New member and owner

[kfinnz]

Hello! Been lurking these forums for quite awhile now and thought I'd finally join up! This is my first time owning hermit crabs (aside from when I was a small child). My mother had some and passed along her equipment to me after hers passed. I've currently got four PPs, the largest being about the size of a ping pong ball w/shell on. They were named (I'll admit, not very creatively but they stuck) after the painted shells they came in but have since changed out of, except for one. There's Sharky, Nemo, SB (Soccer Ball, but we abbreviate), and Peanut Butter (or PB, we also abbreviate his name sometimes). I got them a couple months ago now and almost every one of them has had a successful molt, Nemo is currently the last one molting. I worry a little as the three that recently finished molting spend all their time underground still despite having slept on the surface before, but I hear them digging around so I assume they are alright (leaves me with no good pics of them though lol).

While I don't have any pictures of the crabbies currently I do hope it is ok to share pictures of my set up in this post. My big tank is a 20gal, and I hope to upgrade to a larger, if not just taller, tank soon so I can build climbing areas for them. My isolation tank is a small 10gal. My heat lamp bulbs are two different colors (one blue one black) but I don't think it makes a difference does it? Both won't disrupt their night cycle? I'm using them in combo with UTHs to keep a proper temp and sponges for humidity. The lids are mesh and I'm using plastic wrap till I can sort out a better solution to keep humidity in.

Here's the big tank.







And here's my small iso tank thank Nemo is molting in.

[Rawrgeous]

First off, welcome to the HCA! So glad you've decided to join the ranks! If you haven't had a chance already, take some time to read through our basic care guides linked here: viewtopic.php?f=51&t=92457
It looks like you're doing a great job for your first 'tat. I'm going to give you a few friendly tips, and I hope you don't mind! Isoing molting crabs isn't necessary. It looks like you've done a good job of providing good sub depth, so they should be okay to molt in the tank. Also, sponges in the water dish can harbor bacteria that is harmful to human's health. A better alternative is to offer the dry natural sponge to the crabs to munch on- they love it! You'll want your water dishes a bit deeper so your crabs can fully submerge and change shell water. Otherwise it looks awesome for first crabitats! Great job doing your research! I hope you enjoy your crabbies as much as I do mine. Feel free to ask any further questions!

[kfinnz]

The tips are very much appreciated! Little guy got the iso tank only cause he was being extremely aggressive with the smallest crab, he'd run after him shockingly fast (had no clue they were so quick) and seemingly try to yank him from his shell. Thought he just wanted the shell since he's still in a painted but when the smallest one switched and I gave it to him he had no interest (or in any other shell, I've since ordered new ones), so he stayed in time out a bit longer just to be safe and then I woke up to him buried. The other three molted in the big tank all together and did so well I had considered swapping the bowls for small pools made from little tupperwares though I'm nervous to do so till everyone's on the surface. I know a recent molter is buried under the dishes and even though I'm 99% sure they're done (there were exit holes for all of the molters and LOTS of food gone) I'm concerned about disturbing him. All gives me good questions for other sections of the forum

[Crabinski]

Welcome aboard! As @Rawrgeous said, you're doing a great job so far -- the fact that all of the crabs have already or are currently molting says a lot about favorable conditions.

One thing you can do for them to provide climbing features without changing to a taller tank is to add plastic/cloth vines and fish net. Plastic vines can be found in the reptile section of Petco/PetSmart for about $5 (also check dollar stores and thrift stores for plants/vines). Fish net can be found in bags in craft stores -- i.e., Jo-Ann, Michael's, Hobby Lobby -- for around $6. It's simple to cut the netting to the size you want for a wall or to drape over a piece of mopani or grapewood to create a combo climbing feature and hide. As the fish net is the real thing, previously used by fishermen, it's best to give it a good soak in hot water to get rid of any debris and reduce the fishiness a bit (not that the crabs will care ). The pet store vines come with suction cups and the netting is very lightweight and can also easily be attached with suction cups. Either or both will be greatly appreciated by the crabs! You can also create a second level shell shop or moss pit by using a suction cup soap dish or shower caddy but just be sure to have a vine, netting or piece of wood nearby that they can use to access it.

[kfinnz]

I actually just ordered one of those artificial vines today! Found some wonderful deep dishes (and driftwood pieces for stairs) they can submerge in and got a vine thing that is held up by a suction cup, hopefully those will be going into the tank soon. I'll deff be looking into a soap caddy and some netting in the future now!