HCA: Hermit Crab Association

It’s been a month since I got my 4 hermits! They are all so cute and nice...to each other! Well at least mr.krabs likes me. Anyway my setup is a 40 gallon tank and I have no heating pad so far (sorry working on it) but I have a large light and my average temp is 70-75. I can’t find a humidity gauge in my local stores so I’m doing everything possible to keep their humidity up! Give some suggestions please! Any tips or tricks would do me wonders. I use eco earth coco fiber and plan to add some play sand sooner or later but everywhere I go only sales crayola play pit sand! I have 2 dishes both flukers, one for salt and one for fresh, I use distilled water for fresh ( is that okay? ) and I use distilled water and all living things soaking salt for the salt water. I have a coconut hut and a larger rock thing that’s like a hut but it doesn’t have any dangerous paints or anything and they love it, I also have a large vertical rock with large holes in it- mr Krabs loves it- this accompanied by some small grapewood logs for them to play on and some zoo med Moss. For other climbing related things I have a large net on one side of the tank and a smaller metal climbing thing for them saved in case they can find a way to escape from the net (precaution?) they can also climb the rock and the small logs as well as I put a net on the side of the large rock hut so they can get on top of it (they drag dirt up there all the time). For food I give them kale, carrots, oatmeal (recomended by youtuber),medley, dried mealworms, sometimes a strawberry but they don’t like them much, calcium powder (All living things), and I also give them treats sometimes, along with meat and such (unseasoned and raw). Things that are too large to boil I rinse under very hot water for a little bit until I feel sure it’s safe to put in their enclosure (is that alright?) I don’t handle my crabs unless they come up to me-Mr Krabs my largest crab comes up to me whenever I’m changing their food and water to see what I’m doing, sometimes he’ll grab onto my sleeve or just climb onto me, however the others do a lot less of this and I respect that so I leave them be, however I’m concerned one of my crabs may be lethargic since I don’t see him eat very often. And little brother is quite pale however I have just widened their diet to more d3 and calcium, also adding a more shallow dish for drinking and the moss to help the humidity. I’m concerned for his health but I already posted in the emergency forum about that issue since he had an incident awhile back. I also have a hard time finding shells big enough for Mr.Krabs ( I feel bad he doesn’t have as wide as an option as the others do) while he’s still small-about an inch or two- he isn’t very aware of his size and I’ve had to rescue him a bit and is why I banned huts that have non closed interiors or are too small for him ( i specifically bought a hut thinking of Little Brother but Mr.Krabs got stuck inside) I was worried cause he hasn’t come out to eat that day and I couldn’t find him anywhere until I started looking in the hut and I found him edged in the ceiling part of the hut.
I have a low budget to them since my family is convinced they don’t need a heating pad although they are tropical crustaceans >:(. However I usually end up trying my best to cash out on them as much as I can so they can be happier and healthier. I may be over exaggerating when I say lethargic but that is only a slight concern as leelo is probably molting. Also I have quite an issue with finding shells locally that aren’t painted or “glow in the dark” that are safe or fit my 2 crabs - mr Krabs my largest and little brother my smallest... at best the decorative shells have a better chance at fitting him.

Questions!!
Is all living things a good or trusted brand ?
How can I help Little Brother become healthier?
I need a cheap food source so I can properly feed them when times get tough- any suggestions?
Is there any where that sells used or new items for crabs ? Like EBay but for crabs?
Should I be concerned about anything I use?
What are some ways to get more humidity/heat?
S h e l l s ?
I want to add a second floor or vines to my crabitat? How should I go about this?
Does change in their environment cause stress?
How can I overall prevent autonomy?
What is a way that I can help their molting process?
Is there anything I am desperately missing ( other than a humidity gauge and heating pad?)
Should I be concerned about them falling from a high area?
Is there anything that can give them a health boost or help soothe them with their PPS?
I want to get a lot more stuff but they just don’t sell it where I live! And I can’t regularly order off of online (it costs more)
Any tips, hints, tricks, to ANYTHING will be extremely helpful and beneficial!

Thank you love <3
ReisDai

Hi hi!

Home Depot or Lowe's should have regular playsand, and you can get a hygrometer from the lighting/and/or humidifyer section of the same stores. Be sure that the sub is a minimum of 6" high, ooor three time the hight of your biggest crab - whichever is deepest.

Crabs should always dig underground to moult. If you catch one moulting above ground it's called a surface moult - and you should isolate this crab as it will be vulnerable. Deep sub will help reduce risk of surface moults.

Humidity can be improved by sealing the top of the tank (what kind of lid do you have? If mesh, covering with plastic wrap or press and seal will do the trick... I have an acrylic lid, which works really well), and by adding an airstone bubbler to the pools.

