HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Thursday, I went to Petco in hopes of saving some hermit crabs. I did not expect to come home with 5, but after the lady said "let me shuffle through and find the ones that are alive" I just took all the ones that were alive, so they wouldn't have to be in those horrible conditions anymore.

André

Laquanda

Cocona

And Big Daddy who only comes out to eat xD
The only one that I have yet to get pics of is Baby who enjoys sitting under the wood log they call home. He is not molting yet and I know he is alive because I can see him walking around. He is just a bit shy.
My first project is getting some plants and more substrate (play sand)!


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They are all super cute and sound like they are doing well.

"Let me shuffle through and find the ones that are alive" sounds just about right for Petco. Although there are Petcos that apparently have figured out how to care for hermit crabs, the ones I've visited in my area haven't a clue: no humidity to speak of (open top plexiglass case), temperature the same as the ambient temp in the store (cold most of the year with the a/c blasting), an inch of substrate at the most, no hides or moss, all painted shells. Any crab I've taken pity on and bought from Petco over the years has never made it through PPS. Fortunately, my local PetSmarts have decent set-ups. They house the crabs in the fish wall, nice steamy humidity/temps, substrate about 3", fish bowl moss pit, all natural shells. My pet store survivors have all come from PetSmarts, including Felix who has been with me for more than 7 years.

Im not trying to be a hypocrite because all my crabs have been from petco and petsmart, but isnt buying the crabs from those places just supporting them? Showing them that their "products" do get bought eventually, which makes them get more and stay in business in the crab department? Like if people just stopped buying hermits ( because honestly around here they are not at all a popular pet) wouldnt they stop selling them, and then they wouldnt have to be in those conditions and instead people just purchase them from breeders or something online instead and they have a better chance of survival and going to a good home, instead of some child with a cage and unnatural shells....? I havent been in crabbing long and this is just my opinion, dont know if its true or not.

On another note, petsmart here definitely does a better job than petco, but petcos crabs are always more friendly. Petsmart uses cocofiber about 2" deep with hidy holes and some moss scattered, but they do still have painted shells. whereas petco has 1/2" deep of pink and blue sand with absolutely NO hiding places and they sell very few crabs in natural shells. I didnt see any dead ones but I seriously doubt they all survive in those conditions, probably just throw em away before the customers come.

ClawedIntoMyHeart wrote: instead people just purchase them from breeders or something online instead and they have a better chance of survival and going to a good home, instead of some child with a cage and unnatural shells....? I havent been in crabbing long and this is just my opinion, dont know if its true or not.

All hermit crabs sold in pet stores or by online vendors are wild-caught: some come from Haiti (PPs), some from South America (Equadorians), some from Indonesia (Violas, Ruggies, Strawberries), etc., so there is no way to avoid getting a hermit crab that wasn't snatched from its native environment. The best route to follow is, of course, adopting a crab from its previous owner via HCA or craigslist postings. That way, the crab is being "recycled" and you're not encouraging vendors to order more. My two latest crabs were craigslist adoptions, saved from incredibly poor conditions.

Oh, yeah I didnt think about that. lol.
I was looking on CL for live hermits and there was only one available, the lady was trying to sell it with nothing else for $20...

landlubber wrote:They are all super cute and sound like they are doing well.

They are doing fantastic! I finally got the humidity levels just right in my tank so they are all coming out to say hello All I need to do is buy some play sand to add to my coco fiber substrate and I already have some nice climbing plants, food, and shells on the way!

Crabinski wrote:"Let me shuffle through and find the ones that are alive" sounds just about right for Petco. Although there are Petcos that apparently have figured out how to care for hermit crabs, the ones I've visited in my area haven't a clue: no humidity to speak of (open top plexiglass case), temperature the same as the ambient temp in the store (cold most of the year with the a/c blasting), an inch of substrate at the most, no hides or moss, all painted shells. Any crab I've taken pity on and bought from Petco over the years has never made it through PPS. Fortunately, my local PetSmarts have decent set-ups. They house the crabs in the fish wall, nice steamy humidity/temps, substrate about 3", fish bowl moss pit, all natural shells. My pet store survivors have all come from PetSmarts, including Felix who has been with me for more than 7 years.

