HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello all!

I want to begin by saying that I love this site and I am so glad I found this site! My love for hermit crabs started about six years ago when I visited Myrtle Beach and saw the crabs there in horrible conditions in the tourist shops. I bought two then but unfortunately they died right away. This spring I started crabbing again with two crabs. My obsession quickly grew after I found this site and I bought a few more crabs. I also rescued some! There was an ad on a Facebook page for five hermit crabs and everything that came with them for $50. I had to save them because they did not have the right conditions and they were all in painted shells. The owner said the crabs were her roommates and she couldn't take them across the border to Canada. The crabs had no extra shells and there were live crickets in the tank! Right now I am in the process of moving my crabs from the two 20 gallon tanks I have them in to a 50 gallon tank. I have been doing all my research through this site but I have a few oddball questions.

Do I need to wash the items from the old tanks before adding them to the new tank? Im not sure what problems that would cause but I just thought I'd check.

When adding plastic plants, do I need to wash those first too? I picked up some plastic plants from the craft store that I plan on adding.

Are wire baskets that are covered in a plastic coating ok? I know there is some concern with metals and rust. Also I bought some cuttle bones that have a little metal hanging device on them, is that ok?

What are some recommendations for websites for cheap fake plants, cholla wood, and other types of wood?

Will adding coconut fiber sheets as a background interfere with the heaters I have attached to the glass?

I think those are all my questions for now! Thank you all.

dollar store live it learn it love it. :p

i have tons of plastic plants in mine, some with metal inside some without, some of the ones with metal the crabs love to peel off the plastic, so there's some metal showing, but i'v enever seen any issues etc, some of the plants have some rust on them but if it gets to be an eye sore or excessive i just replace it, shoot it's only a buck per plant.

I definitely wash all of the plants and anything that i get before I put it in, just to be safe. I'm sure i've done mediocre cleaning jobs on some of the stuff, but everything seems fine.

i don't think you'll have any issues with the coco fiber and the heating, it might block some of the heat (maybe if any?) i wouldn't worry about it, you can test it and see.

Thank you for your reply! I guess I'm just worried about the metal because I thought rust was bad for crabs?

rust for anything i'd say is not good just in general, but sometimes its just an eye sore, far as i'm aware, it seems to be up in the air on the rust thing. I'm sure someone will chime in.

I went so out of my way to use anything metal, and then slowly have introduced some things in, don't get me wrong, i avoid it all costs if i can, but if its in the plants i don't freak out like i was before and have yet to personally notice any issues. then again people played with radiation for decades'ish before it killed them, so i dunno.

Hi, Goodwitch333. Glad to hear you're finding this site useful -- we can all rely on solid information here plus nifty ideas for decorating the crabitat!

@klowns pretty much covered your questions but I'd like to add that the best way to add a cuttlebone to the tank is to jam it into the substrate so it stands up on end like a surfboard -- the crabs will happily climb on it and pinch away!

Re wood and other decorative items, 6" cholla can be found at Hobby Lobby and Michael's for $2-4 each. Good climbing wood is mopani and can be found at Petco/PetSmart in the Reptile section. A decent size piece, say about 10-14", will run about $10-12. Another terrific item for the crabitat is fish net: a bagged 3'x5' piece of genuine used fish net can be found at Michael's for about $6. You should wash everything you buy in hot water (no soap, obviously) and let it dry before adding it to the crabitat.

Don't forget about thrift stores! I always find ceramic or terra cotta items and lots of fake plants/vines, all for under $3 each!

JMT and I had a long discussion one evening a while back about metals, rust and hermitcrabs and essentially crustaceans like hermitcrabs have no real issue with rust case in point like JMT said they sink huge battle ships to make artificial reefs and all of the sea life crustaceans included do well on these rusty old tubs.

Rust is nothing more than the oxidation of the metal and as such is not harmful to the hermitcrabs in and off itself.

The only metals we know of that are harmful are Cadmium, Chromium, Mercury, Arsenic and Lead which are all heavy metals and are known to have high levels of toxicity to all living beings.

I think anything galvanized is also a no go and is anything coated with Teflon.

I've done the coco mats and didn't really have a problem with them blocking too much heat from my uth pads but the coco mats I had were fairly thin sheets so I would think that the value of heat capture would go up the denser the mats.

I also agree that anything going into the enclosure needs a good washing sans any kind of detergents or soaps of course, washing is just a good preemptive measure to help protect the health of your existing group.

From what I have read over the years on the topic of sterility in the enclosure when we keep hermitcrabs in captivity their immune systems adapt to the lower demands essentially becoming weaker which makes it easier for them to get sick from foreign contaminants that we might introduce to them through new decor or just direct contact with them which is why I always wash anything before its introduced into the main tank, isolate newly purchased hermitcrabs for one month, make sure to wash my hands before and after doing anything in the enclosures and why I try to be as hands off with my group in the main tank as possible.

Not real sure what the validity of the evidence is to support the weakened immune system theory but its interesting none the less.

I know about the cholla wood at craft stores and also the mopani and ghost wood at pet stores, my question is if anyone knows of any websites that sell those things for cheaper than what I would find in the stores. I am looking for longer pieces of cholla. I know I have seen links on here for websites selling cholla and also the woods. I will just have to do a quick search and try to find them. Thank you all for the replies! The crabs are enjoying their new set up and climbing all over. Now all that is left to do is wait for the last three little guys to come up from their molts so I can transfer them to the new tank, finish making my pools out of mini paint trays, add bubbler, add a better heating source, and a little more decoration.

Goodwitch333 wrote:I know about the cholla wood at craft stores and also the mopani and ghost wood at pet stores, my question is if anyone knows of any websites that sell those things for cheaper than what I would find in the stores. I am looking for longer pieces of cholla. I know I have seen links on here for websites selling cholla and also the woods. I will just have to do a quick search and try to find them.

Check out ebay and Etsy -- there are usually a few folks with good deals on cholla. The whole issue with mopani, grapewood or anything other than cholla is the shipping costs; cholla usually ships cheap as it's so lightweight. Of course, if you find an ebay deal with free shipping.....