HCA: Hermit Crab Association

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Play sand 3 inches deep
2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
I have 1 gauge in center of the tank. Temp is a consistent 80 while humidity is usually around 90
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
I use a heat mat that sticks to the side of the tank as well as an over head lamp
4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
They have both fresh and salt water. I buy the all living things battles of salt water
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I feed a variety of fruits as well as give chicken or shrimp as a meat source. This is replaced every 2 days I have also scarted feeding them crushed egg shells and cuttlebone
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I have had my crabs for 8 months and they are purple pinchers
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
One is in the process of molting, a secons one just molted above ground last night, The third molted 6 months ago
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
They are currently in a 20 gallon tank with what I think is a mesh wire lid. It came with the tank at the pet store
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
Two crabs are just over 3/4 of an inch while the third is and inch
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
There are 7 extra shells in the tank
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I scoop out the top lawyer with a substrate scoop and change out all the sand every 4 months. the glass is cleaned with vinegar water
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
Yes they are changed out
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
New tank
15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
I'm really sorry for posting another emergency post so soon after the last one but I have another crab that molted last night above ground after I put them in the new tank 2 days ago. He is currently naked and above ground. I've heard when they do this they are very likely to die. I'm honestly shocked he molted again because he literally did it 4 months ago which is way shorter than what I've read. I know I need to isolate him and maybe try to get him back in his shell but I'm honestly really scared to even touch him after my other molting crab lost her big claw (she is still alive and ate all the cuttlebone I gave her yesterday so still holding out hope for her.) I don't what's going on with my crabs but its freaking me out.
https://imgur.com/a/NT2hR

A few things that may shed some light on why this happened

Crabs' molting times are based on size. You have small to medium hermits, which means they need to dig underground to molt every 4 to 16 weeks. Some crabs will space it much closer than others. He sounds like he was a little overdue for another molt.

Did you dig this one up from the old tank, or was he hunkered down somewhere secure? If so his molt was disturbed and he was too weak to rebury. That's a little better than one just pulling a surface molt out of nowhere.

You don't need to change out the substrate, and if you have any crabs underground it should never be done at that time. Digging them out delays their molting cycle and can cause surface molts.

Three inches may not be enough substrate. We really recommend 6 inches as it gives them enough space to safely built their molting cave underground and stay there for the one to four months needed. (Though they can stay down as long as 8 months!) And that is the minimum depth for smaller crabs, bigger ones need more.

All you can do at this point is make sure the other crabs cannot get to it, cover it with a cocohut or bowl to make it dark, and cross your fingers. Make sure the exo is underneath it so it doesn't have to move to eat it!

You will need to get him reshelled, and it is even more important since a naked freshly molted crab will deform without a shell on that allows them to harden in the proper shape. Just go slow and be gentle, clean the crab and the shell in dechlorinated water, and slip the abdomen back in. I prefer to do this rather than waiting to see if they will go in on their own as time is of the essence. If that does not work, try putting clean shells in a cup and leave it covered so it is dark. Include the exo. It's up to the crab at that point if it has the energy to pull through.

I managed to get him back in his shell without much difficulty and he has stayed in it without a fuss and thankfully didn't pinch me. I added more substrate and made sure he is isolated. I did actually dig him up to move him to the new tank. He had been down for a little over a week. I had no idea he was trying to molt again so soon. As of right now he has not reburied himself but had eaten most of the exoskeleton from what I can see. For good measure I put some cuttlebone in with him. I will continue to keep him away from my one crab that isn't molting. One thing that is a bit confusing is he seem really active for a crab that just molted.

I totally agree with everything Wodsorel said.

A few other things that I would like to mention:

The bottled saltwater is not efficient. Unfortunately a lot of things marketed for hermit crabs aren’t. You need Marine saltwater. Products like Instant Ocean and Red Sea mimic natural sea water. Please try to correct that as soon as possible.

I also recommend additional proteins, fats, and vegetables. Try to follow the food pyramid. They can really eat a wide variety of foods, and it can be really fun to come up with different things to feed them. Check out safe & unsafe food list. Just stay away from pesticides and fertilizers.

Good luck!


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GotButterflies wrote:I totally agree with everything Wodsorel said.

A few other things that I would like to mention:

The bottled saltwater is not efficient. Unfortunately a lot of things marketed for hermit crabs aren’t. You need Marine saltwater. Products like Instant Ocean and Red Sea mimic natural sea water. Please try to correct that as soon as possible.

I also recommend additional proteins, fats, and vegetables. Try to follow the food pyramid. They can really eat a wide variety of foods, and it can be really fun to come up with different things to feed them. Check out safe & unsafe food list. Just stay away from pesticides and fertilizers.

Good luck!


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I will try to correct the salt water problem and increase the variety of foods I give. But just to be clear the All Living Things saltwater conditioner is not efficient either correct? And what sources of far would you recommend?

prettycreb wrote:

GotButterflies wrote:I totally agree with everything Wodsorel said.

A few other things that I would like to mention:

The bottled saltwater is not efficient. Unfortunately a lot of things marketed for hermit crabs aren’t. You need Marine saltwater. Products like Instant Ocean and Red Sea mimic natural sea water. Please try to correct that as soon as possible.

I also recommend additional proteins, fats, and vegetables. Try to follow the food pyramid. They can really eat a wide variety of foods, and it can be really fun to come up with different things to feed them. Check out safe & unsafe food list. Just stay away from pesticides and fertilizers.

Good luck!


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I will try to correct the salt water problem and increase the variety of foods I give. But just to be clear the All Living Things saltwater conditioner is not efficient either correct? And what sources of far would you recommend?

No, that is not a good product. Here are the ingredients: Ingredients:
Water, Natural Sea Salt, Dechloraminating Agent, Buffers, Synthetic Organic Polymers (Colloids).

I personally recommend Prime as a conditioner, it removes Chlorine, Chloramine, and detoxifies Ammonia AND heavy metals.
For Marine Salt, I use Instant Ocean

Check out this page re- nutrition. It gives good examples of foods such as sources of fat:

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