So we went on vacation to Virginia Beach a week ago and of course every gift shop had hermit crabs. I have 2 young kids so obviously we came home with 2 pp's. I of course knew when we were buying them that the habitat and care instructions they gave us were not going to be what we really need so I had already planned on upgrading to a larger habitat although originally I was just going to do like a 20g or something. I saw someone on here mention the used tanks from Herps Alive near Cleveland and I talked to them and she said they have some 65g tall tanks so I think tomorrow I'll be picking up one of those to start with. I plan on grabbing 3 straws if I can find a place to get them, I think they look awesome with their bright red colors and figured a few more friends might be nice and we should have plenty of space. I'm relatively new to hermit crabs (I've had them when I was a kid but never cared for properly) so I'm sure I'll be looking for information. We live in NE Ohio so I'm not sure what I'll need for heaters and such, we keep our house relatively cool and I'm sure the air in here is pretty dry as well.
A 65g tall is basically a 55g breeder but taller. I'm not sure if that's what we'll come home with but that's what I'm going down to see mainly.
New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
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KayedeeLove<3
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Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Welcome!!! Don't mess up with your tank like i did mine please!!! The more floor room the better!!! Good Luck 
Oh and check out hermies kitchen.
Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk
Oh and check out hermies kitchen.
Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Well a 55g is 48x13 so still pretty good floor space. I wanted a 70g but they have a waiting list for those and no telling when they'll get one in.
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soilentgringa
- Posts: 4352
- Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:18 pm
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Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Hi! If you have never had hermits before, it's best to stick with PP's until you have some experience under your belt.
Straws require a bit more specific care, and don't live nearly as long in captivity.
Straws require a bit more specific care, and don't live nearly as long in captivity.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Oh, what about E's?
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soilentgringa
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Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
May I suggest reading through the care guides and the species guides? I may never have exotics because I only adopt, I don't purchase crabs at all, but there are going to be adoptions all over during the summer tourist season. People get crabs on vacation then need to rehome them for various reasons.Hdale85 wrote:Oh, what about E's?
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92457
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Yeah I'm not looking to get anything immediately. I did read over it some, I just thought E's were the other ones that are commonly sold in pet stores maybe I'm confusing species though.
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soilentgringa
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Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Hi, now that I'm on my desktop I can elaborate more.
E's are sold in some pet shops in the U.S. Straws and violas have been found in some as well, with the petshops sometimes misidentifying the violas as blueberries. (Blues are almost impossible to find in the U.S. now)
This is just my personal opinion, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
( How I got started crabbing: My mom called me on her way back from Galveston two years ago to tell me that she was bringing my son 2 hermit crabs. I immediately went online and researched. I was not prepared for the amount of care they required.)
I've been on this forum for almost two years now, I am by no means an expert. Many, many crabbers have been doing this for a lot longer than I have. When you purchase or adopt crabs, many times they don't survive their first molt. This could be due to injury, stress, inadequate conditions, what we call PPS (Post Purchase Syndrome), unknown disease vectors that affect crustaceans, parasites (you cannot see gill mites on the outside of the crab, I don't think, but recent necropsy photos have shown them in the gill tissue), etc.
In the last two years we've adopted over 50 PP's (between my former roommate and myself) and at least half of them have died. We've had great setups, multiple tanks, awesome food and all the other "right" things. We asked for advice from seasoned crabbers and read through multiple threads on this page going back a number of years.
I've seen a lot of people turn down PP's that need good homes because they want "exotic" species. Which, to be fair, they're all pretty exotic since none of them are native to the U.S., with the exception of PP's that can be found in the southernmost parts of Florida. That's totally their prerogative. Straws, violas, blues, indos, rugs are all lovely and amazing and it would be awesome to have some.
I don't know of anyone who has had straws that have lived over 7 years maximum in captivity. I've heard horror stories of the UTH failing or the humidity being off for less than 48 hours and all their straws dying because of this.
I'm still learning and researching all the time and become very passionate about these little guys. So many people see them as a throwaway pet. The majority of people don't even know that they are harvested from the wild, which effects the ecosytem and marine life in those areas.
Please know that when I caution people against rushing into looking for exotics, shipping crabs, or adding other creatures into their habitats, it is only because I have the crabs best interests at heart. It's not to be offensive or intentionally abrasive or bossy. It's because I've had my friend hug me while I sobbed over multiple crab deaths or that I've spent 20 or more hours in one week trying to locate homes for crabs that no one seems to want (or be able to care for).
