HCA: Hermit Crab Association

The time is rapidly approaching to finally be an official oh-my-gosh real life crab mom!

I've read and researched almost everything on hermit crabs and on this forum for the last four years, and the time has finally come for me to adopt!

Some of you know a bit of my journey from other posts, so now I create this dedicated thread for my crabitat build and anything else related to it from now until I bring home the babies!

I'm starting with the empty 55gal tank and stand I bought last month off of Craigslist and spent many hours cleaning. This month I'll be purchasing many more things to build the crabitat (my first official one, eeekkk!) and hopefully I'll be able to adopt either at the end of the month or early August! I want to share pictures, ideas, and how much I spend on items!

Thank you for answering questions, reading along, and enjoying this process with me!

I just signed up for an IG account , I'll probably share more pictures over there if anyone wants to follow @christinescrabcare

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I just followed you! I can't wait to see your setup a 55gal tank is the dream!

I went to Dollar Tree today and found some goodies. Everything was $1+ tax (USD)

First: a kitchen strainer and green basket. The strainer is the perfect size for a hidey/climbing tower. I'm going to cut a hole on the side for a doorway, think giant cocohut. The green basket will be my shell shop (I would have bought two, but they only had one green one).

Second: some food prep supplies! I got two giant pill boxes to store their meals in. I'm thinking if I cook chicken on Sunday, for example, I can put little pieces in for the rest of the week. I bought two. I bought a silicone scraper that would work for removing dinner out of the organizer. Last thing is a set of 12 mini cups for general food storage (bpa free and freezer safe!). I want to keep hermies food seperate from ours.

When I get water conditioner, I'll rinse all of the items before adding to the tat.

Last LAST thing is this pack of coconut chips I found. Any objections there? It is from a vegan non gmo company with no preservatives. Ingredients are coconut, sugar, and salt.


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I also hit up the thrift store and grocery store.

I picked up food and water dishes and rocks at the thrift store for a grand total of $2.62 (very reasonable thrift store!). I got two tupperware containers that fit PERFECTLY into a bread loaf pan. I might change this later, we'll see what I (and the crabbies) like. I got two kid plates for serving food. I wanted something kinda big and divided to *possibly* contain the mess(?) Wishful thinking maybe. And lastly, I got some natural pebbles that look unused. I will use them to weight down the water dishes.

At the grocery store I got some organic cold pressed coconut oil and some organic chia seeds to begin my hermit crab pantry!

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I personally would not use the coconut chips. You want to look for organic products without sugar and without salt.

Edit: you want single ingredient items without sugar and salt added.

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Just a little bit of pre-planning [SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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GotButterflies wrote:I personally would not use the coconut chips. You want to look for organic products without sugar and without salt.

Edit: you want single ingredient items without sugar and salt added.

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How's this one? I found it at the grocery store today.



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Congrats!! So happy for you!!!


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That coconut is fine since it's the only ingredient.

C_fiesta wrote:

GotButterflies wrote:I personally would not use the coconut chips. You want to look for organic products without sugar and without salt.

Edit: you want single ingredient items without sugar and salt added.

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How's this one? I found it at the grocery store today.



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Perfect


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C_fiesta wrote:

GotButterflies wrote:I personally would not use the coconut chips. You want to look for organic products without sugar and without salt.

Edit: you want single ingredient items without sugar and salt added.

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How's this one? I found it at the grocery store today.



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That's what I use, my crabs love it!

In case you're not on Instagram with me (@christinescrabcare), IT'S ASSEMBLY DAY!

Also, how else is one suppose to check for "sandcastle consistency" without making a sandcastle?

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Very cool...and exciting! I love your piece of cholla! Very excited that you are also adding a modified hamster wheel!!

Awesome! Can't wait to see the final product

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