Bought on vacation and now learning the ropes

[jesseplee]

Hello all, new to the boards.

We bought our son two hermit crabs while on vacation three days ago - I had hermit crabs as a kid 30+ years ago, also bought on vacation, and while I remember thinking they were really cool, I do also remember them not living too long. I started doing research after we bought them for him. Obviously I wish I had done the research before buying them, but it became pretty obvious that the small plastic enclosure they came in with about a tablespoon of colored gravel and a sponge was not going to keep them alive very long.

He and I spent today buying a tank, heater, water dishes for regular and salt water, a food dish for fresh fruit and veggies, and eco earth substrate - I'd estimate we've got about 5 inches of substrate in the 10 gallon tank. I couldn't find new shells so I ordered some from Amazon (and we actually did buy two new natural shells when we bought them initially). They're still in their painted shells they were in when we bought them, but the new assorted shells get here Wednesday and we put the other shells in the tank for now. I also ordered some climbing logs from Amazon as well.

I'm just here to learn as much as possible now - I figure that now that we've bought them we have a responsibility to learn as much as possible so we can best care for them and also get enjoyment out of owning them... Happy for any advice!

[mool]

Glad you found this forum and very glad you are taking the time to learn about their correct care!

Have you checked out the care guides in this forum? They contain so much information that it can be over-whelming, but it's all good stuff.

A few things I want to point out:
-Our crabby friends (assuming they are purple pinchers) prefer turbo snail shells
-They need their water dechlorinated (I use Sea Chem Prime brand--as do most others).
-Most of us use Instant Ocean to create the salt water. Table salt and freshwater aquarium salt won't work. You need salt for saltwater aquariums.
-My crabs have always preferred dried mixes to fresh foods. Find vendors on Etsy.
-Add a 50lb bag of play sand from Home Depot/Lowes/etc. to your Eco Earth for optimal natural conditions.

I hope you and your kiddo enjoy your new charges. They are lots of fun!

[Pumpkincrab]

Hi! Welcome to HCA! It's really nice to meet you!
It sounds like you've got a good setup starting for now. Some pointers!
*Heat pad should go on back wall of the tank and should be anything from 75-85 degrees F!
*Both waters should be dechlorinated! (Yes even salt! dechlorinate that bad boy before you add the salt) We recommend you use Prime Dechlorinator for the freshwater and Instant Ocean for the salt.
* Crabs have a very detailed diet, and while fruits and veggies might be okay now, they aren't long-term. A crab's diet consists of protein, calcium, fruits, veggies, fats, leaf litter, and chitins. You can make your own mixes which works, but a lot of us buy them from shops like Etsy! It's helpful, if you don't have time to make mixes yourself, but not needed.
* Hermit crabs are prey animals and do get stressed when handled. Personally, I'm a hands-off crabber, but that's just me- hands on/hands off is hard topic here. But I wouldn't recommend they get handled often.
If you have any questions I'd be pleased to help!

[jesseplee]

Thanks all, appreciate the advice! So far we've only been using distilled water, I bought 4 gallons to have on hand, and we used aquarium salt to treat the salt water (can't remember the brand right now, I'll look later). We did also get some powdered food and some tablet food, and I've been adding that to the fruit and veg as well (currently lettuce and grapes). I also added an egg shell after breakfast this morning.

Also, overnight one of the crabs disappeared - we believe it buried itself in the back corner of the tank, but of course we're not going to go looking for it. There's no strange smells, so we're guessing it's either molting or it just needs some alone time.

[Pumpkincrab]

Just to mention- hermit crab pellets (powdered or tablet included) usually has harmful preservatives. What brand is it?

[curlysister]

Welcome to crabbing! Many (if not most) of us started the same way you did - got the crabs, then realized we didn't know how to care for them.
Be sure to look through the Care Sheets, it can be a bit overwhelming at the start, but start with the 'basics' one and go from there.

[jesseplee]

Just to mention- hermit crab pellets (powdered or tablet included) usually has harmful preservatives. What brand is it?

Oh wow! The brand/label is "Zoo Med Hermit Crab Food"

[Pumpkincrab]

I wouldn't recommend it.
The Zoo Med brand food has preservatives and additives in it that are harmful to crabs, not to mention it doesn't cover a crab's full dietary needs.

[jesseplee]

Thanks! Crazy how they can just market this stuff as a main resource for people - I think it was either the only food in the store or maybe one of two kinds... I didn't expect there to be a large hermit crab section, but it was basically non-existent, just one small shelf area on the end of an aisle.

[Pumpkincrab]

I agree....when I first got my crabs I fed them that stuff too.. but now I own over 30 food mixes from various shops (including mine) that I rotate out with my crabs.
Pet stores can be very misleading sadly.

[crabbycasey]

Welcome!! You’re getting great advice so far, but I just wanted to throw in a reminder to be sure your substrate is moistened to sandcastle-like consistency so that their tunnels/caves will hold when they go digging! Also, I feel like I’ve read somewhere not to use distilled water bc it doesn’t have the right minerals...can’t remember details though, sorry!

Have fun with it and enjoy your new crabby family!


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[FJrocks003]

Oh wow! The brand/label is "Zoo Med Hermit Crab Food"

Yeah, I've noticed a lot of people start out with that but unfortunately it has some stuff that can hurt the crabs. Some of us buy foods from different etsy shops to feed them but what I found personally to be the easiest is just mixing up some fresh (or freeze dried) fruits and veggies with some either nuts, bugs (such as dried mealworms or crickets), or seafood then sprinkling it with calcium powder. They should be happy and healthy as long as they have a source of calcium, protein, and fruits/veggies. One other thing to mention (this is just my personal opinion), if your crabs get to big for the 10 gallon (which they probably will in the next few years) then just go all in and get a big enough tank to last forever. I started out 3 years ago with two crabs (bought on the beach in a plastic box) in a 10 gallon and as they got bigger I was going up in tank size by 5 or 10 gallons every few months and now I have 75 gallon with a topper and 5 crabs (was 6 crabs, RIP Bubbles). It would have saved a lot of time and money to just get that tank at the beginning or at least got a 29 and sticked with two of them.

[keeliaa]

Just wondering if you have hides for them? i just didn’t see it mentioned and they’re pretty important.


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[jesseplee]

Just wondering if you have hides for them? i just didn’t see it mentioned and they’re pretty important.


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Yeah, thanks - we have half-coconut-shell hides and we also just got some cholla wood logs for them to climb on/hide around.

[jesseplee]

Just a quick, fun update - we finally got the new shells today that we ordered, and we boiled them and put them in the habitat a few hours ago. One of the crabs buried itself Sunday night, came back up Tuesday night, and then reburied itself last night and is still down there somewhere. The other just now - about 15 minutes ago - moved from its painted shell into one of the natural shells! And he actually chose the one that was my son's favorite of the 8 we got! It's a brown/white turbo, reminds me of kind of a leopard print.

As soon as he settles down a bit and leaves the painted shell alone we'll get it out of there. Hopefully the other one resurfaces safely and moves into one of the natural shells as well. Cool stuff!