HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi. Just joined and just got Hermit Crabs! I got two. Right now they are in a temporary habitat. They seem to be pretty content right now. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions but for now I think I'll wonder around this forum and see what I see.

I do have one question though. When I was registering it wouldn't take my hotmail address. It said it had been banned?? I've never been here before so I hope no one else used my email. Or maybe all hotmail is banned??

welcome to HCA! feel free to ask any questions you might have.

i think that hotmail accounts are prohibitted from registering. i tried to register with my hotmail account, but that didn't work so i had to use my school email.

Caroline

How Ironic I used my school email too.. lol.

I'd like to see pictures of molting. Where can I find that. And I saw on here something about salt water. Can you point me to a good thread about that. I didn't realize they need salt water??

Oh and how to find out the gender. (Might need that to name).

They seem to really like the dried fruit I got them. Can I give them small peices of fresh fruit? What else can I give them?

yep, fresh fruit, veggies, unseasoned meats, and unsalted nuts are good for hermies. heres a site that give edible/inedible food lists:

http://www.epicureanhermit.com/index.ph ... 4&Itemid=9

heres the page that helped me to tell the gender of my crab:

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/sexing.html

and a page about mixing salt water:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pa ... water.html

hope these help! i don't know where good pictures of molting are, however, but perhaps someone else will.

Caroline

Thx. Nother question. Their water spilt and the sand is wet. Is that going to make them sick? Or will it be ok. The sand in the corner is wet, not the entire area.

as a substrate, the sand should actually be wettened until it is sand-castle consistancy. this is so the hermies can dig tunnels and they won't collapse in on them. a little extra water never hurt .

Caroline

I found a good set of photos of the molting process, they were taken by a member who has extroidinary experience in hermit crabs, especially strawberries (I recommend you check out his thread in the photo section, his crabs are amazing):

viewtopic.php?t=37619

Caroline

Thank you Caroline. I just read about the spray water on sand in another thread. I was reading about putting a wet towel on the tank too. I think I'll do that tonight.

The temp in our house is around 75 degree's. Is that a good temp or warmer or colder? I noticed since we got home they are not moving around a lot. Could that just be stress? I just worry and I have so much to learn.

Oh and what "type" is my crabs? One is light and one is almost black.

hmmm...difficult to say from that what species they are. do they have purple big pinchers? are their eyes elongated or more round? the two most common species are PPs (purple pinchers) and Es (ecuadorians). here's a link that has side by side images of all the species:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pages/species.jpg

75 is a good temperature, the ideal range is 75-80. do you have a humidity gauge? thats also important, and ideal is the same range, 75-80.

its normal for them not to be too active, theyre just destressing.

Caroline

Thanks for all your help. I'll look at the link. They have long eyes, kinda black at the tips. One of them the exo is dark, almost black with a little rust color here and there.

The other is really light... like a dingy white.

I do not have a gauge. Right now their home is temporary. Tomorrow I plan to get them a bigger home and I'll get that gauge, aquarium salt, and anything else I need??

Is a 10 gal the right size for the two of them. (I don't plan to have more than 2)

it sounds, from your description, the you have either Es or ruggies. I'm more inclined to believe your light one is a ruggie, because I don't believe i have ever seen extremely light Es. i do, however, have a pure white ruggie.

when i go to the pet store i always get stuff to put in the tank . coco huts (looks like half coconut), hidey logs, aquarium plants, all are nice. you need to make sure to get a good lid for the tank, and not one that is mesh.

how big are your crabs? unless you have jumbos, I'd say that a 10 gallon is perfect.

Caroline

Not too big. About the size of say... a quarter.

They have a hut, a food and water shell. Plus I have another water dish that is deaper that they can submerge half way in. But I do not have it in their home yet. It's too small for that. I have two shells they can move into if they wish. The pet store lady said they would be just about right for them. Though they seem to have lots of room in their current shells.

I want to get the mesh backing for the tank. Plus maybe put some bamboo in there for them to climb on. I can get that at the flea market. They are always selling bamboo plants there.

my smaller crab loved to climb on the tulle i used to have in their tank. i'm actually thinking about getting a bambo plant for my tank as well-i have heard that crabs love climbing on them. just make sure the plant hasn't been treated with any insectiside (this is deadly to hermies).

are the shells you have natural or painted? painted are bad because the paint may flake, and when crabs eat it, it is toxic. not to mention the fact that they are sometimes painted/shelacked (sp?) inside, which hurts a hermie's soft abdomen.

Caroline

They are natural. I see lots of painted ones around though. Never realized they could be bad..

I'll ask the lady if they have been treated w/ a pesticide. I was going to give them a good wash before I put them in anyway.

You got some nice crabs there, your lucky you got some E's (equadorians Es for short)