Babysitting Hermie--need help!!!

[Guest]

One of my friends asked me to babysit her crab for a couple of weeks. It's living in a tiny plastic cage, with just enough sand to barely cover the bottom.

I felt this was wrong even before knowing anything about crabs...The poor thing was just sitting in the corner.

Basically, I want to become this hermie's godmother. I'm going to buy him a new cage with enough substrate to dig in, a temp/hmidity gauge and maybe a few new shells.

Obviously I don't have buckets of money to play around with, but I thought even a 5 gallon tank would be an improvement on the current conditions, and not too much bigger so that when I give it back to the girl she won't freak out. Is that adequate for one hermit crab?

I also need advice on moving hermie to his new home. I don't want it to be a shock--perhaps he likes his spartan conditions now--I don't want to kill him! Should I give him a bath before putting him in his new place, or would that be wayyyy too much trauma? In my mind, I want to give him a fresh start in every way possible, but would that be too much at once?

Also--I read that they like shells with mother of pearl on the inside. How much do these cost, and how many should I get him?

THANKS!

[starmaiden]

Hi and welcome!

A hermie Godmother! That's really nice of you! A 5 gallon glass aquarium with enough moist substrate (and not calcisand! Get playsand from the hardware store or cocofiber that you expand in water) so the crab can dig down and cover itself by at least a few inches, some guages, an under tank heater for winter, a hidey, and a fresh and marine salt water (not table salt!) pool would be a HUGE improvement. If you did that, you would be a hermie fairy godmother!

I wouldn't bathe the crab. It would just stress the poor thing out. How long has she had the crab?

[Guest]

Well the easiest question first, he should get two or three shells to choose from and I don't think mother of pearl will make a difference. Different crabs like different things.


The MOST IMPORTANT THING! Water: he needs declorinated fresh water AND salt water, not made with table salt(anti-caking agents are harmful to crabs)*. You can pick up some declorinatior and aquarium salt from any store that sells fish (wal-mart petco etc.).

Also temp and Humidity should both be around 75%

I wouldn't give it a bath if you provide deep enough water (both kinds) he will bathe himself.

Give him lots of fresh fruits and veggies to eat, for a complete list look to the right -----> under the emergency care links -> Crab Care FAQ towards the bottom is a safe foods list.

Your right to get play sand, just make sure you bake it first (350F for minimum of 30 min max of 3hrs) then wet it to castle building consistency and put 3-5 inches in there. (remember to let it cool first)

A 5 gal tank should be OK for right now considering it's not your crab, but I'll bet he is very lonely (they are very social creatures) and would love a friend.

If you can find an old flower pot to put in there on it's side that he can use as a hidey hut, he would like that.


As for introducing him to the proper conditions too abruptly don't worry about it the sooner the better.


Also remember that what your doing is a great thing that not many people would do for their own Hermit Crab, let alone a friends. That makes you a very special person and anything you need, any questions you have don't hesitate to ask. Thank You for caring.

Edited by troppo for archives*

[annopia]

you are a very very good person to be doing this for your little godcrab. with a little effort you can really really make his life better. you've already gotten some great advice, but if you have any specific questions don't hesitate to ask. you're always welcome to pm me as well .

Caroline

[Guest]

It seems like you really care about this little crab. Ever consider getting a few for yourself?

In addition to buying the new home and supplies, you might want to either print out a care sheet or direct your friend to this website. Hopefully your friend will get hooked on crabbing and be able to find mountains of helpful information on here.

Like the others have said, it takes a really special person to care this much about an animal that's not even their own. I'm glad this little crab has such a good person looking out for him.

[Guest]

So, I put hermie in his new home yesterday. He was so cute! He crawled all around and even crawled up the fake coral I had! He even checked out one of the shells--he was feeling all around the opening and basically "kicking the wheels." Really cute. I guess he's decided not to go for that one quite yet though-he's still in his original shell.

Unfortunately the pet store only had a 2.5 gallon tank, so it's still too small. I think I might go to petsmart and see if they have a better one. Definitely an improvement from the plastic crate though. The girl's had him since December and he'd been living like that since that time.

In the tank, I put a mix of sand and that expandable bark/soil stuff. It was with all the hermit crab stuff at the store, so hopefully that's OK. I piled the sand to ~3" high on one side, sloping to about 1.5". He's totally avoided the deep sand (at least as far as I can tell). Is this too much?Do you think I shoud wet it so it's more packable? Right now it's pretty dry.

For the past night and day though he's just burrowed himself down in the corner. I've left some food out for him but he hasn't touched it, and every time I take a peak at him he freaks out and shrinks back in his shell.

I have a dumb question about the salt water--should I declorinate that first? How deep should I make both his drinking and bathing dishes?
Should I leave food/water/bathwater in there at all times, or just at night when he's moving around?

Thanks for your help!

[annopia]

sounds like he likes his new home!

I got my tank from petsmart for a pretty good price...too bad they usually have poor conditions for their crabs .

yes, you should wet the substrate, it will make it easier for him to bury when he wants to and will also keep humidity up? did you get temp/humidity gauges? if not, you'll definatly want to pick those up.

if you have room, make the water containers big enough so he can submerse himself in them, but add a few pebbles or something to make sure he can't drown. if you can't make both of them this big, at least makes one this size. and the bathing and drinking sources can be the same container...they can use the same water to drink and bathe, just change it out at least every other day.

yep, dechlorinate the water before you mix it with the marine salt.

you should have food/water/bathing sources in there at all time. you never know when he'll want a snack, or a drink (hehe, think of it like raiding the fridge at night) .

if you have any more questions, ask away!

Caroline