HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello Guys!

I rescued some crabs!

I inherited three of them from my neighbor tonight. She didnt know anything about them when she was given them last week by a different neighbor. She decided they were 'too complicated.' and gave them to me. Poor guys keep getting passed around. I spent a while doing some research after she first mentioned needing to get rid of them and I agreed to take them. I've already ordered them a new tank, lights, humidity/misting system to keep it consistant. I know what they are in now is atrociously too small and I feel so bad for them. I'm told they've been in this 'vase' for at least two months. No heater or light source before this from what I've told. Sad little Crabbies.. Obviously this means I need to spoil the crab out of them. See what I did there?

I've been watching them all evening and am utterly fascinated. They are so cute and I'm amazed at the personalities.

I was hoping to be able to get some input on what breed these might be? I'm posting pictures below... Remember, the current tank is too small but the new tank arrives Wednesday. They don't have names, so those are welcome too!



This is the 'big guy' s/he has the same coloration as this fellow below. I'm guessing Purple Pinchers.



The last crab is kind of blue. It's hard to see, I'm not sure what type he/she is. The tops of the legs are orange but the sides are a blue/green - Almost teal in the right light. I haven't been able to match him/her.



The blue one also buried itself earlier but not completely. I can still see her legs, I don't want to move her if she's molting.. I know they don't eat when they do molt, so if she comes up at night to eat can I relocate her? I'm thinking she's just stressed from the multiple relocation/rapidly changing environments. It's been three homes in four days. It would just be a pain to wait on her when the new tank is on the way. - It could totally be a guy too..I don't know how to tell/sex them.

Currently at the warm end of the house with the heat bumped to 70 and have been heavily misted. This 'vase' doesn't have a top so I'm using plastic wrap to keep it humid. It's a steady 70 right now.

The top 2 are beautiful purple pinchers and the bottom is an adorable E. Es are exotics and need a lot more room than PPs.

Edit: heat needs to be at minimum 75 and humidity the same. It is recommended to do 80/80.

Yep, first two pics are PPs then the last pic an E. Because of the E you'll want to keep temps 80-90F. PPs do fine 75-85F - though some warmer spots are ok as long as they have cooler areas to move to if they need.

So glad you've taken them in and are able to give them a better home!

CallaLily wrote:Yep, first two pics are PPs then the last pic an E. Because of the E you'll want to keep temps 80-90F. PPs do fine 75-85F - though some warmer spots are ok as long as they have cooler areas to move to if they need.

So glad you've taken them in and are able to give them a better home!

I didn't think to add the higher temp for the E. Thanks for catching that!

Thanks for the help guys! I had my suspicion about the E last night. Bumped the heat up to 75. I'm dying. So hot. The little E isn't molting. The 'warm end' of the house happens to be next to my bed. When I hit the light in the night to see if they were feeding, I found this!



The little E was perched on her branch like a queen. I'm guessing she's burying herself for warmth or stress. She could be trying to molt and the substrate isn't deep enough another reason I rush ordered the tank. Two day deliver for the win!

I still can't tell if they are male or female so I don't know what to name them. Anyone have any idea how I might tell without waiting for them to shell swap? Even a theory is better then none at this point.

There's pics in this thread that show how to tell gender: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 67&t=92519

Yeah! I just found it. Thank you so much.

So my tank arrived day before yesterday, but it arrived with a shattered back panel, the new tank should be waiting on my doorstep today.

I'm a bit worried about the smaller PP though. She's super sluggish, sits in one spot, barely comes out of her shell and is slow to react to stimuli such as misting. I tried giving her some fresh apple slices & mixing food with honey as she seemed to love/devour both last time; this time she didn't touch them or express interest.

Both the large PP and the little E have buried themselves, neither has surfaced in two days since the last climbing picture I posted. This distresses me mildly as I wanted to get them into a proper environment, consistent heat/humidity most importantly, before the first molt. I'm debating carefully putting the vase on it's side ,while they are buried, inside the terrarium and just waiting till they climb out at their own pace. That way they can at least be warm/humid. Is turning it on it's side while they are buried super a bad idea? Luckily they buried themselves next to the edge, so they wouldn't "drop" from any height when they reemerge. It just seemed like the best way to make use of a awkward situation.

Also, The tank in question is 24" X 18" X 18" : Exo-Terra Medium/Wide Terrarium with an third party Plexi-Glass top trap humidity - How many hermits do you think I could reasonably put inside? Currently I have three. I know everyone references gallons, but I have no idea how many gallons this is, as it's not measured that way.

Thanks guys! I appreciate answering the n00b questions or pointing me where I can find this information.

- Neona

A vase omg -.- poor lil guys/gals. They are probably trying to de-stress. I wouldn't tip it to its side at all. One it will stress them more, two it will make it easier for escape, and three they might get hurt. They may be coming up while you sleep.
The tank measurements sounds like it might be a lil over a 25gal which is:
L x W x H 24" x 12" x 20" Weight (empty) 32 lbs. I hope that sounds about what you ordered. Gallons may be written on the tank label when you get it. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not -.-. It should be ok for a little while for 3 but you may want to get bigger later on. That little E will need a lot of running room and boy from what I have read they will use it lol. I only have PP's atm so I will let someone with E's fill you in on their activities lol.
Oh and if you can make sure to get stuff for them to climb cause they love to clib EVERYTHING lol. You can get shells in a lot of places. Ebay you can lots usually for cheap prices. Mine favor the snail shells only one favors the turbo's so far but I have oddball crabs lol. E's usually like the D shaped shells from what I have heard. I would wait to sex them until they are less stressed as it can be stressful for both you and the crabs. They have to hang out pretty far and are not happy about it if they are not familiar with you.
I hope this helped some. Btw idk if you read but they should have moss to it will help with the humidity in the tank too and they love to snack on it. 2 very good site if you haven't seen it yet for crab food, vitamins, substrate, moss, etc. are http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Pet-Herm ... ts-s/3.htm
I love the vitamins at:
http://www.hermitcrabaddictionstore.com ... ame&per=10
The boost powder is awesome lol mine are just crazy for it and it keeps them really active.

Like I said I hope this info helps you out and your poor lil crabs. They need the spoiling after all the stress.