HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello! I am a first time crab owner, well really my 8 year old is. She finally convinced someone (her uncle) to get her a hermit crab and here we are. We have had Sharkie Hermie Destructo for a couple of months now. I did some research right away as I knew his small critter keeper was not going to be enough. We live in a small town type of area, so pet stores do not have adequate supplies for hermit crabs. We have to order all our stuff online. He is in a 10g tank with his friend Bob Hermes whom I purchased after I realized he should have a buddy. I feed them the food on the safe list as well as ensure that they had fresh and saltwater. I have since read that the stuff I have was inadequate so I have the proper Instant Ocean salt on order. I have also found out that the temp and humidity was not up to par, so we also have a UTH on order as well as sphagnum moss to help with the humidity. I currently try to spritz as best as possible to ensure humidity stays up.

My concern is Sharkie has been buried for around 5 or 6 weeks now. We hope he is molting, but after reading some more info on the forum our cocofiber/playsand mixture is not enough. We maybe have 3 inches. Is there any way to add substrate to the tank without disturbing Sharkie? Should I just leave it alone until he comes up? Is it normal for him to be down that long?

I really want to do my best to give these little guys the best home possible and ensure their survival. My daughter loves Sharkie and I would hate for anything to happen to him especially if I could prevent it.

Thank you!!!

Hi and welcome!

It is normal for him to be down that long. Some crabs will de stress for a couple of weeks before they molt. He might also be coming up at night while you are asleep and going back down before you wake up.

Depending on the size of the crab he could molt for a few months. The best thing I did was to write down the date they went down, all of them. I have a small little notebook from the school section at Walmart and I write stuff like that down. Just an fyi.

You can add more substrate to the top of what you already have and I would do that ASAP! So the other crabs do not try to dig him up. The reason for the large amount of substrate is so when they are molting no other crab can smell them as they do have a slight molting smell that is attractive to other crabs. I think it smells like food, to them. Lol

Hope this helps. Btw, how many shells do you have?


Bobbi in Cincinnati - with my 13 hermit crabs, 1 bearded dragon - Sir Wallace and 5 rescue cats!!

Sharkie Hermie Destructo is one of the best crab names I have ever seen. Love it.

My son was 7 when my mom brought him 2 hermit crabs from Galveston.

Sounds like you are getting everything situated.

You can add about 1/2 inch of sub a day, just do it gently.

Best of luck to Sharkie Hermie Destructo! (And Bob Hermie)

I love the name too, very cute
If you add sub try not to push it down or compact it! Good luck sounds like they have a wonderful home in the making!!!

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Thank you! My 8 year old gave him the name. She loves sharks and his painted shell has a shark on it, so from that the name was born.

I currently have 4 shells, but honestly I think they probably aren't very good at all. Just a couple of shells I found at the local petsmart. I'm reading up on them here to find the best place to get quality shells for our crabbies.

For the substrate, do I mix the play sand and cocofiber together and then add it a bit at a time?

Thank you for the help. I am really hoping Sharkie is molting and he will be out soon.

In the time I've had my babies! I've only found one usable shell from petsmart. However, If you go to Joann's fabric, they carry a bag of green turbos for 3$. They vary from small to (a little over) an inch! Happy crabbing

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I never thought about Joann's!!!!! Thank you I will look there.

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