HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I got a 120 gallon tank this summer, and thought I’d post some pics of my setup! It’s not fancy, but the crabs are MUCH happier in this than the 55 I had for so long. My only camera currently is my phone, so sorry in advance for the quality. Hard to tell, but in the tank, I’ve got 4 shower caddies, 3 wood pieces, 3 cholla logs, a XL hidey, foam rock backgrounds (I took the large one out yesterday because we are getting into winter, so ultratherm needs to heat better), Two 2-gallon pools, misc foliage, and a few other things.




















Some more of the tank revamped the other day. Added a bunch of leaf litter because who doesn't love leaf litter?!







And this is my favorite bearded dragon, Nogard. She’s so sweet! I have two but the other one, although friendly, would rather just hang out in the tank.





And cats. Not sure how I ended up with three, but yeah. I’m not really a cat person, but the tabby and I are really close. All the cats get along really well, which is nice. Tabby is named Mayday. He was a garbage cat in North Pole. He belonged to my husband’s parents and we decided last minute on our move from Fairbanks to Juneau that we would take him with us. He’s definitely my best little buddy.




The all grey is GusGus. He’s the stupidest cat ever, but he’s also the sweetest. Got him through the humane society when we stopped in “just to look” before we went grocery shopping. He’s such a doofus. More of a dog than a cat.







The grey and white is Spruce. She was rescued in Ketchikan and we adopted her through a regional rescue. She’s sickly, her body keeps attacking her red blood cells and no vet can figure out why. She’s on pills and is doing well. She’s extremely smart! She also loves riding in the truck.




So those are some of my aminals. Hope you enjoyed. Maybe next time I will add some pics of my dermestid beetles.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of the pics!!! You are a great photographer! Your tank is beautiful! I busted out laughing at the pic where GusGus is meowing and the other two have these priceless expressions on their faces!

Have they tested Spruce for FIV? It is a blood test that has to be sent into a lab. FIV can cause cats to become very sickly, and decreases red blood cells, and red blood cell production. I hope she continues to get better!

so puuurrretty!
Love all the wood structure! Do your crabs ever climb the arched wood piece in the front? i wonder if they will be afraid of it being too exposed?
also which of your four moss pits do they prefer? the front left corner one?

noticed you added two cocohut next to the pools. do you find them liking have a hide with a "ceiling" or are they okay with the woods in the back?

Aww this is so cute! Tank looks great too!


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@GotButterflies They tested for FLV back in April and it was negative, as was a few other tests for different things. Xrays showed she has a tiny liver, and they think it possibly has something to do with that. They also said the type of testing they did for FLV may give a false negative, and they will be able to do a different test, but more expensive. Right now we get her steroid pills in bulk from Arizona and it costs only a few cents a pill. Vet said we might just end up giving her the lowest dose possible for life. She's super happy and healthy right now, red blood cells are at 41% at last checkup, so the pills are working well. Vet is planning on doing testing for more things once he finds the lowest steroid dosage to keep her stable. Last time he weaned her off of them and she fell right back down to 11%.

@aprilmay They do use the arched one in the front! I have a viola who frequents it every evening. The moss pits on the left are the favorites. They are on the warm side of the tank. The front one seems most used. The cocohuts are actually just coconut halves I added from a coconut I ate (and shared with them of course). I put them there because they keep excavating there and the small crabs can't reach the pools! Most of the crabs hide in the moss, or inside the huge log in the back, the one that runs the length of the tank. It's hollow!

wolfnipplechips wrote: @aprilmay They do use the arched one in the front! I have a viola who frequents it every evening.

That's great to know! I have a long Cholla runs half the tank length and it is pretty exposed. I've always wondered whether i should put some fake plant on top to give it some cover. but then it makes it harder to spy on them.

wolfnipplechips wrote: The moss pits on the left are the favorites. They are on the warm side of the tank. The front one seems most used.

