HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Greetings all. I have a bit of a dilemma and I was hoping the crabbing community might have thoughts and suggestions. I have a large tank (55gal) that houses 4PPs and 1E. Everyone seems to be happy and doing well (I’ve had this larger set up for 2 years). However, I live in Indiana and come July I have to move to California for grad school. Honestly I don’t know the best way to transport the hermits. The problem is compounded by the fact that the trip over to LA isn’t going to be just a straight drive, my family has turned it into a mini vacation. In total it’s going to take about a week.

The family is sensitive to the fact that the crabs need humidity and warmth. I have a little DIY humidity pump (learned how to make it on here, thanks guys!) and an adapter to run it in the car. However, I’m trying to decide what the best container would be to transport them in. Plastic? Glass? Obviously I’m not taking the 55g in the car, so I have to put them in something more manageable to travel in. I’m also concerned about temperature management and wondered what people have used for portable control.

I’m just curious what people think and what people have done in the past.

Thanks for your help!

If I had to do this, I would use a clear plastic tote in as large a size as I could keep with me, carry into hotels, etc, and drill a few holes in the lid. I would also only use an inch or two of substrate but plenty of moss since it's easy to moisten as needed. Healthy, established crabs aren't likely to make a sudden molt during a stressful trip of a week and this way you can move the tote easily and not have to worry about crabs down when you arrive.

In terms of temperature, in July you are only likely to have to worry about them getting too hot, I would think. In the hotel you could just throw a blanket over the tote.

For my cross country move (RI to CA), I had a friend crabsit them, while they lived in temp housing storage bins. (We went over care, etc., and she was very generous and good with them.) Once movers delivered everything and their tank was set back up, she overnight shipped them, following directions that I think I got somewhere on this site. They all made it just fine. While the shipping stress might have been more extreme, it was a much shorter duration than a cross country drive.