HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So my boyfriend and I are currently on our 5th, 6th, and 7th crab in one year (we have gotten 3 at a time) because they keep dying and we don’t know what we’re doing wrong. Before we ask our questions, here’s a link to our crabitat... http://imgur.com/a/LRsqn and here’s a description of it: it is a 20 gallon tank with a mesh lid. We have multiple shells for the crabs to select from, a log for them to hide under, a statue to climb on, and coconut fiber along the wall for them to climb on. They also have a dish of drinking water, a salt bath, a food dish, and a sponge. The heat comes from both a pad underneath the aquarium and the heat lamp above. The substrate is a 3 inch deep mix of coconut fiber and all-natural terrarium sand. The humidity gauge says the tank is at around 23% right now (however, we don’t think the gauge is correct because it gets pretty wet in the tank sometimes, but the humidity gauge never reads above 40) and the heat is at 76 degrees F.
There are a couple of main things that we have questions about:
1. We’ve included a link to pictures of our crabitat. How is it? What do we need more of/less of?
2. Is it common for all of our crabs to be molting at the same time? 2 of them have been buried for over 2 months, and one has been buried for a few weeks now (he used to be coming up for food at night, but has not done so in about a week now). The food and water has not been touched. We feed them a variety of different things such as dried mealworms, dried shrimp, peanut butter, unsalted popcorn, honey, assorted dried fruits, and walnuts. Is there anything else we should be feeding them?
3. When our crabs used to be unburied, they ONLY came out at night when nobody could see them. Is there a way to make them more social during the day?
4. We’ve tried to socialize our crabs with us by setting them on the desk to walk around as we do homework, but they don’t come out of their shells the entire time. They wait until about AN HOUR after they have been put back into the terrarium to finally peek back out (as if we truly scarred them for life).

The depth of sand should be at least 6'' however a good range is also double your biggest crab. Humidity is not high because of the mesh lid. If you can't get a glass or plexiglass lid to fit another way is to put plastic wrap over the top. A mesh lid is not a recommended lid for a hermit crab tank. The water bowls need to be able for your crabs to submerge themselves, also unless you are cleaning the sponge regularly I would ditch it. I didn't care to have a sponge in mine because it could grow bacteria if not cleaned enough. Your crabs are not as active as others because they like to feel safe and hidden. Vine flowers from dollar store are a cheap way to add color and hides for them but they will still be visible for you. Also the ugh(under tank heater) is best when it is put on the side of the tank so if the crabs get too hot they have a cooler area in the tank. Also it is best to get rid of the reptile sand and use play sand from home depot or a store similar. Play sand is also much cheaper when you need large amounts of it

Thank you so much! We put a towel over the top for now to help keep humidity from escaping.

Hello,

I wasn't able to view your image for some reason, however, here is a link to our basic crab care guide.

Land hermit crabs are from tropical regions and require temps and humidities of around 80 degrees F and 80 percent humidity. (These are just easy to remember and a good safe range at which you will see a fair amount of activity, just remember that they are nocturnal.)

Land hermit crabs need substrate at least 3X as deep as your largest crab. We recommend a mixture of silica based play sand found at hardware stores and coconut fiber such as Eco Earth.

The substrate needs to be sand castle consistency to hold shape for tunneling and digging to molt.

Dechlorinated salt and fresh water are a must for healthy crabs. A marine grade salt such as Instant Ocean provides necessary elements and mimics ocean water for the crabs. Many of us use Seachem Prime or Kordon Amquel Plus for decholorinating the water. Tap water has chlorine/ammonia in it and these can be toxic to the crabs.

Gauges to assess temperature and humidity, plenty of shells in sizes and shapes your species of crab prefer, healthy, nutritious food (most commercial foods contain toxic preservatives), and heat/humidity are vital to your crabs well being.

Under tank heaters are not designed to heat through several inches of substrate, and since sand is an insulator, can cause the crabs to overheat or be a fire hazard. Since we only want to heat the air above the sand, we place them on the back of our tanks with as much of the heater above the substrate as possible. A couple of inches below won't be harmful, just watch for dry sand in that area.

I am linking to the care guide below, please read them and let us know if you have any further questions.

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=92457

Hi there!
Like star shine mentioned, your humidity is very low. Anything below 70 degrees is fatal. It is recommended that the humidity be at about 80%, higher if you have exotics, and heat should be between 75-85 degrees. Humidity is very important as crabs have gills that need that moisture to survive. Without that, they are basically like a fish out of water. For this reason, it is also not suggested to take the crabs out of the crabitat at all or for long periods of time. It is also extremely stressful on them.

Saran wrap is a great way to keep the humidity in and many crabbers use this method. You can also go to lowes or your hardware store and ask for a sheet of plexiglass and have it cut to size. The UTH needs to be on the side of your tank, above your substrate line. When your crabs dig down, they good over heat in the sand. Usually they seek the underground to cool down, so you want to make sure that it's cool for them. Also when the UTH is under the tank, it will dry out the sand and you will not have the sand castle consistency you need in order for them to tunnel and molt.

Sub should be a minimum of 6inch deep. More for larger crabs, and honestly the more the better most use as 5:1 ratio of playsand (purchased for $5 at Home Depot or Lowes) and Eco earth (coconut fiber). Mix this together with dechlorinated water to get that sand castle consistency.

Make sure you're using marine salt for your salt water such as instant ocean. And a good dechlorinater such as prime. Pools should be deep enough that your largest crab can fully submerge, and fill up their shell with water.

Once you get these things fixed, I think you will see a huge change. Make sure they have lots of things to climb and places to hide. Moss pits (shower caddies filled with moss) make a great addition to any crabitat and they LOVE them! Also cholla wood to climb or some fish netting that can be purchased at Michales or JoANns for just a few dollars. Hopefully this helps a little bit! Someone else chime in if I missed anything. It's late and my brain has pretty much shut off lol.



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Another common problem I am seeing is please ,please refrain from picking them up and picking them up. This alone is also stressing these beautiful little creatures and will also kill them. Let them acclimate!

I noticed you mentioned you have a heater on the bottom. You should move it to the back or side even if its called an "under tank heater" thats for reptiles for little to no substrate. Since hermit crabs have so much, it can become a fire hazard from the reflected heat and possibly cook hermit crabs who dig down to molt.

Every one has covered what I would say. Also I sand looks very dry. They need it damp to create there tunnels. If it is to dry the could have a cave in and suffocate. But I would not get the reptile said wet. When it gets wet it harden. So playground and with a coco fiber substrate is what I use.

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