HCA: Hermit Crab Association

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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!