HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi,
New member here. In our rush to leave the beach we forgot to release the marine hermit crab my daughter found in a brackish tidal pool. We inadvertently brought him home and the more I google the less confident I feel about how to take care of the little creature. We found him near Destin Florida in a coastal dune lake which is a brackish lake that regularly spills into the ocean and regularly gets filled by the oceans rising tide. It's a very neat and rare geographical feature. I bring this up because our little guy's origin story leaves some questions in my mind wether he's a marine crab or a regular crab.

We had him in beach sand and tap water for 3 days. Then I read more and realized that can hurt him. So we went to the pet store yesterday and bought a bottle of premixed 'hermit crab saltwater' as a stop gap. We also bought a hermit crab starter kit which is a terrarium, some rocks, and a climbing surface. We brought a few extra shells from the beach. (He has already change shells once). I pilled the rocks on one side of the terrarium and poured half the water in along the bottom, about 1/2" of water. I put him on the rocks and he crawled to the water. I moved him up a few times and he kept crawling back into the seawater. He spent the night underwater. So I think he's a marine hermit crab. I have googled and googled and just get more confused on how to care for this guy... Any advice? Is there a how to on this site for marine crabs? [worth mentioning: our family zoo includes a beta fish that we've had for 6 months, so we have a dechlorinator]

HermyMcHermyson wrote:Hi,
New member here. In our rush to leave the beach we forgot to release the marine hermit crab my daughter found in a brackish tidal pool. We inadvertently brought him home and the more I google the less confident I feel about how to take care of the little creature. We found him near Destin Florida in a coastal dune lake which is a brackish lake that regularly spills into the ocean and regularly gets filled by the oceans rising tide. It's a very neat and rare geographical feature. I bring this up because our little guy's origin story leaves some questions in my mind wether he's a marine crab or a regular crab.

We had him in beach sand and tap water for 3 days. Then I read more and realized that can hurt him. So we went to the pet store yesterday and bought a bottle of premixed 'hermit crab saltwater' as a stop gap. We also bought a hermit crab starter kit which is a terrarium, some rocks, and a climbing surface. We brought a few extra shells from the beach. (He has already change shells once). I pilled the rocks on one side of the terrarium and poured half the water in along the bottom, about 1/2" of water. I put him on the rocks and he crawled to the water. I moved him up a few times and he kept crawling back into the seawater. He spent the night underwater. So I think he's a marine hermit crab. I have googled and googled and just get more confused on how to care for this guy... Any advice? Is there a how to on this site for marine crabs? [worth mentioning: our family zoo includes a beta fish that we've had for 6 months, so we have a dechlorinator]

I am at the movies right now but I have a thin stripe crab that someone brought back to Dallas from Galveston and have had him for a while now.

You can search "Roshi" in the search bar or you can search "Thin stripe" and read up on marine crab care. Posting pics will help is identify the species.

If you can take it back home, I would highly recommend doing so. They require a fully aquatic saltwater marine setup and the hermit crab saltwater sold at petstores is not adequate for any hermit, much less a marine crab.



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HermyMcHermyson wrote:Hi,
New member here. In our rush to leave the beach we forgot to release the marine hermit crab my daughter found in a brackish tidal pool. We inadvertently brought him home and the more I google the less confident I feel about how to take care of the little creature. We found him near Destin Florida in a coastal dune lake which is a brackish lake that regularly spills into the ocean and regularly gets filled by the oceans rising tide. It's a very neat and rare geographical feature. I bring this up because our little guy's origin story leaves some questions in my mind wether he's a marine crab or a regular crab.

