HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi everyone,I'm a new member from the Philippines, and I've wanted hermit crabs and have been reading about how to take care of them, for many years. But I didn't want to plunge into the hobby unprepared. A few months ago, I started reading more and more about keeping crabs, and took the plunge yesterday. In the local pet center, rescued three Coenobita violascens which had been in a bare, bone-dry aquarium in a freshwater aquarium store. From another store, I rescued a large Coenobita brevimanus, which was in a pet carrier, which was half-filled with sand and seawater and had a bunch of corals. These are 'exotic' crabs, but in our country, they're very inexpensive, as they're native species, and common around the beaches.None of the local pet stores know how to take care of them. They're purchased mostly by children as disposable pets. I hear they're sometimes even sold on sidewalks by ambulant vendors, around the city. There used to be a lot of stores selling hermies in painted shells in malls, but those shops have disappeared, and I'm glad they never got very popular here.There's a small community of hermit crab enthusiasts, but it's not a common hobby here at all, so I'm eager to find out how to best take care of my new babies.I photographed two of them when I brought them home, but they're now in a 10 gallon tank, with about 4 inches of sand and coconut peat (half-half mix), a large piece of driftwood, two ceramic water dishes, and a plastic food dish. I fed them some cuttlebone, mangoes, carrots, and white rice. Didn't see them eat, but they messed up the food area, and the all food looks shredded.They were very active when they got here last, but have spent the day resting, the violas perched on the driftwood, and the brevimanus curled up in shallow hole he dug in a corner.The hard part is leaving them alone for a month, while they acclimatize. In the meantime, I'm already contemplating building a much larger crabitat.

Welcome! I'm glad you rescued these babies

Welcome to LHC! Your crabs are beautiful.

Welcome to the forum and the family here at LHC on behalf of the staff.I really want to get my hands on some violas and brevies but since I live in the states they are not readily available and when they are they are expensive about thirty dollars per crab ouch I know but the price is worth it for such exotic hermits.lolAgain welcome to the forum and if you have any questions please feel free to ask as that is what we are here for.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone. My crabs seem to be doing well. They're active, especially at night. I'm just a bit worried that their shells look tight, so I put some clean larger shells in the crabitat. None of them have changed shells so far.The large brevi has been digging in the corner of the substrate. Is this a pre-molting sign? I'm worried that my 4" substrate (50-50 sand and coconut peat) is way too shallow for a molt.

The amount of substrate depends on the size of your crabs. The height is usually twice the size of your biggest crab.Could be pre-molting, but probably just stress. Leave them alone for a month, and they'll be fine.

The tunneling brevi's up and about now, so I guess you're right, and it was just stress.

Hi alifigueroa, where do you guy your crabs in the philippines?

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk

I can't figure out how to post a new intro in this section?