HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm kind of a neat freak so when I clean out my crabitat everyday, I do it at night usually around 9:00-10:00 p.m., and I take all 4 of my crabs out (even if they are buried) and put them in a "play tank." I take food and water bowls out and wash them, clean the sand of any food or doo-doo,and "fix" the sand/substrate so it's all nice and smooth again and then I replace everything and feed and water them. I put the crabs back in and then sit for hours and watch them eat, drink & just climb around. But I'm afraid that I may be going over-board a bit because if one of them should be molting then I need to leave them alone and I'm taking them out every night at clean time. Can anyone tell me a better way to do this so that I don't disturb a crab trying to molt?

First could you give some details on how your enclosure is set up?We need to know the size of the enclosure, depth of substrate, is the substrate damp or dry?Daily cleaning should not be necessary and the crabs really shouldn't be getting dug up once they've gone down as this can interrupt the initiation of the molt process and can do significant damage to the crabs as result. Depending on the size of the enclosure you might be able to get away with doing light surface cleanings where you just poop scoop to remove old food and fecal matter and do your deep cleans where you completely change out substrate every four to six months this will be better for your crabs.

I surface clean about once every 3 days when I get fresh water, I don't take the crabs out they just move out of the way, crabby paddy just sits there, he's my original had since 2009. I think it just stresses them out more taking them in and out of the tank to much, even when I deep clean and take every thing out to wash, I leave them in the tank, the just move out of the way..They get used to this way to. Bonding time. Today is surface clean and new water, they pooped in it, and some one cleaned out their shell. Big pile of poo by the wood...

quote:Originally posted by Crabber85:First could you give some details on how your enclosure is set up?We need to know the size of the enclosure, depth of substrate, is the substrate damp or dry?Daily cleaning should not be necessary and the crabs really shouldn't be getting dug up once they've gone down as this can interrupt the initiation of the molt process and can do significant damage to the crabs as result. Depending on the size of the enclosure you might be able to get away with doing light surface cleanings where you just poop scoop to remove old food and fecal matter and do your deep cleans where you completely change out substrate every four to six months this will be better for your crabs.

I have a 20 gallon aquarium with 4 crabs in it. I use play sand and mix it with a coconut Eco substrate in most of the tank. However I have noticed I have one crab that only likes to bury himself in just the substrate so I keep a special place with the sand underneath and about 2 in. of just the substrate. I keep my sand/substrate moist by misting it with salt water when I notice my humidity level is going down and it brings it right back up. I love my crabs and never want to harm them...but I just wouldn't be able to not clean my food and water bowls everyday. They get fresh food and fresh salt water and conditioned water everyday. Am I going over-board?? Lol!!

I almost forgot...my sand/substrate mixture is 4 1/2 in. deep,

Laurie, If you're doing a "deep clean" how can you clean out the tank properly if you're not taking your crabs out? When I do mine, I remove every thing and clean with vinegar then allow to dry. I don't understand how you can deep clean without removing them? Please understand I AM NOT trying to be rude at all...I'm just curious because I'm new to all of this.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kelly Z.:I almost forgot...my sand/substrate mixture is 4 1/2 in. deep., and I use an under tank heater. I check the temp. and humidity level several times a day everyday.

We each have our own methods to doing deep cleans as what may work for one of us may not work for everybody and sterilizing the tank with a vinegar solution is not really a normal practice for any of us when doing deep cleans as the vinegar destroys the beneficial bacteria in that lives in the tank which can cause sterility shock to your hermitcrabs.I have done deep cleans on my old thirty gallon, then the forty breeder I had after it with my crabs still in them, now that I have the 121 gallon removing all of the crabs on the surface is a must so I can keep track of them and I always have my ten gallon Iso tank up and running just in-case I accidentally uncover a molter.I have only ever sterilized my enclosure once right after I got it because I got used and it has previously had fish in it so the tank had to be cleaned to make it safe for my crabbies but other than that I do not sterilize the tank during deep cleans.I take my food and water bowls out once every two weeks and give them a good rinsing off in plain tap water, towel dry them off and then put them back in the enclosure, the food gets changed every other day and the waters last a week maybe a week and half since I have bowls that hold half a gallon of water each its okay for me to let them go longer than I would if I were using smaller dishes.You can still keep the food and waters changed out regularly but the enclosure really doesn't need to be deep cleaned daily as that is doing damage to your crabs long term and may not present itself for several molts or it could critically impact the next molt we just don't know so its better to play it safer than sorry.

If your under tank heater is actually under the tank move it to the side of the tank. If left under the sub lets the heat build up which can crack the tank or worse overheat any buried crabs. Deep Cleans only need to be done 6 months to 1 yr. I spot clean the top when I see its dirty which is usually every few days. When I deep clean I wait until there aren't any crabs molting/buried then place them in a separate container while taking everything out to clean you should leave some substrate to put back in to mix with the new so the good bacteria stays in the tank. You can clean the food and water bowls everyday if it makes you feel better just don't dig up the crabs. I change and clean my water once a week and the food bowls every time I feed.

I took the under tank heater off and moved it to the side of the tank...but now my sand is under 70 degrees. Now what do I do?

That's ok if you go to the beach and dig a hole in the sand (like a wild crab does) the temp is going to be a lot cooler they are used to this.

Bottom mounting any heat source is counterintuitive for the hermitcrabs because in the wild the sun heats the surface of the ground and the air so the crabs burrow down to escape the heat because it gets cooler the further down you dig to a point so its not natural to have a heat source in the enclosure where one doesn't exist naturally.

Well that makes perfect sense. Guess I didn't look at it that way. So what temp. would you recommed the inside of the habitat to be kept at and I'm getting ready to have my 70 gallon tank all done, I know the heater I have on my 20 gallon tank won't be big enough...so how big of one will I need? One more thing while I'm here...I have 4 crabs that I've had since March and all the sudden 3 of them buried themselves and haven't come back up for a week now. I find it hard to believe they would all 3 molt at the same time. So would it hurt to locate where they are and just barely remove the sand that covers them, so I can smell them to make sure they aren't dead?

Heating a 70 gallon will take a combined total of approximately 210 gallons worth of UTHs side or back mounted. Fortunately on a 70 gallon you can also use heat lamps without worry about killing the humidity or over heating. On my 55, I have two large UTH, one medium and two 40 watt bulbs which provide some heat but mostly light, since I really prefer UTH heating to lights. When it was really cold this past winter I added three small UTHs since I happened to have them and a ceramic heat lamp attached to the lid pointed into the tank on one side. That was enough heat to keep the tank at about 80*F (one end at 85, the other at 75 ballpark) with my home heated to 60-65*F generally. My PPs really are happiest with heat and humidity both right around 80, and the Es are happiest right around 85 for each.Mass molts do happen. Mine have been doing so on the equinoxes, odd little things! Do not bother them when they are buried. If they are dead it wont matter, it wont help them. If they are molting and you dig them up, you are risking their lives. Leave them be is the best advice, though I know how hard it is to follow!