HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi all,

I see a lot of people say to have water dishes deep enough so you crabs can fully submerge. I always thought it was just deep enough so they can get water into their shell. (unless it's a straw) Either way, mine are deep enough so they can submerge.

But none of my crabs actually submerge themselves all the way. Not even the straws. The straws do enjoy being near the water the most (they love being near the bubble pool because of the bubbles) but none of my crabs will never completely submerge.

Do many of your crabs fully submerge themselves often? Why would a crab need to do this behavior in the first place? I know they keep a water balance of salt/fresh in their shells but what purpose would going all the way under serve? A crab doesn't need to go all the way under for water to enter it's shell. None of mine ever do so it must not be bad for their health if a crab doesn't fully submerge, or mine would have died by now. I have had my 2 straws, one for 2 years and one for 1 year. I'm bringing up the straws since they are the ones that are said to need to be able to fully submerge.

Thanks in advance, hope to get some of these questions answered and talk about the subject.

Mac

For the most part, it's my Es that I see fully submerged. The only one that I haven't seen go in for a full dip is Seb. My straws are still destressing, so I can't offer much there. lol My Jumbo PP does fully submerge, too. (And drains the pool quite a bit in the process.) The rugs, viola and the rest of the PPs can't seem to be bothered with it. They dip in gently and that's about it. lol

I think the term fully submerge is also pretty subjective with them. Some people mean it to be the crab and shell included, others mean it to be all of the crab, but not necessarily the whole shell.

I think this rule of thumb came about so that the crabs can flush their shell more easily and build a good current for doing so. I'd imagine it would be hard to do without lots of water and room. But that, really, is just a guess on my part.

My Es hang out under water often. I have large rubber maid food keepers. It scared the heck out of me the first few times I saw it.

One of my straws fell in and ended up with the filter spout fountaining water straight up into his belly and shell, and he thought that was more fun that sliced bread.

Generally, I don't see much full submergence unless it's accidental. Crabs only need to be able to "wade" in the water to effectively flush their shells.

The depth is more necessary to keep the water level high longer due to evaporation, and to create more volume for circulation.

My E's are completely under water a few times a night, with one of them being under more then he's on land. They are at biggest, mediums... with the pools being roughly 6 inches deep.

my rugs and PPs don't seem to care about it, but the E's LOVE being completely under

Hmm, that's interesting, I would like to see a hermie in water. I have all PP's so I've never seen that happen.

wow, that's so cool! that makes me want E's! they're so cute!

I saw micro E swimming around (well crawling/bouncing/swimming) around in the deep part of my marine pool for the first time yesterday! It was so cute

We found a pool in the reptile dept. It has three sides that are raised - once you bury it level- it forms a shoreline-type entrance that is flush with the substrate and gets deeper as they go further in. Our micros can go in as far as they're comfortable, but our bigger ones can fully submerge in the deep end. A couple of our Es love to completely submerge.

JoshNeff wrote:

Dang that's deep. did he get out eventually?

yea, they're in there all the time... from 10PM+ at least one or two is underwater

that just....looks and feels as if he's waaay to far into the deep end lol

MIne hang out in the pool all the time. I'd love to do a survey of who has swimmers and who doesn't and how that compares to salt, tap, distilled, water etc.

you should