HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have been super appreciative of all the help I’ve received from this group so far! I wish I would have found this site before getting our crabs- luckily we did a good amount of research so I was pretty well prepared but in the two weeks since bringing the crabs home I’ve learned A LOT on here and made some major adjustments to our 10 gallon crabitat today. Using all eco earth for substrate, at least 6 inches deep. Feeding a variety of fresh foods and changing every day/every other day. Both FW and MSW and Deeper water dishes (with rocks that create a ramp into the water, secured with aquarium safe glue) air pump and air stones going! Also added a hammock with live moss inside of it, cholla wood as a ramp into the hammock, and hideaway house. My main concern is that there isn’t enough “floor space” for them to walk around?

Upon returning them to their tank today they were WAY more active than usual- I couldn’t tell if they were terrified or just checking things out. They are both PPs, one is medium and the other on the smaller medium side. The larger crab was VERY territorial of his chosen hiding place and stretched all of his legs and claws out at the smaller crab- what is that all about?! basically I am terrified of stressing these guys out either with having their crabitat off or them not getting along... does it look okay in there?! Currently, the smaller guy (Hermie) is buried in the moss in the hammock and the bigger one (Herbert... my 7 year old named them ) is hanging out on top of the hammock




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Looks like a good setup to me, i think you did an amazing job. As long as theirs no physical aggression, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

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Unfortunately, there will never seem to be enough room. I have a 90 gallon with 7 crabs. And a 40 gallon with 6. And there just isn't enough room. I would love a 130 gallon or larger.

Wow that's beautiful! i wish i had an eye for design like y'all, my 10 gallon looked horrible.

ciaraalston wrote:Wow that's beautiful! i wish i had an eye for design like y'all, my 10 gallon looked horrible.

It looked really nice. The pics make it look like a 29 gallon

It’s been 4 days and I don’t think our larger crab, Herbert, has moved from the top of the hammock and Hermie is spending 99% of his (her? my son just assumed they are both boys and I haven’t handled them to confirm) time in the hammock buried in the moss. Can I assume it’s more humid in there than the overall tank reading (getting ideal humidity has been a real struggle)? Do I need to rewet the moss? If so, how often?


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kaykmerr wrote:It’s been 4 days and I don’t think our larger crab, Herbert, has moved from the top of the hammock and Hermie is spending 99% of his (her? my son just assumed they are both boys and I haven’t handled them to confirm) time in the hammock buried in the moss. Can I assume it’s more humid in there than the overall tank reading (getting ideal humidity has been a real struggle)? Do I need to rewet the moss? If so, how often?


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I wet my moss pretty regularly to keep it moist. But only 1 crab likes the wet moss. The rest like the dry moss on the ground. They refuse to let me put it in a caddy or in their shell shops. They drag it out and keep it behind their big tree.

To be on the safe side, I'd mist it occasionally if needed. But not enough to flood the tank. If it's dripping wet, that's too much ***in my opinion***
I'd keep it damp just to help boost humidity.

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