.

Also, I think he broke apart a smaller shell and ate it for calcium - we ran out of the supplement a while ago and I haven't bought anymore. So that's why I think he did it for that reason. But yeah, the reason I'm not sure if I should buy any more calcium is because I'm not sure if I want to continue doing this . . .

Like I said, I'm in college right now and I'm extremely low on time and money to spend on them. I had prepared these tanks in hopes that I wouldn't have to mess with them that much and just change water and food - apparently that isn't the case.

What do you guys think? Should I put them up for adoption? Or, on the other hand, do you know of any cheap and quick solutions to my problems?

And, to answer the Emergency template (yes, I meant to post this outside of Emergency since it's not super urgent right now) so it's easier for you to answer, I'll just give a summary of my tanks:

55 gallon; play sand, eco earth mix, 1 ft deep; yes to hiding spots; no to sponges; fresh and salt bowls, both deep enough for Ray to be submerged; Bundy humidity system; four heating pads, zoomed UTHs; plastic wrap covering mesh lid; two PPs

10 gallon; play sand, eco earth mix, 6-7inch deep; yes to hiding spots, no to sponges; fresh and salt bowls; no humidity system, just moss and water bowls (humidity isn't a problem in the smaller tank); two zoomed UTHs; plastic wrap covering mesh lid; three PPs

I can't answer for you on whether crabbing is something you want to continue, however I do urge you to not give up! As far as humidity goes, have you tried airstones in both water dishes? Another member mentioned "press n seal" worked way better than saran wrap when she was noticing a dip in her humidity. Something I found at walmart that seems to help me is a cheap humidifier that I just run on top of the tank. Also, eco earth can help raise humidity as well, so that might be something to look into. Good luck, I really hope this helps!

I think the crabbing world would seriously be missing a great crabber! But, u have to do what is right for you and there will be no judgement here. Are the tanks insulated? My 55g is in our most drafty room so, with the cold, I have reflectix on all walls of the tank. If no reflectix, the Foil wrapped cardboard or styrofoam on all walls except for UTH side? For the top, I have been using press n seal which has definitely helped with my humidity issues along with putting in new moss (soaked in FW then squeezed). I keep the moss in our undersub tunnel which I only need to spritz maybe twice a week and it seems to hold the moisture better for me there than it did above sub. Another crabber switched her moss from sphagnum to frog moss and she said that seemed to help boost her humidity as well. Bubblers would also be a good cheap method and adding more EE, as Rawrgeous mentioned. Others have been putting towels on top of the tank (not to cover the UTH's).


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I struggle with keeping my sub moist, which probably means my humidity is off. My gauge broke. Anyhow, I covered half my tank with a bath robe on the top back and side, changed my sphagnum moss to flukers live moss which is holding moisture better, and have the bubbler system in both pools. Note I have condensation like crazy, my sub it's making itself moist again and the humidity has to be better. It was a free fix(even though I already ordered everything to fix it in different ways) maybe try that?
However in my experience with life, when I start questioning whether or not I want to continue doing something, it's usually because I don't want to do it anymore.

Question- how come you only have 2 crabs in the big tank, but 3 in the small?

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Only you can answer that question. If you are ready to give up; then adopt them out. If they still give you any pleasure or joy; then figure it out and keep them.

Only you can answer that question. If you are ready to give up; then adopt them out. If they still give you any pleasure or joy; then figure it out and keep them.

However in my experience with life, when I start questioning whether or not I want to continue doing something, it's usually because I don't want to do it anymore.

@mool and @kieagcarm Thank you for re-wording the overlying question here; I've thought about it and I definitely don't want to give up. I think the main thing causing me stress is that they may not be completely happy and that they might possibly be suffering. I've decided to go ahead and try everything I can and fix and adjust what I have and see if that works. If I can't figure this out, then adoption is the last resort.

So now - today - I'm going to put some more eco earth on top in the 55 gallon tank; it's actually absorbing water right now. I'm also going to take apart the Bundy system and set up the bubble pools again in a different way - I have two air pumps now, so perhaps that will do the trick. I'll also try to keep the moss moist. For heat, I'm going to try the foil thing and press n seal that Kermie16 and Rawrgeous mentioned.

@Kermie16 My concern with the reflectix and/or foil is that I won't be able to see inside the tank. Is this a problem for you?

@Rawrgeous Do you know the name of this cheap humidifier that you have on the top of your tank? That sounds like something I would like to look into.

This has helped a lot so thanks everyone!

Just make sure that you do not put insulation on top of the zoomed. They are not able to be insulated. You could always try all three sides (except for around the zoomed) to see how well that does at getting your temp up before covering the front. Good luck


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GotButterflies wrote:Just make sure that you do not put insulation on top of the zoomed. They are not able to be insulated. You could always try all three sides (except for around the zoomed) to see how well that does at getting your temp up before covering the front. Good luck


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Yeah, I wish I had bought the kind that does allow insulation. Do you happen to know the website that sells those?

[quote="The Franckinator"] Yeah, I wish I had bought the kind that does allow insulation. Do you happen to know the website that sells those?[quote]

ReptileBasics.com is probably going to be your best bet. I've heard others buying off Amazon but I don't know if all can be safely insulted.

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@kieagcarm
To answer your question, I have them like this because I'm afraid Ray will do something malicious if I put them all in his tank at once due to some kind of crab anxiety. So I'm putting them in one at a time so that he'll have time to adjust to every new crab. Hopefully, they'll all be in the same tank soon.

Cracker is in the 55 with Ray because he was kind of like the primary - to see how Ray would react and get the process started - Cracker was the only one above the substrate the night I did it so he was the one I picked.

@daws409 Thank you, I'll bookmark it

I don't think it would stress your crabs out to put them all in. I have always added my new crabs immediately with no issues you may want to consider having no more than 2 in the 10g

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kieagcarm wrote:I don't think it would stress your crabs out to put them all in. I have always added my new crabs immediately with no issues you may want to consider having no more than 2 in the 10g

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Yes, but that's a normal situation. Before this year, I kept Ray by himself in the same 10 gallon the smalls are in right now for around 7 or 8 years. This was due to me knowing that crabs can be cannabilistic (at times) and finding a bunch of dead crab bodies when I first got him.

At the beginning of this year, I educated myself on proper crab care (and joined the HCA) and now I know that it's a rare occurrence, especially if they're fed well, for cannabilism to ensue; nevertheless, I'm scared for the little ones since he's three times their size.

The Franckinator wrote:
At the beginning of this year, I educated myself on proper crab care (and joined the HCA) and now I know that it's a rare occurrence, especially if they're fed well, for cannabilism to ensue; nevertheless, I'm scared for the little ones since he's three times their size.

If it makes you feel any better, I have 9 hermies (2 Straws and 7 PP) in a 90 gal tank. These range from tennis ball (XL not quite jumbo) to marble (Small). I've never had any problems with aggression.

I also have 1 med/large straw in a 40 breeder molting (she went down before I finished my 90 setup and could transfer everyone over).

And finally 2 in a 20 long (dont know sizes because person willingly gave me tank so wouldn't disturb them. There were 4 in this tank two were transferred before they went down).... Eventually all will be in my 90.

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You really should add at least one more, you should only keep two in a 10g max

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kieagcarm wrote:You really should add at least one more, you should only keep two in a 10g max

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I actually put Marshall in there last night