I believe that most people have the best intentions at heart and want to take good care of them. I wish there was more education about them and am personally trying to find ways to do so.
I'm going to get off my crabby soapbox now. I just wanted people to kind of understand where I was coming from and didn't want you to think that I was just like "No! Don't get exotics you n00b!" Also note that this post isn't directed specifically at any one person, it just happens to be a response in your thread. I am sure that you are going to be a fantastic crabber You are doing the right thing by researching first and I very much respect anyone who does their research before purchasing or adopting a pet.
Like @Callalilly said, don't just take our word for it or advice, research and look at other groups and use common sense. Try to find scholarly articles/peer reviewed journals and look at their native habitats for an idea of how to care for them properly.
E's are sold in some pet shops in the U.S. Straws and violas have been found in some as well, with the petshops sometimes misidentifying the violas as blueberries. (Blues are almost impossible to find in the U.S. now)
This is just my personal opinion, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
( How I got started crabbing: My mom called me on her way back from Galveston two years ago to tell me that she was bringing my son 2 hermit crabs. I immediately went online and researched. I was not prepared for the amount of care they required.)
I've been on this forum for almost two years now, I am by no means an expert. Many, many crabbers have been doing this for a lot longer than I have. When you purchase or adopt crabs, many times they don't survive their first molt. This could be due to injury, stress, inadequate conditions, what we call PPS (Post Purchase Syndrome), unknown disease vectors that affect crustaceans, parasites (you cannot see gill mites on the outside of the crab, I don't think, but recent necropsy photos have shown them in the gill tissue), etc.
In the last two years we've adopted over 50 PP's (between my former roommate and myself) and at least half of them have died. We've had great setups, multiple tanks, awesome food and all the other "right" things. We asked for advice from seasoned crabbers and read through multiple threads on this page going back a number of years.
I've seen a lot of people turn down PP's that need good homes because they want "exotic" species. Which, to be fair, they're all pretty exotic since none of them are native to the U.S., with the exception of PP's that can be found in the southernmost parts of Florida. That's totally their prerogative. Straws, violas, blues, indos, rugs are all lovely and amazing and it would be awesome to have some.
I don't know of anyone who has had straws that have lived over 7 years maximum in captivity. I've heard horror stories of the UTH failing or the humidity being off for less than 48 hours and all their straws dying because of this.
I'm still learning and researching all the time and become very passionate about these little guys. So many people see them as a throwaway pet. The majority of people don't even know that they are harvested from the wild, which effects the ecosytem and marine life in those areas.
Please know that when I caution people against rushing into looking for exotics, shipping crabs, or adding other creatures into their habitats, it is only because I have the crabs best interests at heart. It's not to be offensive or intentionally abrasive or bossy. It's because I've had my friend hug me while I sobbed over multiple crab deaths or that I've spent 20 or more hours in one week trying to locate homes for crabs that no one seems to want (or be able to care for).
I believe that most people have the best intentions at heart and want to take good care of them. I wish there was more education about them and am personally trying to find ways to do so.
I'm going to get off my crabby soapbox now. I just wanted people to kind of understand where I was coming from and didn't want you to think that I was just like "No! Don't get exotics you n00b!" Also note that this post isn't directed specifically at any one person, it just happens to be a response in your thread. I am sure that you are going to be a fantastic crabber
You are doing the right thing by researching first and I very much respect anyone who does their research before purchasing or adopting a pet. Like @Callalilly said, don't just take our word for it or advice, research and look at other groups and use common sense. Try to find scholarly articles/peer reviewed journals and look at their native habitats for an idea of how to care for them properly.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Thanks for the info I do appreciate it. My wife came home years ago with guinea pigs in a small store bought cage and I went through the research of properly caring for those as well (we ended up with like 8 guinea pigs in the end and a HUGE cage that took up most of our dining room) so I've gone through this before lol. Granted those were given to her, my kids begged for the hermit crabs and I knew it'd take more than what I had previously heard from people that purchased from the pet store and the people in VA Beach.
I won't be able to adopt on here for a few months I think the rules state? Either way I just thought the straws looked neat but I'm sure there is plenty of info I missed over. I did look at one other forum I found for Hermit Crabs but they had far less users which is why I came here. I like a well populated forum haha.
