HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Can i have more than one species together? For example PPs and Ecuadorians in 1 tank? I would really like variety, but i also understand some have different needs than others but i cant have more than 1 tank in the house. Suggestions... advice?

I would look through the different species guides and see which ones would be compatible to house together

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You can but you have to do your research bc some types are more aggressive or need higher temps. But several Crabbers have mixed species

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I wouldn't house Ecuadorians in less than 12 inches of substrate. They have a tendency to dig up molters, especially if substrate is not deep enough.

Second that. Not all Es will cause trouble, but if they were to do so, they would need a lot of space to themselves to prevent molters being disturbed.

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Agree with the above! Also provide lots of protein with Es


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Hermias_mom wrote:I wouldn't house Ecuadorians in less than 12 inches of substrate. They have a tendency to dig up molters, especially if substrate is not deep enough.

Great info right here! I didnt know either of those two facts.

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wodesorel wrote:Second that. Not all Es will cause trouble, but if they were to do so, they would need a lot of space to themselves to prevent molters being disturbed.

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Definetly something to think about, considering i consistently struggle with floor space as it is. But maybe its enough to make me buy an adequate and beautiful new set up..... oy. It never ends does it? Ha

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Nope, never.

If you decide to get Strawberries, UVB is very important to them, and has to be mounted so it is direct line-of-sight to the crabs (inside the enclosure, with no plastic or metal mesh, or anything else in the way between the bulb and the crabs). Many bulbs' UVB capability runs out after a year (doesn't produce the UVB anymore), and some folks say to change them every six months because the percentage of UVB the bulb actually produces decreases over time. Different bulbs produce a different percentage of UVB light. So you can see there's some recurring cost involved here. Another thing to consider, if the UVB is too close to the bottom of the tat, it could damage their eyes - instructions are given on the UVB bulbs on how far away they have to be, and the instructions are prepared for reptiles. I haven't found any info on exactly how sensitive crabs' eyes are, or how close is too close for UVB mounting for land hermit crabs. Letting them choose if they are exposed to it (have other "foliage" and places to hide in the tat), should help I think.

Most Strawberries live 3-5 years tops in captivity, and are very beautiful, but often quite shy when interacting with people in comparison to PPs. In contrast, PPs can live 10-20+ years with our current knowledge of what crabs need to thrive. Strawberries are much more prone to being stressed out, especially when interacting with people, and if they are disturbed while molting will often die. PPs are much more likely than Strawberries to survive being disturbed during a molt. The correct type of salt (Instant Ocean is one recommended brand) and deepness of the saltwater bath is essential for strawberries, as they like to spend a lot of time swimming.

I don't have any Strawberries myself, but I was strongly considering it at one point, so I did some research, mainly here on the forum.

I currently have 4PPs and 4Es together and they get along just fine. In fact they interact with each other as if they weren't even a different species. However, I don't know about how well other species get along with each other.

I at one point (2010-ish?) had a mixed tank with PPs, E's, Indos, and Violas. I had two E's that were large, quite a bit larger than the average E sold in pet stores, and they almost never caused trouble. It was the little E's (I called them monkeys) that were into everything, challenging everybody, etc. At one point, I got fed up and moved them into their own tank for a while! Fast forward 7 years, and all my E's have passed, but I still have my indos and violas happily mixed with my PP's, never any issues. Though I would NEVER get more E's. More trouble than they're worth in my opinion! Though they are fun because they are so hyper and goofy.

Lol, thats what im lookin for. Hyper n goofy lol

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wodesorel wrote:Second that. Not all Es will cause trouble, but if they were to do so, they would need a lot of space to themselves to prevent molters being disturbed.

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For instance I have one E who is the shyest crab in the tank who I almost never see, and the other E who is the second most active/Aggressive crab so it works well with PPs and probably would with some other species too

I have E's, straws, and PP's in one tank. No issues so far.

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