Hello, new to this forum and to crabbins!

[Guest]

Hi everyone! I am new to the HCA forums, and to owning hermit crabs. I got my first two hermies almost two weeks ago, and I would like to find out if my setup is okay for them. I also have a question about behavior.

Right now I have two hermits, one smaller than a golf ball, and one slightly smaller than a quarter. Both are PPs, though I wasn't sure about the bigger one at first because he's very orange. I work at a chain pet store, and some guy brought the larger one in, saying his daughter wouldn't take care of it any more. Since it was in a complete cage, with food and everything, I took it. I bought him a friend from our stock that same night, the smaller dude.

They are in a 10gal tank with eco earth as their bedding. It's approximately three inches deep (I was told it needs to be deep enough for the bigger one to be able to dig). I have a reptile water dish that is a sand texture with stairs for them to bathe in if they want to. A smaller, shallower dish contains salt water (I was told PPs don't need saltwater, but they like it. I'm using Instant Ocean salt mix.). A very shallow, plate-like dish I use for fresh foods (so far they love apple and peach bits, as well as a touch of organic peanut butter and honey). I have a small clam-type shell with their pelleted food in it, and some cuttlebone. There's a climbing wall along the back of the tank. I have two smallish pieces of driftwood in the tank for climbing, and I created a second level by putting an overturned wooden basket in there (the front has a hole cut out so they can hide inside, too). There is a small undertank heater on the side of the tank with the food and water.

Does that setup sound okay? Is there anything I'm lacking?

Behavior question: I did a deep clean at work the night the big fellow came in to us, not knowing any better. The big guy (they haven't told me their names yet, so I apologize for the lack thereof) has been fine ever since; he's a very active crab. He's in a shell painted like a basketball, and I would dearly love for him to change. There are three or four shells in there that are appropriate (no holes, rough edges, the right size), but so far he hasn't even touched them, though he does climb over them to get from one side to the other. Will he change in time, or should I put some different shells in there?

The little fellow has wedged himself between the coconut climbing wall and the glass and buried himself. He came out one time, but hasn't since. How long can he go without food? I read that they bury themselves to relieve stress, and I'm sure he had plenty of that at the store, but I'm worried about him. I don't want to check on him by lifting him, though.

Does everything I'm doing sound ok? I mist their crabitat with dechlorinated water at least once a day, and I have a small lamp on top the tank, which is covered with a mesh top with paper towels layered on top of it (I mist those too, to try and hold in moisture). Please let me know if their behavior is normal, and if there's anything else I can do to make them more comfy. Thanks!

[Guest]

Not that I know all that much myself, having only been crabbing less than a month now, but I can give you some help.

To add to your tank: a temperature and humidity guage. You need to make sure you keep those at a constant level. ---> Check out the crab care sheet for info on all that.

I would say your small one will be fine. Two of my crabs have been buried for 3 weeks now, and they aren't dead. Believe me, they do come up. They probably come up at night when you're sleeping. I know one of mine does, he likes to change his shell for one day, then change back.

I'm not too sure on the pelleted food though. Apparently most commerical foods have harmful perservatives in them. I didn't know this at first and my boyfriend and I bought some when we bought our first crabs. I'm trying my hardest to get him to stop feeding it to them when he's feeling too lazy to actually get fresh food for them. (I kinda told him to stop killing our crabs, and I think he got the message last night).

As for the shell, what I did for my crab that I wanted to change shells, was overload him with choices (probably 5-6 shells), and then when he changed, took a couple out.

I hope that helps. I'm sure someone more experienced than me will come along and give you better advice. Happy crabbing!

Fiver

[Guest]

I agree with coosiver! You are doing much better than I did when I started. Gages are a must, humidity too high and they can't breath as well as too low, too much heat is bad for them also, I've been known to put frozen food on the top of the tank when the temp gets to 83, gages will let you know what your crabs are dealing with.

Suppliers give petstores a lot of misinformation, one bit is that Perple Pinchers don't need salt water, which is false, so I'm glad you have it. IO may not be the best brand, may have metals in it (I think-some one please correct me if I'm wrong-I just remember there's a red flag with IO). I'm using Oceanic, which is a red sea brand.

If a glass lid may be needed once you get your gages, to hold humidity in, although putting saran wrap over a mesh top will often work also.

I agree with coosiver about comerical food as well, I go with all natural organic. I just bought one thing at a time and weened them off commercial foods. They have great molts and coloring since I did that. There is a safe foods list under Emergency Care and Links, Crab Care FAQ.

Also check there are certain woods that are poisonous to crabs, so unless I know what wood it is I avoid putting it in the tank. Here is a link which you can find what woods are safe:

http://www.epicureanhermit.com/

It sounds like your little one is destressing, both crabs behavoir sounds perfectly normal, and I agree with everything coosiver said there too. PPS Post Purchase Stress is how a crab's biology deals with changing conditions, hopefully all will be fine there, it just takes some time.

[annopia]

seems like you've gotten some great advice, so I'll just add a welcome to the HCA!

Caroline

[Tremors]

So far you seem like you're doing pretty well! Much better than when I started! If you don't have enough time to buy crab food all the time, I suggest you buy the hermit crab food made by Narnar (another Hermit Crab Association member). She sells it on Ebay. I don't have the link to it but if you find a post by her, the link is in her signature. It's not too expensive and the crabs love it! :hello1:

[Guest]

Thank you for the warm welcome! I hope no one thinks ill of me because I work at a pet store. I really do try to take the best care of the animals we house. I mainly work with the fish, but reptiles is right next door, and that's where the hermies are.

The thing that worried me about leaving out the pelleted food was that I may miss something vital in the hermies' diet. I've tried a variety of fruits and veggies, and a few dried shrimp, even. Also some organic fresh parsley, organic peanut butter and honey. There's this little voice in the back of my mind that says I may miss something important and kill my hermies! I don't want to do that; that's why I left the pellets in. But then I see people who successfully keep their critters on a non-storebought diet, and it gives me hope.

I do have a thermometer in the cage, I just forgot to mention it. Humidity gauge is next on the list, whenever my store gets them back in stock. I'll also get a bigger dish for saltwater, and perhaps another type of salt. Another forum told me Instant Ocean was ok, but I did want some more opinions.

[MomToDixie]

I second the advice for Narnar's food. She is wonderful and so is her food. My guys' fav is bugs and nuts and the fruity oatmeal, they go crazy for the stuff . They also like the Emerald stuff that you can buy frozen from the fish section. I think I own one of everything from Nar's store . You are off to a great start, welcome to the HCA .

[Tremors]

I think its great that you work at a pet store! Because at least you care about the animals. Someday I want to work at a pet store so that I can try to improve the animal care.
My crabs favorite of Narnar's food is the Staple, but I haven't tried everything yet. Soon I'm getting more kinds.