New and Overwhelmed Crab Owner!

[BG21]

We took in a crab last night from someone we know and as I am reading about how to take care of them, I am slowly realizing that the crab wasn't properly taken care of. For a little over a year, he has been by himself with nothing to climb on and he has only had one water dish with distilled water. It's my understanding he needs friends, two water dishes (fresh and salt), things to climb on and hide in. He has a humidity gauge and temp gauge. A heating lamp that we will change out to an under the tank heater (put on the side). I'm so overwhelmed I just don't know where to start. He is in a 10 gallon tank right now. When we brought him home, we changed his substrate (my husband said there were bugs in there and the substrate had some white growth in it ,too). We plan to buy a 29 gallon tank today and start the process of decking it out with the things he needs. Should we wait to move him until he's acclimated here? Should we atleast give him the things he needs now (like salt water)? I don't want to put too much stress on him. Any guidance on next steps is much appreciated!

[curlysister]

Take a deep breath. Many of us got our crabs in similar conditions to what you are describing, myself included!
Here is where to start, with the 'basics' care sheet. The photo on this sheet is a ten gallon tank. You can buy a larger one, but the ten gallon will be fine for a while if the crab isn't huge (my two small hermit crabs were in a ten gallon for the first 2-3 years I had them). You do not need to wait for a crab to be acclimated, I recommend putting him into ideal conditions as soon as possible. Don't look at photos with elaborate tanks - stick with the basics. I have always had a 'basic' looking tank, and have had my oldest crab for over 14 years. I am also a thrifty crabber - you don't have to spend a ton of money unless you want to. Play sand is less than $10 for a 50 pound bag at a hardware store. You can feed foods from your kitchen, and can get lots of stuff from Dollar Stores. I also use wood from my yard for climbing. For a 'hide', I turned an opaque food storage container upside down and cut a door. Keep an eye on local buy and sell pages for people who are giving away tanks and decor for reptiles or fish. Bubblers and filters etc are all optional. Keep us posted!

[BG21]

Thank you! I was feeling super overwhelmed and didn't know where to start and we don't really have a ton of money to put into it right off the rip. We kept his 10 gallon for now but got some essentials. He now has a salt water dish and some better food options, too I'm happy I saw this post before we went shopping- I didn't even think of the things we have on hand and how they can easily be turned into hiding and climbing things for him. Thanks again!

[curlysister]

No problem! It is easy to get overwhelmed....and then you will see people saying how much money they spent or showing photos of elaborate tanks, which are more for the owners than the crabs really LOL. The only tank I paid for is the original 10 gallon I got with the two crabs. I then traded it for a 20 gallon at a local rescue's 'tank trade' event. Then I got my 40 gallon free from someone whose crabs had died. Then I got my current 65 gallon free with two crabs when someone was giving it away! My biggest expenses were the heat mats, and then the shells once my crabs got jumbo sized.
Dollar store will have fake plants for greenery, containers, and other decor items too.

[BG21]

That's really neat you were able to get a 65 gallon free!! How many crabs do you have in there? We were very lucky that the people who gave us the crab did so for free with everything included. We do want to get him a couple of friends so we do plan to upgrade him to a 29 gallon when we do that. Hoping to find one cheap! Do your crabs not eat the fake greenery? I had thought about getting him some cheap/fake plants but I am worried he will eat them! I did splurge (by splurge I mean I spent $10) on a cute little coconut house with ladder off of amazon for him. It will be here next week! Do you know if things like that have to be cleaned before putting them in his tank? If so, how?

[curlysister]

Is the coconut house/ ladder made of plastic or wood? That will dictate what to do for cleaning.

I only have my one jumbo, and two little guys. Altho the little ones molt so often, and look so much alike, that I really don't know if they are both still alive.

I don't think they eat the fake greens, but they shred them up for sure. When I see they are getting too tattered, I replace them.

[BG21]

The coconut hide is suppose to be real coconut and the ladder is wood

That's good to know about the fake greens. I've been tempted to buy some, I probably will after reading your response!

[curlysister]

Personally, I don't really do a lot of cleaning. Things that are wood often get mold due to heat and humidity. I have driftwood in my tank, I scrubbed it with salt water (kitchen salt is fine) and let it dry in the sun, to clean it and help cut down on the chances of mold.