I won't be able to adopt on here for a few months I think the rules state? Either way I just thought the straws looked neat but I'm sure there is plenty of info I missed over. I did look at one other forum I found for Hermit Crabs but they had far less users which is why I came here. I like a well populated forum haha.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Well I went over there today, and after looking at what they had I came home with a 55 gallon. They had one that was basically like a 40gallon but really tall but the base was smaller so I just went with the 55 gallon.
The question I have at this point is how many pounds of sand do I need and how many of the big cubes of coconut fiber? What kind of sand do you guys use or recommend? I was reading the threads in here and the one just said some people use just about any kind of sand except for the one with salt or whatever in it. Play sand and general purpose sand and some other kind of sand it said were ok to use?
Also what about heaters? Should I stick to undertank heaters? And do I need 2 of them? I saw sizing guidlines and stuff but not much guidlines on what I'll need for heat. I have 2 UVB bulbs from when I was going to get a Chameleon a while back. Both are brand new. Our house is pretty heavily ac'd in the summer so the air is kind of dry and it's definitely cooler in here than they'd like.
The question I have at this point is how many pounds of sand do I need and how many of the big cubes of coconut fiber? What kind of sand do you guys use or recommend? I was reading the threads in here and the one just said some people use just about any kind of sand except for the one with salt or whatever in it. Play sand and general purpose sand and some other kind of sand it said were ok to use?
Also what about heaters? Should I stick to undertank heaters? And do I need 2 of them? I saw sizing guidlines and stuff but not much guidlines on what I'll need for heat. I have 2 UVB bulbs from when I was going to get a Chameleon a while back. Both are brand new. Our house is pretty heavily ac'd in the summer so the air is kind of dry and it's definitely cooler in here than they'd like.
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soilentgringa
- Posts: 4352
- Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:18 pm
- Location: Dallas, TX
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
I used 250lbs of playsand and 3 bricks of eco earth in mine for 12" of substrate. I have a 55 gallon.Hdale85 wrote:Well I went over there today, and after looking at what they had I came home with a 55 gallon. They had one that was basically like a 40gallon but really tall but the base was smaller so I just went with the 55 gallon.
The question I have at this point is how many pounds of sand do I need and how many of the big cubes of coconut fiber? What kind of sand do you guys use or recommend? I was reading the threads in here and the one just said some people use just about any kind of sand except for the one with salt or whatever in it. Play sand and general purpose sand and some other kind of sand it said were ok to use?
Also what about heaters? Should I stick to undertank heaters? And do I need 2 of them? I saw sizing guidlines and stuff but not much guidlines on what I'll need for heat. I have 2 UVB bulbs from when I was going to get a Chameleon a while back. Both are brand new. Our house is pretty heavily ac'd in the summer so the air is kind of dry and it's definitely cooler in here than they'd like.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
12" deep is like...over half the tank though.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
That is true, but the more substrate, the better, because it decreases the chance of crabs coming across each other underground, as most crab on crab violence occurs when a molter is disturbed. It is a very vulnerable time for them because their limbs are soft leaving them defenseless. I have about 11 inches atm, but I also have a large crab. 6 inches would hardly cover Mrs. Robinson. I'd be a wreck worried she'd accidentally get dug up!Hdale85 wrote:12" deep is like...over half the tank though.
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Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
I was gonna go 8" or so.
Re: New to the forum, and building new crabitat.
Picked up the 3 brick pack of eco earth, a Zilla 55 gallons hinged stop, and a 25 gallon box of instant ocean. I think I'm going to grab 200lbs of sand, I imagine that with the eco earth will give me at least 10" of substrate. I think with a 55 gallon tank that'll likely only have 5-7 crabs in it at most that should be pretty good.
Going to order this Hydrometer
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/
I have 2 UVB bulbs, I have an Arcadia D3 Reptile Lamp that's 6% UVB that's a T5 bulbs. I also have a T8 I think it is Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb. I'm not sure if either of these are good for the crab tank. I plan on going pretty heavy jungle looking setup.
The Arcadia is 34" and the Reptisun is 36".
Going to order this Hydrometer
http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermometers/TH-100/
I have 2 UVB bulbs, I have an Arcadia D3 Reptile Lamp that's 6% UVB that's a T5 bulbs. I also have a T8 I think it is Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb. I'm not sure if either of these are good for the crab tank. I plan on going pretty heavy jungle looking setup.
The Arcadia is 34" and the Reptisun is 36".