HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have copied and answered the help request template below to start.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? I used a sand/coconut substrate mixed at roughly 5:1 sand to coconut. It is 3.5" deep

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read? I do, a temp and humidity gauge. It's mounted to the wall about midway up on the glass. It generally reads between 70 and 80 degrees F and humidity is typically around 80-90%

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? I have a 2w heat pad attached to the outside of the glass on one side, and that entire side is insulated with radiant barrier bubble insulation and sealed off with foil tape.

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)? I have a pool of salt water and for that I used the only thing available at the pet store, CCPet Hydrate saltwater solution for hermit crabs. The freshwater is in a small very shallow pool as well with the sponge, it was treated with ZooMed Reptisafe at 2 drops per 8oz. According to the label it instantly removes chlorine and chorimines as well as ammonia. It also adds essential electrolytes and reduces pH. The ingredients are as follows: Water, dechlorinating agent, synthetic organic polymers (colloids), chelating agent, electrolytes.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I got a container of food when I bought the first one, contents unknown. When I got the 2nd I got a container of Flukers Hermit headquarters buffet blend. I wont list the ingredients as that is a long list but it doesnt appear the crabs were too keen to it, they dont look to have touched it in a few days that I can tell so I swapped back to the other type. If there are fresh food suggestions please let me know.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? I have had them for a week now, species unknown unfortunately.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? They have not.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? A 15g aquarium, the lid was a standard mesh lid that I modified with radiant barrier bubble insulation for sealing purposes.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 2, roughly 2" long each

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 2

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? No need to yet that I know of.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? In the freshwater dish yes, I wasnt aware they needed cleaning.

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? No.

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)? I havent bathed them, if that is needed I will look into that. I am currently planning to buy a UVB strip light to give them some supplemented sunlight for 12 hours a day. I am also looking to possibly slope the bedding substrate to give a higher and lower side if that would be beneficial, and am open to adding another heat pad upon the suggestion. I didnt want to keep them too warm.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. They dont appear to be very active at all and I cannot tell if they're eating. I have some locally sourced honey I can add to their tank, I saw that suggestion somewhere. If there are any suggestions to help acclimate them and ensure they are healthy I am looking for advice, I havent owned crabs since a child and knowing now they werent cared for properly I would like to get them as comfortable as I can and ensure they live a long and happy life instead of being neglected and stressed.

Hermits are mainly nocturnal. I didn’t believe mine were moving much either then I installed night vision cameras and you will be amazed at the activity at night. Also looking into buying food from the hermit crab shack on Etsy. My crabs love love love there food mixes. The food you have listed I used that when I first got mine to but then I read that copper sulfate is bad for them and I switched to natural foods. Look under the food section on here. Also listen to the experts. Which I am not one of. They are a lot of help and ready their other answers on other post. They helped me save one of my crabs who got really sick on me. Now she is doing amaZing.


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Welcome! Sounds like a good start and you've certainly come to the right place!

I'd read up on the setup and care sheets here. Your dechlorinator may work just fine, but it's generally recommended you use seachem prime for treating your fresh and salt water pools. Instant ocean is the usual recommendation for an ocean salt water mix. I use Red Sea because that's what was available last time I bought a bucket of it. You want pools that your crabs can completely submerge in. I use square quart sized food storage containers that are a good 4" deep. I change the water every 2-3days and use bubblers in the pools.

You'll probably want to scrap the store bought hermit crab foods. They're usually junk. There's tons of foods right in your cupboards and fridge that your hermies will love and do much better on.

Sounds like you'll need a deeper substrate bed as well. Assuming your crabs are small, I'd shoot for double the depth you have. The more the better.

You don't necessarily need UVB lighting, just a lighting source to provide a day/night cycle of 12hrs each. Use a basic lamp timer.

In terms of activity, you've only had your guys a week. Give them some time. It took mine like a month to perk up and be active at random times during the day and basically all night. I have two 29g setups. 3 crabs in each. All 3 have been down/buried in one tank for a few weeks.

JBcMS wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 23, 2021 6:37 pm

I have copied and answered the help request template below to start.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? I used a sand/coconut substrate mixed at roughly 5:1 sand to coconut. It is 3.5" deep I might add some sub, six inches is ideal.

