HCA: Hermit Crab Association

We had a couple of crabs when I was a kid, so I'm not exactly completely brand new... but this is my first time owning them as an adult, so I guess that counts.

I live in QLD, Australia. It's currently early spring, so the weather is cool, but not cold.

I got 5 middle size (approx 2 inch) crabs mid-august, who all decided that the new tank was perfect for moulting, and promptly dug deep and buried themselves. A week later I decided to get 3 more small ones (approx half inch) so I'd have something to look at, and at worst would have them disappear for a week or two... and they've now also dug down.

In the 3 foot tank I've got a 5:1 playsand:coir mix (they seem to enjoy munching on the coir) and I put a half inch layer of volcanic rock for water absorption underneath to help keep the sand moist. For decoration, I've got fishtank-suitable branches with air plants hot-melt glued on, and a couple of other moist-liking plants.

Salt water pond on one side, fresh on the other.

I don't have any food in at the moment, as there has been absolutely no activity for about a week and a half (no mounds, no footprints, no holes), and i didn't want to waste it or attract ants etc.

I've been having problems with condensation, so I've ordered a fan to help with air circulation and evening out the temperature a bit better, as the warm air seems to sit up a bit high. Also waiting on a couple more thermometer/hygrometers, which i haven't been able to find locally. Any suggestions for placement?

For the UTH, i have a 20 watt one which covers most of the back wall. I've used a foam board used for insulation behind it to make sure the heat isn't wasted. The silver insulation tape has proven to be highly effective, especially when you need to move or adjust things. I find it boring to look at, though, so would i be able to use an aquarium backdrop between it and the tank?

How long before i start to get worried about them not surfacing? They were in a tank with about 1cm of substrate in it at the pet shop, so i can understand if they decided they were desperate to moult... but it's kinda boring, looking at an empty tank for weeks on end.

I'll probably think of more questions later, so here's a picture of the current setup!

I'm gonna vent with you. Same boat. I've had two down for about 8 weeks. I bought two more and they are scared to death and won't come out unless the lights are completely off and no one is around.. the pet sand is a bit frustrating. That said, I feel terrible about the two I had as a kid that slowly suffocated in their critter keeper I kept them in when I didn't know any better. I want to give a few crabs a life of luxury compared to most captive crabs.

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Don't start to worry for at least four months, maybe more, LOL.

Your decor looks stunning!

Condensation happens due to the difference in temps from the outside of the tank and the inside of the tank.

Even though your crabs are down, you should provide a small amount of food in the tank, for you never know when they will come back up, so you always want food available for them, as well as calcium.

Make sure you are using saltwater to make saltwater fishtanks, and not hermit crab bottled saltwater, that is not sufficient for them.

I know it is frustrating having "PET SAND" ;P But, it's pretty normal! Don't dig! They know what they are doing! Have patience!

I personally like my hygrometers up high, put having them placed all over is ideal

One finally came up yesterday morning! I heard clicking against the tank, so I put some food in... then just after I went to bed, another came up... but it's gone down again now. They both sampled a couple of bits of food, but didn't seem very hungry.

I use hermit crab salt and mix it with dechlorinated water in an empty 2L softdrink bottle (makes measuring easy), and then put it into an empty 600mL softdrink bottle so it's easy to pour into the dish. I have arthritis in my hands, so holding onto heavy bottles is difficult.

Humidity is mostly around 77%, and temp is between 26 - 28C. I'm not sure if I'll need the heating pad in summer, as it gets pretty warm here.

Is there any good (cheap) source for shells? $9 each at shops or the ridiculous prices on amazon/ebay seem absurd...

I just discovered Naples from another post..... and just spent $30 on shells of all things.... haha

Meznuraie wrote:I just discovered Naples from another post..... and just spent $30 on shells of all things.... haha

Once you see how happy your crabs are with the new shells, you'll be excited about them too lol!

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CrabbyLover77 wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 17, 2020 8:07 pm

Once you see how happy your crabs are with the new shells, you'll be excited about them too lol!

I found a bag of shells at a cheapie store, but they were all the same colour... I'm hoping they will like at least some of the new shells so i can start to tell them apart.

Meznuraie wrote: I found a bag of shells at a cheapie store, but they were all the same colour... I'm hoping they will like at least some of the new shells so i can start to tell them apart.

It's def better to tell them apart when they choose different shells. I try to take note of my crabs' eye, body, antennae, colors to help me identify them should they play musical chairs with their shells.

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Meznuraie wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 17, 2020 6:44 pm

One finally came up yesterday morning! I heard clicking against the tank, so I put some food in... then just after I went to bed, another came up... but it's gone down again now. They both sampled a couple of bits of food, but didn't seem very hungry.

I use hermit crab salt and mix it with dechlorinated water in an empty 2L softdrink bottle (makes measuring easy), and then put it into an empty 600mL softdrink bottle so it's easy to pour into the dish. I have arthritis in my hands, so holding onto heavy bottles is difficult.

Humidity is mostly around 77%, and temp is between 26 - 28C. I'm not sure if I'll need the heating pad in summer, as it gets pretty warm here.

Is there any good (cheap) source for shells? $9 each at shops or the ridiculous prices on amazon/ebay seem absurd...

Hermit crab salt mix is not the right kind of salt for them. Unfortunately most products marketed for hermit crabs are not safe. A lot of us use a product called Instant Ocean which is what aquarium hobbyists use to make saltwater aquariums. It has the essential trace elements that hermit crabs need.

Do they know not to let go when they're up high? I finally have 2 crabs out and about, and this one has decided to go for the highest point in the tank! I'm worried about it falling if it decides to hide in it's shell suddenly...

Just try not to spook him. However, if he does happen to take a tumble, he'll probably be fine. I've walked in on my crabs, and had them tumble because they retracted in their shell when they saw me. They've always been ok. They're tougher than they look lol!

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Your crab will be fine Hermit crabs are also known as tree crabs

It's been 4 months since I got my crabs, and they're all going..... crabbily? They seem to spend 90% of their time doing laps around the outer edge of the tank. It's like they've made themselves a "beaten path" so to speak.

Today I decided the crabitat was looking a bit tatty, since they ate most of the plants, and I decided to prettify the tank again! They seem to appreciate it. Not sure how the mini broms will go, but we can but try.

Since it's summer, I've had the heating pad turned off for a couple of weeks now, especially with the heat wave we just had. It was getting over 30C at night with it turned to its lowest setting... and I figure since hermies are native to this area, it won't hurt them as long as the humidity is good (staying between 75 - 85% depending on whether I'm misting the plants). Temperatures are ranging between 26C at night, to 30C during the day (inside the tank). I haven't had any look like they're overheating, and find they're a lot more actively climbing around on the warmer days.

Thought I'd post an update, anyway! Hope you like the freshened tank!

Tank looks cool! When this popped up, I read through some and saw where your one guy was on the tippy top of that stick, lol. Mine do that kind of stuff all the time and I have so many night vision videos of them falling off stuff. Used to worry me, but I figure it’s a part of their crabby life and they always get up! I have one in particular, Turbo (he’s under at the moment), that would climb to the top of the cookie cooling rack I have in there (just another homemade climbing toy, haha) and once he was directly over the pool, he would let go and fall in the water. I swear he had to be doing it intentionally! There’s one video where it looks like he is literally launching himself off the top and straight into the pool, it’s pretty funny! Silly crabs


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