HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello all! Sorry it's been a hot minute since I've been on here, you know how life is. Part of what I've been busy with is upgrading my hermit crabs, which I will get to! First, the bad news though.

Bad News:
Back in September, I got three new PP hermit crabs to add to my 20gL that already had three PP hermits. I knew that the tank was pretty full at that point and so I was getting ready to upgrade. Unfortunately, I lost one of my new ones only a few days after bringing him home. One of the larger new ones (he was probably medium/large) went under to molt. This was back in September. I had already moved everyone else out of the tank to a new crabitat when I finally got curious recently and dug under a little to discover that he had not made it through the first molt. This was quite saddening as I had fallen in love with this gentle giant. His name was Clifford, and the one who passed earlier in September was Beast. R.I.P. Beast and Clifford.

Good News:
As I said before, I upgraded my crabitat! I will include pictures in the post, but they've been upgraded to a 46g bowfront with about 6"-8" of playsand/EE substrate, two filtered pools (one with saltwater and one with fresh), and lots of hides, things to climb on, vines, a bridge, plants, moss, and a shell shop with about 20-30 spare shells of varying sizes. I currently have four small/medium PPs in the tank, and they're all doing well.

Question:
With all that being said, would I be okay to get more hermit crabs? I would probably wait until February as I am going on a trip and having someone else care for them during that time, but when I'm back is it okay to get more? If so, what sizes and how many? My local pet stores mostly only carry micro/small crabs, would that be an issue with my larger crabs?


https://imgur.com/AK52dRk

https://imgur.com/KGLkUob

https://imgur.com/iJCWv6P

https://imgur.com/9E4G8yF

Sorry for the smudges on the glass, the tank was recently misted in these pics. And thanks for reading!

EDIT: Added links to the images in case the images aren't attached properly.

I am so sorry for your loss. Your tank looks beautiful! I’ve always loved the bowfronts, they’re just so elegant looking. Myself, I wouldn’t add anymore, that way they have room to grow and molt. Personally, I like to stick with 10gallons per crab, unless they’re tiny I’d say maybe one more. The more space the better bc they only have so far to move in any size tank.

Gorgeous setup. It's so aesthetically pleasing!

I would also recommend keeping it at 4. I am not a crab, but it's nice to have room to escape to if you don't want to be around someone.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I’m diggin that tank Especially those pools with the overhead breezeway

JS even if you had 6 fully grown crabs it’d be nearly 8 gallons of space per crab. Nothing an additonal 2nd layer feature wouldn’t accommodate for imo

Where did you get those pools btw? I might hafta lift em off of you


Was about to get another of these but those turtles are cool lookin and practical!

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! I appreciate it! I was thinking of getting between 1-3 more, depending on the size of the new ones. I know they'll grow, though, but I figure having more might be okay because I usually always have 1-2 buried at any given time. Also hiding spots, it's heavily "planted" so that they'll have plenty of room to get away from each other. Not sure if any of that matters though when figuring up the total stocking? I'd love to have more, as I love to watch them out playing a lot and I noticed that more when I had more.

Harry Wang wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 14, 2019 4:36 pm

Where did you get those pools btw? I might hafta lift em off of you


Was about to get another of these but those turtles are cool lookin and practical!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Q ... UTF8&psc=1 This is it! I got the large size as the XL was drastically bigger than the large. I'd recommend checking the dimensions on Chewy.com though as Amazon doesn't list them.

Looks great! I don’t see the harm in another one or two but I’m no expert myself sooooo....just adding my 2 cents lol!

That fountain is awesome looking! Is it used as a water source Harry wang?

Double check the sizing chart to be sure, but I think you have room for another crab or 2, especially with the leveling you have. It looks AMAZING!!

Crabby in NJ wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 14, 2019 6:56 pm

Looks great! I don’t see the harm in another one or two but I’m no expert myself sooooo....just adding my 2 cents lol!

That fountain is awesome looking! Is it used as a water source Harry wang?

Thanks! I sometimes see them crawling around the base, but it is more for humidity.

~$33 on amazon, monthly/bi-monthly cleaning due to slimy buildup using distilled water.

Harry Wang wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 15, 2019 1:20 pm

Thanks! I sometimes see them crawling around the base, but it is more for humidity.

~$33 on amazon, monthly/bi-monthly cleaning due to slimy buildup using distilled water.

Absolutely awesome!