Laura’s Guide to Crabbing in College (or on a budget)

[Guest]

I began crabbing when I came to college almost 4 ago. Since I’m only a few months from graduating (and seeking job offers, I might add) I thought that now would be the perfect time to share what I’ve learned about caring for crabs in college. Whether you’re moving to college with your crabs or just starting out, I hope some of what I’ve learned will be helpful. Some of these hints will also be helpful for anyone crabbing on a tight budget.

Truthfully, I believe that hermit crabs are the perfect pets for college students. They don’t require constant human companionship, they can move fairly easily and they don’t require a large amount of time or money. The key is learning how to properly care for them on a budget.

<b>1. Keep it simple</b>

College is not the time to put together a 50-gallon tank with dozens of crabs of varying species. There’s no way you’ll have the time to closely monitor the needs of that many crabs or move the tank each semester. Stick with a 10-gallon tank and 2-5 crabs, preferably all of the same species and roughly the same size. Having similar crabs will save you a lot of money. You’ll have to provide for fewer care needs and will be able to buy fewer shells. A small tank is much easier to move, and to quickly stash in your closet before dorm room inspection.

<b>2. Setting up a crabitat in less than $20</b>

Your crabitat can be completely inexpensive with a little bit of creativity and access to a good thrift shop. You can usually score small aquariums (or at least iso tanks) at the local Goodwill or flea market. Visits to such stores will also yield a wealth of ordinary, household objects that you can use to decorate the tank. Look for plastic dishes, flowerpots, plastic plants, netting and other functional items, just be sure to clean them well before putting them in your tank. On the subject of cleaning, ordinary white vinegar is your friend. It cleans crab tanks (and showers) very well and is incredibly cheap.

Substrate is a tricky issue because the cheapest option, play sand, comes in huge bags that require storage. Try to find a locally owned greenhouse or garden center. Explain your situation and see if they can give you a deal on the amount of sand you need. Often, these businesses package sand for bulk sale themselves and will be willing to do you a favor if you prove to be a loyal customer. Buy some herbs, like mint or parsley, while you’re there. Herbs are great for adding greenery to your room and if you keep them fertilizer-free, you can feed them to the crabs.

Shells can end up costing very little if you scope out craft stores. Buy shells in bulk and you may find a surprising amount of usable crab shells as well as a ton of feeder shells and tank decorations.

<b>3. Budget dining</b>

You may be eating nothing but Ramen noodles, but your crabs will need more variety. By keeping the number of crabs you own low, you should be able to make staple food (like FMR) last for some time. As for other foods, there are several places to get them. The best source for crab food will be your cafeteria’s salad bar. You can get a wide variety of only slightly mushy fruits and vegetables in small quantities. I’ve found that by putting them in the small cups usually used for dressing, the staff will rarely charge me for them. Another favorite of mine is dinner events, from which you can often get fruits and vegetables of higher quality and some real bonuses of shrimp or salmon. Volunteering for charity events and auctions is another way to get some free food, for you and the crabs (oh, and to help people). Just bring a small, ziplock bag to the event and discreetly slip some shrimp into it during a private moment near the buffet table.

Of course, one of the best and least expensive options is dried, crushed oak leaf. Oak leaves seem to be a universal favorite with crabs and they’re completely free. Get them off of the tree as opposed to the ground in order to avoid insect and mold contamination.

Although not necessarily inexpensive, every college town has a health food store that will stock wonderful things for your crabs. Try to find coupons and buy in the smallest quantities possible of things like seaweed and organic produce. If you’re able to get a date with the person who works at the fish counter, your crabs will eat like royalty for weeks (until he becomes suspicious that you’re only using him for the organic, Atlantic salmon pieces and stops calling).

<b>4. Involve your friends</b>

Hermit crabs are cool pets and people will want to help you take care of them. My sorority sisters love the crabs; they’re considered unofficial mascots. The sisters are always brining home food for them when they go to dinner events. I’ve also been able to successfully solicit a ton of shells from people going on vacation for spring break or out of their personal collections.

