New Member. Three year Crab owner.
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 8:42 pm
Hello,
While I am new to registering, i've used this site as a source for information in the past. It has been very helpful. I would like to up my Hermit Crab game once my family moves back home in a couple of months. I was hoping to share my experience so far and ask some questions. This is a link to some pics I took last night and today: http://imgur.com/a/u1kgf
I am pretty sure both of my crabs (Joey and Samantha) are PP's. They were purchased three years ago on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland with and for my daughter. She is 8 now and we take care of them together. Once we got home, I did not want to do what most people did, and treat them as a throw away pet. I did some research and created the Crabitat (20 gallon tank) seen in the picture. It has pretty much remained the same as the pics in the link.
My crabs have two water bowls, one fresh and one salt (instant ocean. half a cup salt to 1 gallon of water) Water is treated for chlorine and such. They have both moved in to bigger shells throughout the years. Currently them seem to swap between the two they are in and one or two similar sized shells. I also ordered some new shells recently since they never seem to touch the bigger ones I have. As Substrate I have always used just compressed coconut fiber, soaked in salt water. Last night I cleaned their tank, and everything in it and replaced the substrate with coconut fiber and play sand mix. I read on here that a lot of people like a 5:1 ratio with sand being the 5. I began adding to that tank with that ratio in mind but I didnt like it so I added more Coconut fiber. It is probably closer to a 50/50 ratio at this point. I am concerned about the consistency now, the substrate seems a lot denser than just fiber and I wondering if my crabs will be able to dig effectively in it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Anyway, since getting these two, I enjoy keeping up with their crabitat and after learning more, I am shocked to see how awful the pet trade is for these guys. I do not want to support it by buying any more, even though every time I see them in the pet stores I am appalled by the conditions of their crabitats and want so badly to save them. Also, the selection of shells and other crab items is pathetic in most places. I have bought three from pet stores on three occasions. I wanted to keep my tank at 3 crabs until I could get a bigger one. I lost each of them unfortunately. two only lasted a couple of weeks and one almost a year. I am not really sure of the cause. (to clarify, the three pet store purchases were each after the previous one died. I never had more than 3 at a time in my small tank)
Well, I'm rambling I think. I look forward to learning more from this site and its members.
Rob
While I am new to registering, i've used this site as a source for information in the past. It has been very helpful. I would like to up my Hermit Crab game once my family moves back home in a couple of months. I was hoping to share my experience so far and ask some questions. This is a link to some pics I took last night and today: http://imgur.com/a/u1kgf
I am pretty sure both of my crabs (Joey and Samantha) are PP's. They were purchased three years ago on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland with and for my daughter. She is 8 now and we take care of them together. Once we got home, I did not want to do what most people did, and treat them as a throw away pet. I did some research and created the Crabitat (20 gallon tank) seen in the picture. It has pretty much remained the same as the pics in the link.
My crabs have two water bowls, one fresh and one salt (instant ocean. half a cup salt to 1 gallon of water) Water is treated for chlorine and such. They have both moved in to bigger shells throughout the years. Currently them seem to swap between the two they are in and one or two similar sized shells. I also ordered some new shells recently since they never seem to touch the bigger ones I have. As Substrate I have always used just compressed coconut fiber, soaked in salt water. Last night I cleaned their tank, and everything in it and replaced the substrate with coconut fiber and play sand mix. I read on here that a lot of people like a 5:1 ratio with sand being the 5. I began adding to that tank with that ratio in mind but I didnt like it so I added more Coconut fiber. It is probably closer to a 50/50 ratio at this point. I am concerned about the consistency now, the substrate seems a lot denser than just fiber and I wondering if my crabs will be able to dig effectively in it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Anyway, since getting these two, I enjoy keeping up with their crabitat and after learning more, I am shocked to see how awful the pet trade is for these guys. I do not want to support it by buying any more, even though every time I see them in the pet stores I am appalled by the conditions of their crabitats and want so badly to save them. Also, the selection of shells and other crab items is pathetic in most places. I have bought three from pet stores on three occasions. I wanted to keep my tank at 3 crabs until I could get a bigger one. I lost each of them unfortunately. two only lasted a couple of weeks and one almost a year. I am not really sure of the cause. (to clarify, the three pet store purchases were each after the previous one died. I never had more than 3 at a time in my small tank)
Well, I'm rambling I think. I look forward to learning more from this site and its members.
Rob
And your tank looks amazing, I love the piece of driftwood!
)