HCA: Hermit Crab Association

What is wrong/ right with my tank

i want advice from hard core crabbers

This is my tank as of today

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo24 ... 29_0_0.jpg

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo24 ... 21_0_0.jpg

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo24 ... 29_0_0.jpg

http://i379.photobucket.com/albums/oo24 ... 41_0_0.jpg

I just bought the Cholla wood.
Ans the shells

The advice im most looking for is..

How should i place my cholla wood?
Are those shells sufficient for crabs their size ? (also a link to the crab sizing chart would be nice, i cant find it)
And the glass jar im using for a hidey, they like it, but should it be dark?
And the crabs are crawling in the cholla wood, will they get stuck/is that a problem?


Thanks for the help

(p.s) The Crab in the picture with the shells is popcorn, he's slightly bigger than the size of the two new crabs i bought, so hopefully that would be a good measurement as to if they will fit in the shells.

Any advice would be great
Good or bad

Nice crabitat! If you want to spice it up a bit, get some fake plants. You can find those at a craft store or the dollar tree. You crabs would probably like dark places to hide to get away from the light some time. A terra-cotta pot works well for that :] You can either have the Cholla wood laying on its side, or sticking up vertically from the sand and leaning on the side of your crabitat. It works either way . The crabs won't get stuck. My crabs have never got stuck on anything i put in my tank. hope this helps a bit!!! :]

The crab sizing chart is in the Crab Care FAQ thingy.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The biggest thing I'd change is putting more things for the crabs to climb and hide in. Get a shower caddy or two and turn it into a moss pit(second one a shell shop if you have one), put the cholla wood next to the caddy to make it easier for them to get to(maybe make a hemp net to connect two caddys). The wood itself can go either way(vertically or horizontally). I would either make the glass hidey darker or take it away all together and get something else for them to hide in.

I recommend that you...

-Put in more substrate for your herms, four times the height of your largest one.
-Offer more turbo shells. Not many herms like frog shells, and only some like virgin murexes & hemifusus.
-Buy a non-clear hidy, they go in hidies to not be seen/ to be in darkness during the day.
-Buy a Hygrometer and Thermometer to put in the tank at all times to get accurate readings on Humidity (73%-78%) and Temperature (71F-88F)
-Lean the choya against the glass so that, they can climb up it.

I hope this will help you make a Crabitat that your herms can live happily in now!

Make sure there is no metal in there .

Just a suggestion but you might consider adding an area with some moss - I was sooo surprised how much my crabbies love love love their moss pit! They snuggle down in there all the time! I got mine at Petco for about $5 and put it in a shower caddie that sticks to the side of the tank with suction cups (I got it at Walmart for about $4) You could use your cholla wood as a staircase up to the shower caddy moss pit. I, too, would recommend more shells - some crabbies really like to change often so getting them some 'new clothes' would make them happy, I think! Have fun!.

thanks guys
that was very helpful information

Ill do pretty much everything you guys mentioned.

Except my only issue is that its impossibly hard to find decent shells.
The only bag i found good turbo shells in was 20 dollars
and there were only about 6 usable ones of the same size in there

So im trying to find more, if i tell my mom that the shells are unfit, shell rip me apart (shes tired of my talking/nagging abuot the crabs needs)

Ill keep looking though.
Thanks for all the help

Strawberry224 wrote: So im trying to find more, if i tell my mom that the shells are unfit, shell rip me apart (shes tired of my talking/nagging abuot the crabs needs)

Bout to say you can try buying some on Ebay until I read this.
Just keep looking around, you'll find some good ones.

lol okay.
ill ask my friend to drive me to the flea market and get a handful of turbosf for a dollar. i found a place with agreat deal. so far away though

Strawberry224 wrote:thanks guys
that was very helpful information

Ill do pretty much everything you guys mentioned.

Except my only issue is that its impossibly hard to find decent shells.
The only bag i found good turbo shells in was 20 dollars
and there were only about 6 usable ones of the same size in there

So im trying to find more, if i tell my mom that the shells are unfit, shell rip me apart (shes tired of my talking/nagging abuot the crabs needs)

Ill keep looking though.
Thanks for all the help

Try www.elsshells.com they are low cost & great quality. They offer Tapestry & Green Turbos, personal mine prefer Tapastry Turbos to green ones... but herms still love green turbos! Good luck!

Thanks ill check that site