HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So the first day I brought home my three E's two went down right away. I have been having a ton of fun watching the third today! The first two days she really scared me, because it seemed like I was going to have a sad case of pps. Today was so amusing I have a tall plant (the base is in the ground) in the center of my 20 g that I am using as an iso for all the E's, I walked in to find the E clinging to the top of a branch that had bent over into the water bowl. It just happened to bend toward a water bowl, which is at the very front of the tank. She hadn't found the water until this point. I was kneeling right in front of the tank so her underside was facing me. I got to closely observe how the mouth parts work! Basically the 'mouthparts' that we see taking food off the eating claw move like two little tongues. The two tongue-like mechanisms can both move separately or together. I noticed she tasted the water by moving them separately, which looks very creepy. When she actually began drinking the water she used the two 'tongues' to form a spoon shape and carry the water to the mysterious hole by folding the tongue things at her body. I feel like I don't want to call them tongues, because they aren't. I can't really form a word for it, they just moved in ways similar to a tongue. Does anyone know the name for this body part? After she finished drinking, while trying to exit the pool she fell in three separate times and freaked out. She has completely destroyed my tank! I can't believe one little E can do that much damage! It seems like she dug a hole to the bottom of the tank and came back of 50 times! Everything is knocked over, and she buried one of the hydrometers! I love her! I am so happy

Congrats on the E's!

I think the mouthparts are called maxipelids or something of the sort.

I have read, and totally concur:
A trashed tank means happy crabs!!!!!!
I named my two largest E's Aye & Corrumba- for the reasons you just spoke about, and becasue that is what I was muttering every morning when I turned on the light.....
The magnitude of the messes seem to grow right along with them!
Much like my husband, I know that they too say "ooopppsss, oh well, she'll get it in the morning."
It wouldnt surprise me to see a pincher high 5 happen upon the tumble of a moss pit.
OR a cheer squad in place when an entire log has been moved across the whole length of the tank.
and filling the pools totally full of subtrate- <grumble>-
I call thier tunnels "E Highways", and they do alot of commuting.

They are so much fun! Congrats on yours!

Congrats on the Es! They certainly are spit and vinegar! Just wait until they start working together!

I just got my first E's (2 of them). I'm so excited, glad you are enjoying yours

This is the reason I can't wait to get E's! lol Course the more I read about their destruction the more I wonder if I should get a bigger tank first (more to trash I know). I have a 29g with 2 small pp's right now and my kids didn't think I meant it when I said they were super boring. But we love em and wouldn't trade them but can't wait to add E excitement to the tank...........I think. lol

I have two E's and four PPs in my 29 gallon. I won't be adding anymore, but they seem to be doing well. (Two of the PPs are tiny and the other two aren't very large). They all seem to do fine =) My E's seem to enjoy being on the highest level of their tank (the shell shop). I just wish they would actually shop for shells. They are really picky. I got them in march, they still haven't changed.

Bridgitmac80 wrote:Course the more I read about their destruction the more I wonder if I should get a bigger tank first (more to trash I know). I have a 29g with 2 small pp's right now

A 29 will be fine for 2 small PPs and a couple of Es. Just be sure your substrate is pretty deep since the Es like to dig just for fun. I'd go for a depth at least 3 times the size of your largest crab and a minimum of 6". In a 29 you have plenty of depth to give them both deeper substrate and lots of climbing room.

My substrate is about 5 to 6 inches, which is about 3 times larger than my largest (small/med) PP. So they should be ahppay there.

And what's super hilarious, after convincing myself to wait, I was in Pet Supplies Plus today and found 2 E's!!!! They are happily destroying the tank right now lol. I have laughed since getting in the car with them 5 hours ago, these are some entertainers that's for sure! It was purse luck there were two so we'd have a species buddy I am so in love and after talking to the hubby about the larger tank plans, we are gonna build our own so we can have it long as we want as well as deep instead of having to usually give up one for the other.

With a 90 gallon you don't have to give up on anything

Oh really?! I've not seen any 90g anywhere and the 120g was nice and long. Hubby saw the price and wouldn't let me look at it long enough for depth lol. I pointed out the $1 gallon sale isn't that far off shouldn't be at least. I will have to check out the 90g that sounds like a nice number to me for some reason.

it's 4 feet long, 2 feet high and 1.5 feet deep.

Sounds perfect!!!!!!

The only difference between a 90 and a 120 is that the 90 is 18" front to back and the 120 is 24". They are both 48" long and 24" high.

My advice for you os go for the 120. The bigger the better!lol XD

My E's are constantly trashing my tank. I have to go through and take everything out. Move the crabs to the moss pit and level out the sand. Safely it destroys there tumble networks but it allows them to make more. Sometime I will walk it and one of the dishes will have disappeared under the sand where they have dug all of the sand from under it.