New to hermit crabs

Please post here if you are a new crab owner and someone will be along shortly to welcome you to the HCA! This is also the place to welcome new crabbies to your clan!

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Boshia
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New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Tue Jan 12, 2016 8:55 pm

Hi everyone, I'm Boshia. I live in Florida, and today I was gifted two hermit crabs out of the blue. Of course the first thing I do is hop on the internet to find out that everything I knew about the care of hermit crabs was wrong. So, I've been spending the whole day reading up on them and constructing a temporary 5.5 gal(the only tank I have available) home for them. I went out and bought some supplies. So far the humidity is in the high 80's to low 90's, and the temperature is hovering right around 76*F. They have a five inch substrate of sand and coco fiber, two different water bowls, things to climb on, a place to hide, a food dish of honey and hard boiled egg, some sphagnum moss, and an assortment of shells. I will be the first to admit that it is cramped in there. I am in the process of rehoming a betta, and soon these guys will have a 10 gallon tank to call their home!

Some pictures!
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This guy was itching to get put in the tank, he kept trying to crawl around while I was taking these pictures! When he was placed in the tank the first thing he did was make a beeline for the salt water bowl!
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This is the other guy, he wasn't very friendly at first. But once he got up and started moving, I had the pleasure to watch him switch shells! It's a relief to know that one of them is out of their painted shells, now.
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Him in his new shell.

Am I right in thinking they are both Purple Pinchers(Coenobita clypeatus)? And I know the tank size is less than ideal at the moment, I am working on giving them a bigger home, but besides that is there anything else I can do to better their quality of life? Do you guys see anything about their health or anything else that I should be aware of?

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hermitcrabdc
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by hermitcrabdc » Tue Jan 12, 2016 9:52 pm

Congrats and welcome to the HCA!
Yes, they are both C. clypeatus :) They look like they're in need of a molt, badly. Keep a lot of protein in their food dish so they can have a safe molt!
The only other thing I might ask is what kind of shells do you have in there? I see the whale eyes but Purple pinchers aren't always a fan of those. Maybe look into getting them some turbos if you don't have any in there :)
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Boshia
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Tue Jan 12, 2016 10:22 pm

Hi! How can you tell that they need to molt? And I'm unfamiliar with the shell types, these are the shells I currently have in the tank for them:
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And a quick picture of the other dude that's still in his painted shell, I think he's burrowing?
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The pet shop had Gardner's Hermit Crab food. I bought a container, and it seems to be on the OK list for commercial foods. Besides that, what other protein rich foods can I feed them?

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landlubber
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by landlubber » Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:38 pm

Hi there, welcome to the HCA! What a colony of cuties you have there! That white patch on the first pic is rather unusual, I don't think I've ever seen exo look quite like that (normally colors kind of fade into each other-that looks like a patch). Not that I think it's anything to worry about, It's just unique.

I am of the opinion that a varied diet is one of the secrets to their good health. There is a Food and Water subforum under the Crab Care forum-here's a link-

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... m.php?f=25

There are safe/unsafe food lists, but reading the Hermit Crab Nutrition by Kilimanjaro sticky will help you understand what they need so you can make the best choices on what to feed them.

Regarding pre-molting signs there are lots of them, some are behavioral such as becoming more lethargic, eating and drinking more, practice digging, and some are visual-in your guys case their exo looks a little ashy, and their molting toe nails (you can see the black, sharp toenail on one limb in one picture-they get these toenails during their molts) have mostly been warn down-indicating they haven't molted in a while. Also, it's always a safe bet that crabs that have come from conditions which aren't great haven't molted in a while-they have a hormone that is released which keeps them from molting until conditions are right. Newbies are very often badly in need of a molt.
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aussieJJDude
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by aussieJJDude » Wed Jan 13, 2016 6:50 am

Hello and welcome! :)
As for the shells, see the green one in the middle. That's a species of turbo shell which your particular crabbies love to cram their squishy little butts in them! :) Goggle Images - Turbo Shells <<< A basic understanding (it has piccies :lol: ) of some turbo shells that you may come across. And here is a useful guide of shells that you may enjoy. Comes rather handy next time when you might need some more shells! :)

If you haven't done so already, a quick look through the Care Sheets, Guides, and Frequently Asked Questions will help gain some more knowledge and reinforce prior knowledge.
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Boshia
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:29 pm

Thanks, you guys! I've ordered an assorted pack of Medium shells from the Hermit Crab Patch, along with two turbos. I also got their hermit crab sampler deal, and a more appropriate food dish- I have their food in a flat shell at the moment, and today I woke up to find the food all over the tank! My guy in the green shell has been buried all day and now I'm sitting watching him go around the tank. The guy in the painted shell(he has Patrick painted on the shell, so for now he's called Patrick) hasn't done much so far. He's still in the same corner, but he's walked a little bit. Is it concerning that he hasn't switched shells yet?

After looking at the food pyramid, I added cuttlebone and pumpkin seeds to their food dish for tonight.


