HCA: Hermit Crab Association

We have a 10 gallon and we brought home three tiny and one small hermit crab over the summer. we lost one of the tiny crabs just a few weeks in, but the rest have been going strong. One tiny stays buried almost all of the time (I've seen him roughly 3 times since august) and the other two come up and down daily.

Well, today I went to Petsmart and saw these two crabs- a little bigger than golf balls, that just looked so awful. the one was so big he couldn't even fit in his shell. So, without really putting thought into it- I bought them. I don't even have shells for them. I was able to buy one there- that is likely too big, but is better than nothing and I just ordered about 15 shells online for these bigger guys. I gave them a quick salt water bath and put them in. The one that has overgrown his shell buried within 30 mins and the other guy is snuggling our other two.

Did I put my current guys at risk? I don't have an ISO tank. Is the size difference with these crabs going to be a problem? Is there anything I should be on the lookout for or anything I should do?

You should be okay. I don't generally isolate newbies unless there is something actually wrong with them. The size difference shouldn't be a problem either - I have crabs ranging from micro to large living together comfortably.

The main issue is the bigger the crab, the more space and deeper substrate it requires. Yours don't sound big at all, but I would be concerned a 10 gallon might be a little overcrowded.

Issues to watch for would be crabs trying to steal each others' shells, pinching, etc. When I introduce a newbie, typically there is lots of antenna wiggling and that's about it. It's good you have more shells on the way; everyone should do fine as long as they have plenty of room to explore, lots of food to eat, and a good variety of available shells.

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better. There is roughly 6", maybe 5.5" of Sand/EE for them to dig in and only one crab was down when the big one went in. hopefully they can hold off until the new shells arrive. I thought for sure that the one poor guy would try to snag that shell asap, but he dug down instead. What is funny is that my 2nd to smallest crab was checking out the large shell. 30 of him could fit in there!

I guess we will see how it goes. We will likely upgrade the tank within the year. I'm basically just waiting to see a good deal on CL.

If you're in the market to upgrade, check out Petco if you have one nearby - their $1/gallon sale is going on through I believe the 28th.

Your substrate depth is good! I'm guessing that the newbies are pretty desperate to destress and/or molt, so shell-shopping may be put on the backburner until they settle in. You never know. If you only have one down, even if your 2 newest ones both decide to dig, you should still be okay.

Your tank is overcrowded. You need to upgrade or rehome ASAP. Your molters or weaklings are at risk of attack and cannibalism. The size difference is not the issue. Different sized crabs need not threaten each other as they won't fight over the same shells. You just need a larger crabitat, with no less than 6 inches of substrate. Please review the care sheets for ideal conditions.

ETA: sorry i was typing WAY lagged!

Crabbers unite!!!

Oh goodness- I guess I'll need to look for an upgrade sooner. my husband is going to flip :/

megmaholm wrote:If you're in the market to upgrade, check out Petco if you have one nearby - their $1/gallon sale is going on through I believe the 28th.

The Petco sale is running through the 24th and the deal is on 10, 20, 20L, 29, 40 and 55g tanks.

good to know. I'll have to break it to the hubs

Smooti wrote:good to know. I'll have to break it to the hubs

Be gentle!
You can always supplement with a rad tote alternative! Hermitcrabdc's was pretty rockin: viewtopic.php?t=102216


Crabbers unite!!!

^^that's pretty cool! I'm likely just going to bite the bullet and upgrade though. It will be more ascetically pleasing and since they are in our living room, that's important to us. The main thing is just figuring out the space issue- the stand we have fits the 10- so we are going to have to do some creative thinking. The only place I have the space for a bigger tank is next to the air conditioner- which is obviously a no-go.

My 10 gallon has a pretty decent second level. There is a caddy on the one side, with a moss pit and then there is a hideout on the other side with a slate top. I moved the food dish on the slate top, to create more surface space, and I'm thinking I'll put another caddy in that corner as well, to create another moss pitt. Since I now have two crabs down, I can't really do much to move them now anyway- so my plan is to create more of a second level, free up some of the surface space and then plan out the larger tank. Is this poor thinking? In the 6 months we have had these crabs, I've only seen 3 of them up at one time about 2-3 times. Usually one or two are down, almost all of the time- so they don't seem to be competing for surface area. I am hoping this will buy us a few weeks while we get things together for the new tank and hopefully get the other two up. I also want to create a better hide out. what we have now worked for our tiny and our small- and the big fit, but I think they need more room.

To be honest, I don't think the biggest one (medium by the size chart) that we brought home last night will last long. he was SO big for his shell and he buried in minutes. I guess we shall see. My son will be thrilled to put the new tank together. It stinks too, because I wish we could just get the 55 now, since I know we will need it eventually, but we will likely just have to do a 20 for another year to two until we move.

It's not the surface area that they fight over, thoughsome ceabbers witness food disg territorial behavior. Imagine crabs making molting caves that are 2-3x their length in diameter. Your crabs could all molt at the same time, or favor the same locations to molt at. This increases the chance that they can run into each other, or smell each other. They could end up eating each other or attacking the vulnerable. The longer you take to upgrade increases the chance of an incident.
Its not a gaurantee you will have to deal with this, but it is not a pretty sight, and absolutely preventable.
It is hard to factor in space. Google typical fish tank dimensions and find the biggest size you can fit. Consider the footprint first, then go as high as possible!


Crabbers unite!!!

Crabinski wrote: The Petco sale is running through the 24th and the deal is on 10, 20, 20L, 29, 40 and 55g tanks.

Thanks for the correction; I have a terrible memory.

I totally understand your space issue, Smooti, as that was a major factor in my upgrade as well. Almost every inch of wall footage in my living room is taken up by large bookcases, the oak entertainment center or the 7' long couch! In addition, as an arthritic senior citizen, there's only so much I can lift/shift tank-wise. I ended up removing a small short bookcase, 38" wide, found a 36" wide aquarium stand on craigslist, painted it and purchased a 29g tank on the first day of Petco's current sale. The 29g is a good option as it is the same footprint as a 20L (30" long by 12" wide) but is 18" high compared to the 12" height of a 20L = more climbing room after adding in a good depth of substrate. Slowly but surely, the new tank is coming together: the corner guards are in, the Ultratherm is installed on the back, the hinged glass lid has arrived and a few inches of playsand and cocofiber have been added just so I can start playing with the layout.

Again, like your situation, three of my five PPs are underground now so there's no immediate rush to get the tank up and running as I don't want to move only the two that are up (Felix is already in charge of everything in their current 10g and I don't want to expand his kingdom without giving the others a chance to stake a claim ).

Yeah, I'm looking to get a 29, I think. I will likely just look and see if I can get a cheap find on an endtable to replace what mine is on now. It sticks because we had two with a stand that we got rid of a few years ago. right now, two are down, so I figure I have a while to set it up. I'm just going to start getting it all together, and then hopefully they will all make it until the move can be made. I know where the big guy is, but I don't know where the little guy is. I *think* he is on the other side of the tank, but I have no way of knowing. today, I built a bigger hide away and ordered the shower caddy, so at least they have more places to hide and climb.

and now my littlest guy is up and just the big guy is down. Figures, he could be down for months!