My Petco had the same kind of cases, with nice toys inside,but none of the hermies were playing because of course it was extremely cold and lacked proper humidity. They did have a decent amount of substrate, but the tank was not at all big enough to hold the amount of hermit crabs that they had. They even had the nerve to sell the "Fancy" Hermit Crabs in painted shells for more money. I'm happy mmy crabs seem to be making it through. I just bought some New Crab Healing Food Mix (I think that's what it's called) from Hermie's Kitchen, so I'm hoping that will give them some strenght. None of them have molted or changed shells yet, which surprises me. However, they have been playing with the shells and digging a lot, so maybe a molt is soon to come. I need to hurry and buy some sand so they have more room to dig, but Walmart nor Home Depot had any in stock!

ClawedIntoMyHeart wrote:Im not trying to be a hypocrite because all my crabs have been from petco and petsmart, but isnt buying the crabs from those places just supporting them? Showing them that their "products" do get bought eventually, which makes them get more and stay in business in the crab department? Like if people just stopped buying hermits ( because honestly around here they are not at all a popular pet) wouldnt they stop selling them, and then they wouldnt have to be in those conditions and instead people just purchase them from breeders or something online instead and they have a better chance of survival and going to a good home, instead of some child with a cage and unnatural shells....? I havent been in crabbing long and this is just my opinion, dont know if its true or not.

On another note, petsmart here definitely does a better job than petco, but petcos crabs are always more friendly. Petsmart uses cocofiber about 2" deep with hidy holes and some moss scattered, but they do still have painted shells. whereas petco has 1/2" deep of pink and blue sand with absolutely NO hiding places and they sell very few crabs in natural shells. I didnt see any dead ones but I seriously doubt they all survive in those conditions, probably just throw em away before the customers come.

I compeltely agree, but at the time I wasn't as proverse as I am now, and I did not realize that these condition are similar in many pet stores. I knew that many people did not care for hermit crabs properly, but I thought that maybe a pet store would know a bit more - if that makes sense. I know now that if I get some more crabbies (which I probably will) I plan on adopting or buy from a breeder who raises their crabs in proper conditions.

Crabinski wrote: All hermit crabs sold in pet stores or by online vendors are wild-caught: some come from Haiti (PPs), some from South America (Equadorians), some from Indonesia (Violas, Ruggies, Strawberries), etc., so there is no way to avoid getting a hermit crab that wasn't snatched from its native environment. The best route to follow is, of course, adopting a crab from its previous owner via HCA or craigslist postings. That way, the crab is being "recycled" and you're not encouraging vendors to order more. My two latest crabs were craigslist adoptions, saved from incredibly poor conditions.

I love to think my little crabbies came from Haiti, since I am Haitian, and maybe I can remind them of home (I know that makes no sense lol)

ClawedIntoMyHeart wrote:Oh, yeah I didnt think about that. lol.
I was looking on CL for live hermits and there was only one available, the lady was trying to sell it with nothing else for $20...

That is expensive but it is around Christmas time, so maybe they are trying to get a high price for a gift - I would try to get her to drop the price by explaining to her how the conditions the crab is in currently (if they are bad) is unhealthy for the crab, and you could give it a good home. In my area the Hermit Crabs I find on CL seem to be 2+ hours away and I can't afford to travel that fart at the moment unfortunately.

biancaalexis wrote:I need to hurry and buy some sand so they have more room to dig, but Walmart nor Home Depot had any in stock!

If you are near a Lowe's, they also carry the 50lb bags of playsand at around $5 a bag.

Crabinski wrote: If you are near a Lowe's, they also carry the 50lb bags of playsand at around $5 a bag.

I tried that too. I think they all get their shipments at the same time since thy are close to each other and people here use sand a lot because of flooding (I live in Florida)


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biancaalexis wrote: My Petco had the same kind of cases, with nice toys inside,but none of the hermies were playing because of course it was extremely cold and lacked proper humidity. They did have a decent amount of substrate, but the tank was not at all big enough to hold the amount of hermit crabs that they had. They even had the nerve to sell the "Fancy" Hermit Crabs in painted shells for more money. I'm happy mmy crabs seem to be making it through. I just bought some New Crab Healing Food Mix (I think that's what it's called) from Hermie's Kitchen, so I'm hoping that will give them some strenght. None of them have molted or changed shells yet, which surprises me. However, they have been playing with the shells and digging a lot, so maybe a molt is soon to come. I need to hurry and buy some sand so they have more room to dig, but Walmart nor Home Depot had any in stock!

I got my sand from tractor supply

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Ljferg95 wrote: I got my sand from tractor supply

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I'll go check that out tomorrow! There's actually one pretty close to md


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