HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey everyone! Thank you for this great site and all the info! I am very appreciative!

I've been doing research the past few weeks on hermit crabs and my 15 gallon glass tank will be ready for hermit crabs by end of the week. I'm trying to do the right thing by making the habitat perfect and hopefully as unstressful as possible and I'm making sure I got a handle on the temp and humidity (Los Angeles, super dry air) BEFORE introducing our new little buddies into the house, but I have a few questions:

I'd like to purchase 3 hermit crabs at the same time from the same store and bring them home. If I get all 3 from a pet store (same breed), they will already be used to each other and it should be less stressful, right? Or is it dangerous/naive because I won't be able to tell if they are sick? What do you guys think?

I've been hitting the local stores and can tell which places take better care of their hermit crabs, but if anyone has a good suggestion for the Los Angeles area (I haven't been able to go through all the posts here yet, there's so much info!) I'd appreciate it.

Incidentally I got interested in hermit crabs from seeing the kiosks at the local malls and wanted to know more about the industry. One of my sons' friends bought a crab and is doing all the stuff you don't want to hear... plastic box, no humidity and he's killed one crab so far. So I'm hoping I 'll be able to teach more about the proper care of hermit crabs once our set-up is complete. I am no expert, but, sheesh it makes me sad we have a potential hermit crab serial killer down the street. :b

sue
no signature yet... total n00b

incycle wrote: I'd like to purchase 3 hermit crabs at the same time from the same store and bring them home. If I get all 3 from a pet store (same breed), they will already be used to each other and it should be less stressful, right? Or is it dangerous/naive because I won't be able to tell if they are sick? What do you guys think?

I've been hitting the local stores and can tell which places take better care of their hermit crabs, but if anyone has a good suggestion for the Los Angeles area (I haven't been able to go through all the posts here yet, there's so much info!) I'd appreciate it.

Incidentally I got interested in hermit crabs from seeing the kiosks at the local malls and wanted to know more about the industry. One of my sons' friends bought a crab and is doing all the stuff you don't want to hear... plastic box, no humidity and he's killed one crab so far. So I'm hoping I 'll be able to teach more about the proper care of hermit crabs once our set-up is complete. I am no expert, but, sheesh it makes me sad we have a potential hermit crab serial killer down the street. :b

sue
no signature yet... total n00b

I actually think that's a good idea, the all at once thing. Just make sure you have 3-5 shells for each crab if they're the same size to reduce the chance of shell fights since they don't usually come in proper shells. Also think about how you set up your tank... each crab should have one hidey spot, room enough for a digging spot (they tunnel too so 6+ inches of sub) and one spot above ground to roam that should help with reducing stress (mostly the hides). Sometimes crabs will dig down as soon as they get home because of the lack of sub in the pet store tanks to either de stress or molt or both. My teeny was under for four weeks when it's usually not over 2 for their size. So give them time and don't dig them up! They may seem boring at first but once they get their molting, destressing, and shell swapping done you'll have a blast watching them roam and do silly stuff!


Mommy of 11 PP babies:
Poseidon (Sid), Octavius, Matty, Junior, Aries, Kaylee, Turbo, Adrian, Pepper, Flower and Winifred.

I bought several of mine as groups. Of the first 2 I have one, of the second group of 4 I have 1, of the next group of 4 I have 2 left. Those groups were purchased together. All but one of the deaths was PPS. That one is a complete mystery. Point is, buying them all together may mean they smell alike and have been through the same stuff but they are still individuals and their stress could be higher or lower than the ones in the group. Just like humans some can handle stress better than others.

Thanks for the replies! I read how they are stressed and good point - I have to warn my kids they might hide out for a bit before feeling comfy enough to wander. And yep, we have plenty of shells!

I'll try to post a pic of the crabitat once it's set up so you can better visualize what's going on... I think I bought more than enough substrate and I'm going for a 50/50 mix of coconut fiber and sand. (Is it better to post a pic here or should I start a blog here?)
But what if you put more than 6" of substrate? Is that crazy? Will the crabs get lost forever?

But about the baths, should I bathe all three when I get them home or would that be more of a stressor because they already know each other's smell? I still want to bathe them, but I can hold off on that.

The really cool thing is I'm having my youngest son help with the whole set up so he can really understand why everything is needed. We start today!

sue
still no signature