HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Ive just been giving my crabs disstilled water. But then, i went to petsmart and got that HYDRRATE saltwater. So i was wondering, should i put the salt water in their water dish, or the fresh water? Should i put both? Oh, and is it OK to use the top of a tupperwere container as a water dish, cuz i dont have any other shells to put the salt water in .

Yes, they absolutely need two water sources...salt and fresh. I use spring water, though, not distilled. I have no idea if distilled water is okay for them to drink/bathe in.

To make their salt water, you should use a marine-quality brand, such as Instant Ocean or Oceanic, and follow the instructions on the box.

As long as your crabs can be somewhat submerged in the water, a tupperware lid should be just fine. You don't need anything fancy!

ughh my mom wont let me use her tupperwear!!!! but i have another idea.... you know those plastic red cups? well, do you think it would be OK if i cut the top off, and kept the bottom as only like half inch tall? is that plastic like bad for them or anything?

mmmm...I wouldn't. The cut edges will be very sharp, and I wouldn't want to take a chance....

You don't need anything fancy for water and food dishes. You can use plastic jar lids from peanut butter, mayo, that sort of thing. You can also use terracotta pot saucers (under a buck at home depot, kmart, walmart, etc.). As long as it isn't painted and holds water, you're good to go.

Here's a thread that has lots of suggestions for household stuff that can be successfully used in the crabitat:
viewtopic.php?t=60747&highlight=

I just thought of another thing...ya know those plastic containers that prepared foods come in? I'm thinking hummus, cheese dip, guacamole, etc....

They are about an inch deep, 4 inches wide, round, sometimes square....those would work fine, too.

Then you have the added benefit of pigging out on some hummus, and you can say "but it's for the crabbies! I HAD to eat the whole thing!"

SuperFanjaya wrote:ughh my mom wont let me use her tupperwear!!!! but i have another idea.... you know those plastic red cups? well, do you think it would be OK if i cut the top off, and kept the bottom as only like half inch tall? is that plastic like bad for them or anything?

I used to use those in my ISOs. I would make sure to smooth all the edges down and it was fine. It was a very good substitute for me, because like you.. my mom wouldn't let me use tupperware!

thank you SOOO much! haha im sorry i keeep asking so many questions, its my first time, and i want to make sure i do it right!

Hey, no problem! I remember being in your position not to long ago. I found all the info over-whelming so I asked LOTS of simple questions and eventually figured it out. Your doing the right thing by asking questions instead of just winging it and doing your own thing!

WOOHOOO! that girl in the topic u posted is my age! im 12 too!! am i the youngest on this site?

No... we have on member who is either 10 or 11, but they keep changing there username so I don't know who they are anymore. And I'm 13 so really your not that young, I was a member here when I was 12.

ok thats goood<3 haha....is distilled water OK for them?

this is their cage....its boring looking=[

Don't worry about the questions. When I first started I was on here daily with some question or another. Everyone was so helpful, I probably wouldn't still have crabs if it wasn't for this site.

That's pretty much what my tank looked like at first. I didn't stress about it too much. I just kept picking things up as I could. I've had my crabs for almost nine months and I still need to find a climbing net or something similar and make a second level shell shop.

No... we have on member who is either 10 or 11, but they keep changing there username so I don't know who they are anymore. Laughing And I'm 13 so really your not that young, I was a member here when I was 12. Wink

I'm 10. And you so do not have to worry about the questions! When I was starting I had a million questions I wanted the answers to, even though I had read just about all the hermit crab books there are and seen a bunch of the websites. Ask away! P.S. I like your 'tat a lot! Maybe you could try adding a background for more color.

Hermielover, your 10?!? I always imagined you to be like 15 or so!

And your 'tat isn't that boring really. It looks much like how most of us started out.