HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi there -- I am taking delivery of a pair of blackback crabs (one red, one white!), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecarcinus_lateralis, next week. Since they are land crabs, not aquatic (but still need access to water), it has been recommended to set their habitat up like one would do for hermit crabs.

I have a 55 gal aquarium that I plan to use. These crabs are supposed to get up to 4 inches across their carapace at full size. That means I need 8 inches of substrate, right? About how much EE and sand is that?

Also, what size UTH? and it should go on the back or side rather than underneath, right?

I have lights, a heat lamp, and plastic foliage. I also have plenty of natural crab food (which I currently feed to my red claw crabs - they love it & their color is so dark and rich!), so I'm not so concerned about that.

I just want to make sure that when I go to the store tomorrow or Monday, I pick up enough EE and sand, plus the correct size UTH.

THANKS!
-Michèle

So I'm not an expert, I wanted to adopt a Halloween crab which is similar to the crab your getting. I did extensive research a coup,e yrs ago. I ended up getting a patriot crab who survived a couple molts but passed after that quite suddenly. (i was told he would be a halloween crab) When I was searching information for the Halloween crab, moon crab came up a lot. These crabs have modified gills that need to be kept moist. Humidity is a major thing with them. They will also need fresh and salt water pools. Some people keep just brackish water though. They need good high temps, similar to hermits. They are scavengers but if I remember right these crabs are more into the herbivore thing. They love leaf litter, veggies and fruit. Pellet food is okay and they will eat it if they have to but breaking up there diet gives them a treat an some extra nutrients. I would that your tank size would be great, and if you have nice size pools for them to soak and drink from then they will enjoy that set up. The amount of coco fiber depends on what you use. I use the bricks and it takes my 55g tanks about 10 bricks, but I also use sand and my sub is pretty deep. Idk just do some deep research on these crabs cause I know a lot of people who have trouble keeping similar crabs, they have a hard time with molts in captivity. And just buy lots of substrate even if you don't use it this time, you will have extra towards a tank cleaning. I put my UTH on the side of my tank, i actually have two. One meant for the 40g tank ano anothing on the far side meant for a 10 gal. I feel that it heats more of the tank then just one spot. Sorry if I am no help right now it's late. Good luck with your crabs

Hi, thanks for your answers!

How deep is your substrate? I want to make sure I have enough EE and play sand. We live fairly far away from the store, so making multiple trips is really inconvenient.

I have been doing research & am really excited to have these crabs.

-Michèle

On one end of the tank the substrate is About 18 inches it goes down to about ten inches on the other side where my pools are, but I keep hermits in this tank, so I have room for a second level and lots of cholla for climbing. I have two 2.5 gallon tanks for pools so they take up a decent amount of space on the one end. I use near 100 lbs of sand and 10 to 12 bricks, the coco fiber bricks aren't always even, so some bricks are big and some are smaller, don't know why that is. If I had a working camera I would post pictures but I don't so I'm not much help for visuals. When I had set a tank up for the Halloween crab that turned out to be a patriot crab I used a 29 gallon tank for the set up I thought I needed. It was sand an coco fiber mixed, I had fresh and salt water dishes, they do need pools though. It's better for them to wet there gills and soak in. I had about 12 inches sub, which was like 4 coco bricks and 50lbs of sand. Anyways I have a lot of deco that sits in the sand to so take that into account as space as well. Just buy a lot, it never hurts to have extra. And looking at some pages they do favor a herbivore diet so if your eating fruits and veggies give them a little bit. They may not like the pellets if they have a lot of meat as a base. Good luck on your new crab adventure

I'm not sure how close in care they are to hermit crabs. Hermits are more closely related to shrimp and lobsters, while moon crabs are 'true' crabs like fiddlers and snow crab. If anything, read as much as you can from experienced owners and go off what the conditions are where they are found.

This is one of the better blogs I found on Moon Crab Care, but there is some strong language: http://hmcadventures.blogspot.com/

Hey wodesorel, thanks for the link. She has G. quadratus, which some scientists think are conspecific with G. lateralis. They do live in slightly different environments, though. Lateralis lives in drier areas than quadratus. I am reading her blog now, though, as it will be useful since the 2 crabs are very similar. THANKS!

Ok so my new crabbies arrived yesterday and they are so cute!!!

Here are some pics of setting up their tank before they arrived:







And here are some pics of when they arrived! The white on is male, the red one is female.









They are now both buried. Hopefully they will destress and molt and live happily ever after.

Btw, their names are Bonnie & Clyde.


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Those crabs are so cute.
Now I want moon crabs.