HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi everyone! So I felt bad for the hermit crabs in the cages while I was on vacation, so I bought 6, one passed away 3 days after I got him, but the other 5 are just awesome. I had a crab when I was younger (a lot younger, lol) and My mom had some in the recent past. While on vacation I bought a Rubbermaid tub, poke holes on the top of the tub, cut a hole in the lid and glue gunned glue around it so they had ample air and I did not have to worry about them escaping. They travelled home that way and were moving all around while I was driving Once I got home, I bought a 50 gallon tank, a lot more sand, coconut fiber "soil", more shells, more hidey spots, etc. They already had drift wood, sand and some shells from the beach I was at (I love the OBX).

NOW, 3 have buried (After I soaked down the sand so it is sandcastle material), 1 semi buried (it is shallow so I am not sure if they are molting or just chilling, the shell is almost covered completely and there is about 1/2" under them), and the 5th one is just cruising around in his big shell

Some random questions:

1. How do you post pictures? When I click the picture button I get which I think I just need to put the link to the picture in between the two, but am not 100% sure.

2. When you boil new shells, does it matter the pot, or does it need to be glass/ceramic?

AND.....I just realized I have 3 layers of substrate, top layer is sand from the beach. The middle layer is stupid calcium sand that was in the reptile section. Bottom layer is coco fiber "dirt", as 3-4 of mine are down, I will wait to see them all before trying to remove the calcium sand. So mad at myself. It honestly did not look like is held any of the water when I wetted the sad yesterday morning. I could see the color difference in the beach sand but not in the cream colored calcium sand. Here's hoping, for now, it did not hold any water and my crabs are going to be OK. I am very attached to them for only having them 1.5 weeks

Welcome to the site, and to crabbing!
To post photos, you will need to use a file sharing site, or the TapaTalk app.
No, it is a myth that you need to use a certain pot. Any pot will do. And you can just use tap water, you don't have to dechlorinate it. Some people will then dip the shells in salt water to make them more appealing to the crabs.

Awesome TY!

So 4 of my 5 went under. I have a Wyze camera on the tank I saw one moving about getting food and water, but I am not sure which one it was (It was in the corner of the camera screen, lol) Sigh, I really want them all to come up so I can change the sand to the correct stuff, but I am not risking digging up one who may be molting. 3 I know where they are, it is the 4th one (and really my favorite one) who I have no clue about. May be why I like her so much, little stinker.

Lol. TapaTalk for the win!!!! TY!

So this is my 50 gallon tank, this is before I wet down all the sand, that middle layer sand is that calcium bad stuff, and as soon as all my babies pop up, I will be changing all of it out with play sand. And the cocofiber substrate stuff.

I also am waiting for my salt to get here, to create a salt bath for them, the shells were boiled, the driftwood has been baked, and if you can’t tell, I joined another group on Facebook, and started getting dinged for stuff that people clearly didn’t read my original post with all the verbiage on it, because I explained all of it, not the seashells, being boiled, or the different being baked, but the dryness, and a bad sand. Lol

Yay!


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Sorry and currently my lid is the mesh wire lid it came with, and I’m going to get a piece of plexiglass this weekend, and I also have a larger heating pad that should fit the whole back instead of just the two little small ones I have there coming in a few days


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Wow! You're off to a great start! Love the big tank and the stand too!
When I got my crabs, I started to notice conflicting advice on the internet, about how to care for crabs. So I decided right away that I was going to stick to only one group's advice. I liked HCA because nobody seemed to be really militant about things, and they recognized that there were different ways to successfully care for crabs. It's worked for me so far - I still have the original two crabs I got over 13 years ago!

Just reading through posts I see what you are saying!


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