Interesting, in my old 15 gl, i had one mosspit on the back wall and another in the same front left location like you have. and i found the crabs really like the front one. I also had one UTH on the left side and another in the back, so both should be pretty warm. but they seem to like the front one better. maybe i will put one in the same location of my new tank too.

wolfnipplechips wrote: The cocohuts are actually just coconut halves I added from a coconut I ate (and shared with them of course). I put them there because they keep excavating there and the small crabs can't reach the pools! Most of the crabs hide in the moss, or inside the huge log in the back, the one that runs the length of the tank. It's hollow!

Wonderful! I couldn't fit a cocohut in my tank right now because i miscalculated the clearing under the giant mosspit and didn't want to reduce the depth of the sub. i've been wondering whether i should try to squeeze one in somewhere. but so far the only crab in the new tank seems to not mind having no smaller enclosures.

love your big log in the back!

also love all your cats photos! puuuurrrrr....
a truck loving cat! that's amazing!

Love the tank! It was such a lucky find. Glad to see most of the crew is still doing well after the move.

Love your beardies, too! And zohmigosh the kitties.

You know I have to comment on Spruce. We have so many cases ourselves right now of rare stuff the vets have never seen before it is crazy. Have they considered that she is not local to Alaska and may have an intestinal parasite or blood parasite that is not native? Feline Infectious Anemia is a flea borne blood parasite that causes low RBC count without other red flags, and it doesn't show up in normal bloodwork. There are others across the US that can do similar. Internal parasites can also cause bleeding of the gastric tract and really can bleed them dry in bad cases. FeLV is feline leukemia (viral) and FIV is feline aids and both tests (usually performed at the same time on the same test strip) can have false negatives but it is extremely rare for the test to be wrong negatively in adult cats, although it can take several months after exposure for it to come up properly. We have a constantly anemic cat that stays borderline worrisome, and his is caused by FIV. They can't really do anything because the virus wrecks havoc on his immune system so steroids are not an option. I am so glad they found something that is helping your Spruce! Hoping they can find out a cause so she can get better on her own, but cats tolerate steroids exceptionally well and can stay on them for forever if needed which is great.

Love the pics! Thanks for sharing!!

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I'm a reptile guy... so, love the bearded dragon.

wodesorel wrote:You know I have to comment on Spruce. We have so many cases ourselves right now of rare stuff the vets have never seen before it is crazy. Have they considered that she is not local to Alaska and may have an intestinal parasite or blood parasite that is not native? Feline Infectious Anemia is a flea borne blood parasite that causes low RBC count without other red flags, and it doesn't show up in normal bloodwork. There are others across the US that can do similar. Internal parasites can also cause bleeding of the gastric tract and really can bleed them dry in bad cases. FeLV is feline leukemia (viral) and FIV is feline aids and both tests (usually performed at the same time on the same test strip) can have false negatives but it is extremely rare for the test to be wrong negatively in adult cats, although it can take several months after exposure for it to come up properly. We have a constantly anemic cat that stays borderline worrisome, and his is caused by FIV. They can't really do anything because the virus wrecks havoc on his immune system so steroids are not an option. I am so glad they found something that is helping your Spruce! Hoping they can find out a cause so she can get better on her own, but cats tolerate steroids exceptionally well and can stay on them for forever if needed which is great.

She's from another town in SE Alaska. But yes! They talked about the one spread by fleas! I really hope they can figure out what it is to treat the source. Vets are just waiting for her to be stable for a while (they said 6 months), we do a blood test every month to monitor. She's definitely a spunky little princess, would hate to lose her at only a year old.

CharlesMTF wrote:I'm a reptile guy... so, love the bearded dragon.

I've always wanted one as long as I remember. She's such a good dragon.

Wolf. Amazing pics, poor phone was trying to keep up. Looks like the clan is happy in the new digs.

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Love all of the pics!! What a great crew u have got there:) Beautiful tank and set up is amazing!


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Hi, I love your crabitat!
Are those live plants in the water pools? How big are those pools?

I also like the leaf litter, what type of leaves are they?
I added oak to my tat, and they tore them up, and ate some.


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Thanks guys!!

@Fanatic The plants are fake aquarium plants, stiff so they can climb them to get out. Pools are a little less than 2 gallons each. The leaves are primarily birch. Sometimes I add maple and oak. Mine love maple the best! Birch is also well received.