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read? I do, a temp and humidity gauge. It's mounted to the wall about midway up on the glass. It generally reads between 70 and 80 degrees F and humidity is typically around 80-90%

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? I have a 2w heat pad attached to the outside of the glass on one side, and that entire side is insulated with radiant barrier bubble insulation and sealed off with foil tape.

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)? I have a pool of salt water and for that I used the only thing available at the pet store, CCPet Hydrate saltwater solution for hermit crabs. The freshwater is in a small very shallow pool as well with the sponge, it was treated with ZooMed Reptisafe at 2 drops per 8oz. According to the label it instantly removes chlorine and chorimines as well as ammonia. It also adds essential electrolytes and reduces pH. The ingredients are as follows: Water, dechlorinating agent, synthetic organic polymers (colloids), chelating agent, electrolytes. I would make the pool deeper, they should be able to fully submerge

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I got a container of food when I bought the first one, contents unknown. When I got the 2nd I got a container of Flukers Hermit headquarters buffet blend. I wont list the ingredients as that is a long list but it doesnt appear the crabs were too keen to it, they dont look to have touched it in a few days that I can tell so I swapped back to the other type. If there are fresh food suggestions please let me know. Yes, definitely start feeding fresh foods! They have more of the correct nutrition. There are tons of safe food lists online.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? I have had them for a week now, species unknown unfortunately.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? They have not.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? A 15g aquarium, the lid was a standard mesh lid that I modified with radiant barrier bubble insulation for sealing purposes.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 2, roughly 2" long each

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 2 Crabs should each have 3/5 extra shells

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? No need to yet that I know of.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? In the freshwater dish yes, I wasnt aware they needed cleaning.
It's best just to take sponges out or leave them in the tank dry, they can house a lot of bacteria.

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? No.

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)? I havent bathed them, if that is needed I will look into that. I am currently planning to buy a UVB strip light to give them some supplemented sunlight for 12 hours a day. I am also looking to possibly slope the bedding substrate to give a higher and lower side if that would be beneficial, and am open to adding another heat pad upon the suggestion. I didnt want to keep them too warm.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. They dont appear to be very active at all and I cannot tell if they're eating. I have some locally sourced honey I can add to their tank, I saw that suggestion somewhere. If there are any suggestions to help acclimate them and ensure they are healthy I am looking for advice, I havent owned crabs since a child and knowing now they werent cared for properly I would like to get them as comfortable as I can and ensure they live a long and happy life instead of being neglected and stressed.

hermies are not going to be very active in the day, let alone only a week or so after you bought them. You can try to lure them out with honey or more playthings. Good luck!

Thank you all, I dont count my childhood ownership being that I was so young and ignorant to the care and ownership of these guys so I appreciate the help. As care goes they're really a great deal more complex to properly care for than your average beach petshop leads to you to believe.

Speaking on foods, until I can do some more reading and shopping I want to make sure they have something to eat. I was told finely ground cheerios was a good food for them. Would that and a small dish of honey work for now and be safe for them? Much like the store bought food, it now appears they aren't eating the food that was included with them. I do have a salt water dish for them to almost fully submerge in but I will make a deeper one, I have to make some lego stairs for them to get out so I wanted to keep it shallow for now until I can do that.

I was also going to use the UVB strip light (or fluorescent) to simulate daylight on a cycle because I don't have a good spot in my home for true Daylight. I live in central MS and it gets extremely hot here, and to address that we keep our home relatively dark using blackout curtains and such to keep it cooler.

I will follow up with the suggestions from JTKermie, I'll add some substrate today. One major thing I am worried about and would like to clarify, was the water that I used on the coconut substrate supposed to be dechlorinated? It wasnt, and if thats an issue please let me know and I will dump it and startover immediately. It looks like I will have to order the water treatment, which isn't an issue. I was in a pinch and had to run with what the store had on hand. A friend offered us a 25 gallon tank so I will get that and move them in next weekend to give em some more room and add some more climbing items and such. I also have an extra cam with night vision I will put on them to confirm they're moving about. I didn't realize they more active at night than during the day.

It's fine if the water wasn't dechlorinated. It wouldn't be in large enough amounts to harm them. Congrats and good luck!

JBcMS wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 24, 2021 9:23 am

lego stairs for them to get out

Genius! never thought of that