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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by aussieJJDude » Thu Jan 14, 2016 5:55 am

Is it concerning that he hasn't switched shells yet?
Yes and No. Yes, in the terms that it's a painted shell (complete with all the disadvantages associated with them) and no; as some crabs can be picky and will change shells when they stumble across a suitable one. I'm sure that when your order from the HCP (hermit crab patch) comes in, Patrick will change into a turbo or some other shell. :)
As you discovered, hermit crabs can be quite messy! For me, I discovered that the hermit crabs will make a mess no matter what size the food dish is. It's just one of the crabby flaws.
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Boshia
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:28 pm

Thanks aussie, I actually went to Michael's today to get some things for the future 10 gallon and I picked up a pack that had three turbo shells in it! A few are slightly bigger than what I have now, so I hope Patrick will change into those. He's been hiding somewhere in the tank, I think he dug a hole and put moss over it or something. I can't find him anywhere!
Regarding their 10 gallon, which may be available for use sometime next week; would it be wise to switch them once it is ready, or wait until they both molt for the first time to do it? I'll be able to have deeper substrate in the 10 gallon, but I'm worried about more stress.

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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:15 am

Most likely they will be buried and just destressing. As you can gather, the shipping process from the wild to your tank is long, hard and highly stressful. It's common for the crabs to just bury down a chill, some crabs even go the extra mile of moulting.
Your tank conditions sound wonderful, so there's no hurry to change them out and cause more stress. Plus it gives you a good opportunity to set up the new 10g exactly how you want it to look like. :) Once they come up, then you can change them over.
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Topic author
Boshia
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Sat Jan 16, 2016 6:25 pm

Thanks, I've finally ordered everything I need for the 10g and it should be available to use next week if the betta adoption goes well! I'll wait for them to surface like you suggested, both of them are buried near each other at the moment. I'm kind of worried about that, but I hope they'll play nice. This is the tank that they're in right now:
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Not the best, it's serviceable for now.
I also made the mistake of checking out a pet store I haven't been to before. It was pretty neat, it's been a while since I've seen a Knight anole! I was really enjoying myself, until I found the hermit crabs...a small glass tank with the driest coco fiber I've ever seen dusted along the bottom of the tank. There was nowhere for the poor crabs to hide, and the one water dish that was there was absolutely filthy. They had those stupid shells with football helmets glued onto them. I asked to look at the hermit crabs they had, and the lady took out two crabs. One was in a natural shell. He was very active and kept trying to run away, and the other was in a painted shell. He stayed locked in his shell. To get him to move she placed him in that dirty water dish. I felt so bad for them, and I wanted to save both of them. After thinking about it though, I just decided to get one- the smaller one in the natural shell. I know I shouldn't be encouraging those horrible conditions by buying from them, but I wanted to give at least one of them a chance to survive. Right now he's in the same corner where the other two are supposedly buried, and he's just hanging around on the surface. He's not fully in his shell.
I'm just praying that when the 10g is all set up it won't take long for the hermit crabs to surface, I know that the sooner they're into the bigger tank, the better. To be honest I'm kind of kicking myself for not waiting until the 10g was set up to get this guy, but at least now he has the proper humidity, temperature, food(river shrimp and krill for dinner, yum!), and substrate. Blah.

Some pictures of the new guy:
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Him in his container on the way home, with a quarter for reference.
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Did I do this chart correctly, and if so is it correct that he's a medium?
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This picture was taken before I added that little cork cave in the first picture, I wanted them to have another place to hide.
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I noticed he has little hairs on his legs, but he has no black toenails. He must be due for a molt soon too, I guess.
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The shell that he is in is a whale's eye, right?

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KellyCrabbieLove
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by KellyCrabbieLove » Sat Jan 16, 2016 9:27 pm

I think so (about it being a whale's eye) he is adorable!!!!

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landlubber
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by landlubber » Sun Jan 17, 2016 12:23 am

He certainly is a cutie in his whale eye shell! You got some great shots of him. :)
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Boshia
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:18 am

Thanks! Of course he's ditched the whale's eye and is now in a green turbo, the same kind that my other one is in. I've made some notes to be able to tell them apart. He hasn't dug down or even showed any interest in digging. But he sure is vigilant, because every time I walk by the tank I see his shell immediately fall down xD.


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Topic author
Boshia
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New to hermit crabs

Post by Boshia » Fri Mar 04, 2016 3:04 am

I just wanted to report back that one of them finally resurfaced! I think it's the one that was in the Batman shell, I just realized you guys can't see some of the pictures anymore, I moved them around on Photobucket. But he's been down for around seven weeks, and his toenails are so sharp now! I put him in the 10 gallon, and of course the first thing he did is get behind the fishing net...poor guy, I helped him out.
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landlubber
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Re: New to hermit crabs

Post by landlubber » Fri Mar 04, 2016 6:00 pm

He looks fantastic! Congrats on the molt! :D
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1 Boxer puppy, 1 Yorchie mutt, 1 cat, 1 ball python, 1 boa

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