HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Not mine but my sister bought 2 hermit crabs for my niece and nephew at a beach souvenir shop. She brought them home a couple days ago in those little plastic carrying cases, but is saying they haven’t moved in a couple days. I don’t have pictures, but I’ll describe my best…
She has changed their water daily and they have a little sponge in their bowl. She’s fed them crab food but says it doesn’t look like they’ve touched it.
Substrate - those little aquarium pellets for fish tanks (and not many of them). I know they need sand or something but don’t know what to tell her.
Do they need freshwater and saltwater?
I’m sorry for all this information but I’m going up there tomorrow to try to help them out.

This is a good info to start with. Do you know their species? Crabs require more then what you're given at souvenir shops and a lot of the time what they come with isnt good for them.

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=119273

The link above is a good start. But when you figure out the species you can get some more breed specific info in the other care sheets that are available here viewforum.php?f=120

Good luck with the new ones!

For sure have a read through of the 'basics' care sheet that IamSam posted - it has all the info needed to set up a basic tank, including a photo. The crabs will not survive long term in the current set up.

IamSam wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 24, 2024 9:51 pm

This is a good info to start with. Do you know their species? Crabs require more then what you're given at souvenir shops and a lot of the time what they come with isnt good for them.

viewtopic.php?f=120&t=119273

The link above is a good start. But when you figure out the species you can get some more breed specific info in the other care sheets that are available here viewforum.php?f=120

Good luck with the new ones!

I was able to get them a 10 gallon tank and some coconut substrate and almost immediately the totally inactive one started crawling around and digging
I got them saltwater (which I never knew about) and freshwater, some shells of different sizes, and a place to hide. I have a few more decorations/climbing features I want to add but they seem much happier already!
Thank you both!

No problem! A hygrometer/ thermometer is also a priority so you can adjust the temp and humidity as needed. It does not have to be a big ticket item, I spent less than $10 on a digital Acurite one.

Where did you buy this at

Can you have to much moss in your tank... just trying to keep my humidity up

What do you have for substrate, and how deep is it? Is it moistened with dechlorinated water?
Do you have a lid or cover on the tank?
What are your current temperature and humidity readings?

I got the Acurite thermometer/ hygrometer from a local hardware store.