We had him in beach sand and tap water for 3 days. Then I read more and realized that can hurt him. So we went to the pet store yesterday and bought a bottle of premixed 'hermit crab saltwater' as a stop gap. We also bought a hermit crab starter kit which is a terrarium, some rocks, and a climbing surface. We brought a few extra shells from the beach. (He has already change shells once). I pilled the rocks on one side of the terrarium and poured half the water in along the bottom, about 1/2" of water. I put him on the rocks and he crawled to the water. I moved him up a few times and he kept crawling back into the seawater. He spent the night underwater. So I think he's a marine hermit crab. I have googled and googled and just get more confused on how to care for this guy... Any advice? Is there a how to on this site for marine crabs? [worth mentioning: our family zoo includes a beta fish that we've had for 6 months, so we have a dechlorinator]

Well they are quite different maybe u can show us pictures of the crab please but it u r not sure please look at big claw if it's purple then it's a land hermit crab. But if looks blue a bit and has hair on its claws then u found yourself a salt water marine hermit cran

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HermyMcHermyson wrote:Hi,
New member here. In our rush to leave the beach we forgot to release the marine hermit crab my daughter found in a brackish tidal pool. We inadvertently brought him home and the more I google the less confident I feel about how to take care of the little creature. We found him near Destin Florida in a coastal dune lake which is a brackish lake that regularly spills into the ocean and regularly gets filled by the oceans rising tide. It's a very neat and rare geographical feature. I bring this up because our little guy's origin story leaves some questions in my mind wether he's a marine crab or a regular crab.

We had him in beach sand and tap water for 3 days. Then I read more and realized that can hurt him. So we went to the pet store yesterday and bought a bottle of premixed 'hermit crab saltwater' as a stop gap. We also bought a hermit crab starter kit which is a terrarium, some rocks, and a climbing surface. We brought a few extra shells from the beach. (He has already change shells once). I pilled the rocks on one side of the terrarium and poured half the water in along the bottom, about 1/2" of water. I put him on the rocks and he crawled to the water. I moved him up a few times and he kept crawling back into the seawater. He spent the night underwater. So I think he's a marine hermit crab. I have googled and googled and just get more confused on how to care for this guy... Any advice? Is there a how to on this site for marine crabs? [worth mentioning: our family zoo includes a beta fish that we've had for 6 months, so we have a dechlorinator]

OK marine hermit crabs are a bit hard to take care of than land hermit crabs cuz land crabs are a bit harder depending on species but here is some things for marine hermit crabs

1. U need a good sized salt water tank

2. When u r ready u can put in salt water fish (not from the sea) (from a pet store)

3. They can eat other salt water fish

4. I thing they make good bottom feeders or algea eaters

5. Put sand I tank

6. Add like a coconut hut for the crab to hid in

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If he has stripes, claws that are equal sized, is hairy like a wookie, or legs that look so thin that they seem like they can't support his weight, he's marine. Destin is too far north for land hermits.

For marine hermits, they need a setup the same as saltwater fish. It's not the easiest to start with, there's a lot of water chemistry to learn about and special supplies that have to purchased (that aren't the cheapest).

Find yourself a good fish store that deals with marine fish, and they can talk you through what you need to do if you want to make the investment. It's not for everyone.

Alternatives would be returning him to where he came from, seeing if a local pet store that has marine fish would be willing to take him, putting him up for adoption on local classifieds to see if you can find a saltwater fish keeper who would be interested in taking him, or contacting a local aquarium to see if they could take him.

They can last out of ocean water for up to a week usually, but they are receiving damage to their gills while this happens. The hermit crab water will hurt them. We've seen others last longer with care for land hermits (saltwater made with instant Ocean and dechlorinated with prime, high humidity levels).

wodesorel wrote:If he has stripes, claws that are equal sized, is hairy like a wookie, or legs that look so thin that they seem like they can't support his weight, he's marine. Destin is too far north for land hermits.

For marine hermits, they need a setup the same as saltwater fish. It's not the easiest to start with, there's a lot of water chemistry to learn about and special supplies that have to purchased (that aren't the cheapest).

Find yourself a good fish store that deals with marine fish, and they can talk you through what you need to do if you want to make the investment. It's not for everyone.

Alternatives would be returning him to where he came from, seeing if a local pet store that has marine fish would be willing to take him, putting him up for adoption on local classifieds to see if you can find a saltwater fish keeper who would be interested in taking him, or contacting a local aquarium to see if they could take him.