You can also make some fantastic, custom tank decorations with a little help from art major friends. Art majors usually have access to scrap Plexiglas and cutting tools. Buy a tube of aquarium sealant for $4 at a hardware store and you’re ready to build your own shelves, water dishes and climbing toys.

If your school lacks a good art department but excels in engineering or electronics, you may still be able to save some cash. A knowledgeable student can put together an undertank heater for next to nothing. Mine was built from two cookie sheets with a heating element in-between and it works perfectly. It hasn’t caused a fire yet. Just be sure to test the heater first to make sure it won’t overheat the tank.

<b>5. Things you can’t skimp on</b>

Unfortunately, there are some things your crabs need for which there is no inexpensive substitute. Humidity and temperature gauges, staple food and salt-water mix are a few examples. Fortunately, you can often find these items online at places like petdiscounters.com at discounted prices. You can even order some supplies off of Amazon.com, perhaps saving on shipping if you order crab stuff along with your textbooks. Good luck!

<b>Feel free to post other suggestions!</b>

[Guest]

That's great, Laura! I got my crabs shortly before going to college, to have companion animals.
I'll just add:
If you only have a 10gallon tank and aren't planning on flying, it's not too difficult to bring crabs home with you--either a friend and I carry the tank out to the car or my fiance does, since it does get rather heavy with all the substrate. But if you have a car or a generous friend, just a 10G is easy to transport!
If you can't bring them home for weekends or short breaks, ask an off-campus friend to keep an eye on them for a while--most other college kids love the opportunity to help out, and probably won't charge much, if anything to do so!
I'm close enough to home that I can reserve my massive clean-outs for trips home (only live about 3 hours away), but for those of you at a further distance, try cleaning the tank on a Sunday morning or in the middle of the night on a weekday--no one will be outside to see you dump your nasty old sand, and you might even be able to get ahold of the laundry room sink (we have a HUGE industrial-sized sink in our laundry room) to clean out the tank.
Another benefit of having crabs at college is they're noctournal, as we are! I get hours of amusement from watching my crabbies play at night, a pleasure missed by our daiurnal friends and family!
One drawback, though, which lays heavily on my mind at the moment is the matter of death--when you have a crab die there aren't many options for where to bury them, if any. Just today I had to send poor Gimp, who just couldn't make it, to the trash bin because I wasn't able to make it home for a proper burial and the smell was too strong to wait.
Hope this helped!
ktm

[Guest]

Awesome list. This will really help when I go back to college next year. I look forward to having my little guys along with me for the few more years of schooling left. Now for a question, have either of you (or anyone else who looks at this thread) had problems with RA's or dorm room checks? I doubt that my college is very strict on the matter of aquarium pets, but just curious what reactions you have gotten.

[Guest]

I’m glad my post was helpful! To answer some questions, I graduate in May, and I will upgrade my tank as soon as I get a job that pays decently!

I should have talked about dorm room checks. I went through stuff with the dorm people, and a lot of other people have posted that they have too. Generally, RAs don’t care as long as you don’t flaunt the fact that you’re breaking a rule. Try to hide your crabs during room inspection and don’t talk about them with the RA present, you’ll probably be just fine. A lot of schools allow hermit crabs, you’ll really only have a problem with the “fish onlyâ€

[Guest]

I bought so much cool stuff at the thriftstore! I found a bag of aquarium plants.. looking brand new for 3 bucks... I went to petsmart and looked at the price of plants new... I think this bag had a good 50 dollar value if not more!

And I bought this awesome plastic hanger.. it's a coconut with 3 thin ropes to hang it with and a plastic plant in it with big plastic flowers... my crabs LOVE it and it was 79 cents!

I got also a bunch of big rocks in my 55G that I found during a hike... Just boiled them and they're great, my crabs love their rocks!

I dont go to college, but being recently married an broke I agree to the lifestyle of the college crabber My tanks are either found in the trash, bought second hand from a petstore... gotten for free from a petstore or came with a crab adoption I only bought my first tank and ISO which is a 29G reptile tank and a cheap 10G walmart tank.