Lights tend to zap humidity & arent putting out heat at night if you turn them off (which you should), so I would recommend prioritizing a heater. "Under Tank Heaters" (used on the side, not the bottom of the tank like the name suggests) are typically the best option, and a brand called Ultratherm are best for crabbers because they can be insulated if need be. But you're working on it, so that's good!

Distilled water isn't ideal - the best thing is probably to use tap water, with a dechlorinator. When you buy dechlorinator, look for three things: that it removes chloramines, ammonia, & heavy metals. It'll say it does on the lable. Prime is a popular brand.

Salt: unfortunately, All Living Things salt doesn't have the minerals and elements that the crabs need to be healthy over the long term. What you want to get instead is a synthetc Marine Salt Water (or MSW) salt, made for salt water aquariums. (And don't get 'Aquarium Salt' either... it's not the same thing... lol, so much to remember! ). Common brands include Instant Ocean, Kent Marine, and Red Sea Salt. Pet shops that sell saltwater fish will have this, and it can be ordered online.

While calcium is super important, calcium with d3 likely isn't necessary for crustaceans IMO... we don't have any evidence that d3 is useful to them (that I've ever heard of) - they aren't like vertibrates in terms of many of their bodily processes, and this isn't surprising if you consider that they evolved along very different branches from vertibrates generally, and reptiles (for which we design calcium powders) in particular.

Anyhow, sticking a cuttlebone in the sand & leaving it there offers the crabs a constant source of calcium for them to pick at & saves you having to mess with powder (I know I can't seem to touch calcium powder without getting it everywhere ). Just a thought.

Crabs do periodically become inactive, or slow down prior to a moult. Keep an eye of your lethargic crab, making sure he doesn't ditch his shell or begin moulting on the surface - but otherwise try not to worry.... their moulting cycles can dictate whether they are active or pokey. Their appetites can be affected by moult cycles too - don't worry if they don't seem to be eating.

Food:

Crabs tend to eat relatively small portions. If you cut up cooked or raw veggies & fruits & put them in freezer bags, they last a looooong time. Ditto seafood - a bag of raw shrimp and/or clam meat (check for preservatives ) lasts foooorevaaaar. Freeze dried or frozen blister packs of bloodworms, krill, mysis shrimp, clam, brine shrimp, or whatever from the petstore are great (still checking for preservatives ). I make powdered dry food mixes from anything & everything on the safe food list and feed these when I feel lazy (most of the time ). You can put organic baby food in ice cube trays & transfer this to freezer bags for quick fruit & veggie fixes.

Cut stuff up teeny: crabs have miniscule mouths.

I'll link the crab nutrition page in case you haven't seen it yet - it's super good reading. Don't underestimate the nutritional value of dried leaves & bark. Also - worm and herbivore (like rabbits or deer if you can get it) poop. If your snake isnt on any meds, it's sheds will be welcomed with open claws.

As for ALT brand... I don't pretend to know every product they offer, but they make enough crab un-safe stuff/useless junk that I wont give them my money. Honestly, their lack of research & apparent disinterest in providing good quality products for hermits makes me very annoyed. Ditto other pet companies. As much as possible, I personally avoid pet store brands & source cheeper/ better stuff from groceries stores, hardware shops, or else buy from small online crab specific retailers. But that's me. I get grumpy about this topic.

Check out the retail resources listed in the FAQ section! There's good stuff! Some of our members even have shops.

Organic *unpasteurized * honey is considered a healing food - and crabs really like it. You can offer your little guy some of this.

I think you mean "autotomy" and not "autonomy".... when legs fall off, right? Autocorrect doese not like this word. Best way to prevent any kind of illness is to provide proper temps, high humidity (80% +), lots of hiding places, deep enough substrate (crabs really need deep sub), aaand a varied diet. The rest is luck. It's probably good that you don't handle them much - this will likely help them.

Correct marine salt is also key to good health - if they have as much of the trace minerals/salts and calcium as they need, it'll go a long way to keeping them healthy. These things facilitate chemical bodily functions.

Falling from hight within their tank is unlikely to harm them. They climb a lot in the wild & presumably fall sometimes. I've read a couple instances of a fall off a table onto a hard floor causing a cracked shell - but it's really rare. I'd file this concern under "don't worry about it."

Yes a change in environment can cause stress. Providing lots of hiding places can help to minimize this.

The Shell page! It has species specific lists of prefetrred shells, as well as shells to avoid. So useful. You can find it in the FAQ ... and the shopping resources lists places to buy shells. (I'm partial to Richards, myself.)



Nutrition page:
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