They can last out of ocean water for up to a week usually, but they are receiving damage to their gills while this happens. The hermit crab water will hurt them. We've seen others last longer with care for land hermits (saltwater made with instant Ocean and dechlorinated with prime, high humidity levels).

Was my advice good?

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Thanks everyone for your advice!!

"If he has stripes, claws that are equal sized, is hairy like a wookie, or legs that look so thin that they seem like they can't support his weight, he's marine." Yep that him.

I'll try to take some pics and post. To the person in Dallas... we live in Grapevine. If you have a home for our little guy that would be awesome! Otherwise I'll try to adopt him elsewhere. In the meantime I'll take the advice I find here and try to give him the best habitat I can while we search for a new home for him.

If someone wants to contact me directly I can be found online by googling my company Good Automation. My name is Albert. You can email me from my website. (Not sure I want to post a phone number and email here...)

HermyMcHermyson wrote:Thanks everyone for your advice!!

"If he has stripes, claws that are equal sized, is hairy like a wookie, or legs that look so thin that they seem like they can't support his weight, he's marine." Yep that him.

I'll try to take some pics and post. To the person in Dallas... we live in Grapevine. If you have a home for our little guy that would be awesome! Otherwise I'll try to adopt him elsewhere. In the meantime I'll take the advice I find here and try to give him the best habitat I can while we search for a new home for him.

If someone wants to contact me directly I can be found online by googling my company Good Automation. My name is Albert. You can email me from my website. (Not sure I want to post a phone number and email here...)

Well OK but this fourm is safe that's why this is the biggest and best hermit crab fourm

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Separate weird question. I tried to PM someone but I'm worried it didn't go through... it is sitting in my outbox and does not show up in sent. I know some forums prevent PMs until after you establish your profile based on some metric. Just curious...

Undercrablife wrote:

HermyMcHermyson wrote:Thanks everyone for your advice!!

"If he has stripes, claws that are equal sized, is hairy like a wookie, or legs that look so thin that they seem like they can't support his weight, he's marine." Yep that him.

I'll try to take some pics and post. To the person in Dallas... we live in Grapevine. If you have a home for our little guy that would be awesome! Otherwise I'll try to adopt him elsewhere. In the meantime I'll take the advice I find here and try to give him the best habitat I can while we search for a new home for him.

If someone wants to contact me directly I can be found online by googling my company Good Automation. My name is Albert. You can email me from my website. (Not sure I want to post a phone number and email here...)

Well OK but this fourm is safe that's why this is the biggest and best hermit crab fourm

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Well yeah this place is only for hermit crab owners of any crab species that's why this place banned people a while ago cause they kept saying that hermit crabs are lame pets and how to cook them

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No, we do not recommend posting any personal information here. It's a public forum, anyone can see it.

Messages sit in your outbox until the other person opens them. Works odd, but gives you a chance to see if it's been delivered.

wodesorel wrote:No, we do not recommend posting any personal information here. It's a public forum, anyone can see it.

Messages sit in your outbox until the other person opens them. Works odd, but gives you a chance to see if it's been delivered.

Makes sense. Thanks.

I have a picture. Can't figure out how to post it....

HermyMcHermyson wrote:I have a picture. Can't figure out how to post it....

Tapatalk app from play store for most smartphones and tablets. Find hermit crab association. Then reply to this topic. Once there you'll see a mountain which allows you to add the pics. Then hit send

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It's all covered. I'll be taking this guy in and putting him with Roshi. Will set up a larger tank tomorrow.

Have to go get a bucket. I can get salt water that's already cycled from the aquarium store up the road for a $1 a gallon. I need about 5-6 more lbs of live rock because I think the one I have is at least 5-6lbs and I have live sand.

So Roshi, Yoshi, Carmine the dwarf red legged crab, and all the brine shrimp can live together in their own tank.

Now I just have to figure out where to put the tank.

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