Traveling with hermits, how do I keep them alive??

[HermitCrabNation]

My sister went on a trip to get 3 jumbo hermits for me, about 12 hours away.. she's going to be driving back home, how can she keep them alive and healthy the whole trip?

[Hollym2247]

I brought mine home 16 hours in a small wire cage with lots of extra shells. I fed and watered them the night before, cleaned it all out in the morning, and put them in my iso with food and water when I got home. That was 4 months ago, and they're fine.

I placed the cage on the floor and surrounded it with towels and stuff so it wouldn't move around. They hung onto the wires the whole way home. When I stopped to eat or for a break, they'd scramble around, then grab back on when we moved.

[HermitCrabNation]

Ok! thanks so much! I'm sure it'll be fine. I was just worried about it, like all hermit crab parents do about their shell babies

[Rawrgeous]

If you can I would put them in a container that can hold humidity, and add some moss. This provides moisture, cushioning and something to munch on. It'll also be a bit less stressful. I don't doubt they can survive 12 hours, but try to picture being out of breath for 12 hours...not pretty. Large tupperware or a kritter container with the lid saran wrapped could work well for each. Any container that can hold humidity really.

[mool]

I've shipped crabs before and my success rate for survival on the other end was 100%. I put them into a plastic ware container half filled with damp moss (not soggy, not too dry) and a few small holes poked in the top. Because I was shipping them, I put them into a slightly larger box that was lined on all sides except the top with Styrofoam.

In your case, you might want to put them into a lined box for cushioning, darkness and noise control, but you don't have to tape it shut.

[WEC]

Hi! I don't know if this is too late or not, but we just went to the beach for vacation and to "rescue" some hermits from the boardwalk sellers. I took along a rubbermaid container with a snap on lid. I drilled some holes along the top of the container, but below the lid. Filled it with about 3-4 inches of substrate (sand and coco-fiber, rehydrated with salt water), put in bowls for fresh and salt water, shells for food, plastic plants and hides....and a heating pad, along with a thermometer and hygrometer. Seems complicated, but was really pretty easy. Just set it up once we got there. Humidity was pretty good, around 80% and temp stayed between 70 and 85 degrees. Arguably, not perfect, but way better than they had in the shops. On the way home, just wrapped in a blanket to keep heat in and drove home. Got back yesterday, had one change shells already! Hope your adventure goes well!