HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I just called a Petco, and they said they had 2 large Strawberrys there. I have entertained the idea of going to get them. I have PP's, and E's right now.

But I have read in here about how hard the Straws are to keep. Is that really fact? Will I have problems w/ these? I would have to drive about an hour to get them. Let me know what yall think.

Thanks!

straws are "harder" because they are more delicate. they require very stable conditions a bit higher than other species (around 80/80) and require a salt water dish (marine salt) big enough to soak. I had two jumbo straws for a period, but they were sickly when bought and both passed from PPS in two weeks, despite my best efforts.

Caroline

They require a large tank. I have 4 and they are busy all day and night.

MomToDixie wrote:They require a large tank. I have 4 and they are busy all day and night.

I have also come to the conclusion that their reputation as tat destroyers is not because theya re strong or rough. They're just clumsy.

I have had 7 Straws in the past---none now . I've had about a 50% PPS loss on Straws (my average for other species stands at about 33%). so....3 died of PPS fairly quickly, 1 died a month or so after purchase, I don't know if that was really PPS, but I couldn't think of any other reason. 1 went naked and died after a moult, another one died during a moult, I dug him up a month later , and another one died after moulting, with no evident reason. 2 of them I had had for over a year, they had each had at least 1 good moult with me, I don't know what went wrong. Anyway, they seem very prone to PPS and moulting problems.

Yes, like anopia said they require more stable conditions but I have found that if you meet the requirements they can be very enjoyable crabs, just make sure you have a big enough tank for them as they seem to only have large ore mediam sizes (at my pet-co anyway) also like mention above they like deep salt water dishes that they can submerge in. I use corner pools so that I can save more space in my tank, I have also heard they like deep fresh water dish's but I just don't have the space so I don't have one right now but they seem to be OK with out one. for a short but informative run down on strawberries you should check out the care sheets over there ----->
And I some what agree with them have molting problems an example is one of mine just molted but for some unknown reason he did not eat his skin beets me, but luckily I had some cuttle bone and carrots that I fed him and he ended up fine. Just make sure your ready for them if you get them

P.S I have also noticed that my other crabs have benefited from the strawberries conditions as well.

Good luck with Strawberries!