HCA: Hermit Crab Association

For Christmas 2015, I was allowed to get 3 hermit crabs. I ended up adopting the one's that belonged to a family friend. The poor things were kept in a wire cage with gravel and no salt water. When I first got them, I was sure to try to properly care for them. 6 inches of play sand, salt and fresh water, humid, warm, climbing toys, fresh food, the works.

Everything was going great. My crabs were eating, bathing, climbing, molting, and seemingly happy crabs. Over the summer, personal stuff got in the way and I began switching houses every week (week at one house, week at the other). I purchased new supplies with plans of bringing the active, not molting crabs back and forth, but I never was able to get the tank itself. So, every week I had to leave my crabs behind. I left extra, more stable (won't rot in a week) food and left them plenty of water and I almost always returned the next week to the crabitiat still in proper condition. Then, all of the sudden, one streaked and died overnight. I was shocked, and felt horrible. I kept trying to find out why it happened, but found nothing. At the time, one of the crabs was underground molting. Not wanting the last crab above ground to be lonely, I went to petco and picked up a new crab. He's a BIG crab I've named Louis. A month or two after I got Louis, a second crab also streaked and died. Then, a month or so after that, the one remaining crab died due to a molt gone wrong (same crab and same molt that was going on when I bought Louis in the first place). Now, I have one lone crab and clearly I'm doing something very wrong because the original three all died. I would love to rehome him, but my parents are uncomfortable with any online based adoption and no one we know wants, much less can take proper care of, hermit crabs. So now I am stuck with this poor, lonely crab. I would get him a friend, but honestly I feel like they'd be doomed in my care based on what's happened with the other three. I'd be a vicious cycle of buying a crab, it dying, and buying another to prevent hermie loneliness. And eventually I'd go to college anyway, and what would I do with the crabs then? I know my parents want to part of taking care of them during the week, much less for a few years.

I've loved animals all my life, and I hate to see him lonely but I also hate to see the crabs die. Currently, he seems pretty healthy. He's not TOO active, but eats and bathes and loves hanging out by the UTH now that it's a little colder outside. So what should I do about him? Keep him all by his lonesome and take care of him best I can, rehome him to a potentially horrible crab owner, or get a second crab in spite of the fact that I can't give them the attention they deserve?

Wow unfortunately sometimes no matter what we do, they just don't make it. Prior poor conditions, internal injury, or another unexplained issue could cause death.

Do you mind filling out the questionnaire so we can help address any areas of concern?

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=46102

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Playsand, 6 inches.

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Yes, closer to the left of the tank. Humidity is always around 80% and temperature in the upper 70s

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Yes, an UTH on the right side of the tank.

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
Both. treated with zoomed conditioners. I have Instant Ocean to switch to with the saltwater once the zoomed is gone (won't be long now).

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
During the week I'm away, commercial food. I know its bad, but its the only thing that doesn't get all moldy and gross. When I'm there it's fresh veggies (often tomatoes, peppers or cucumbers), alfalfa hay, and occasionally a tiny bit of all natural, unsalted peanut butter.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I've had it for... a few months? Purple pincer.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Not yet. I'm guessing it's just because he's a big crab and therefore molts much less often.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
10 gallon, mesh lid covered in plastic wrap to keep the humidity up.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
1 pretty big crab

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
4 right now, and I swap them out from time to time

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
Not that I know of

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
If I see poop I'll spot clean by removing it as well as the surrounding sand

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
No

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
When I first got him, he was very active and would come right out of his shell. I also used to handle the other three crabs pretty often. Now Louis still moves around, but is extremely shy, so I don't handle him much.

Would your parents be okay if a neutral third party was involved, like a local shelter? You could do the legwork of finding an adopter you like, and the shelter could do the actual handoff so you never have to meet in person. There may even be a local reptile or small animal based rescue who could take him in and rehome him for you.

Otherwise the only thing I could recommend is changing out the substrate in case something is wrong with it, ditching the commercial food completely, and switching over to the Instant Ocean now. Any of the three could be having a detrimental effect.