Various crab related questions

[Meemo4556]

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[soilentgringa]

Hello. I would suggest reading our care guides thoroughly.

Welcome!

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[Meemo4556]

[deleted]

[soilentgringa]

Your substrate is extremely low. They need several inches at least so they can bury and molt.

I suggest reading the care guides because the "facts" as you say, are what are going to allow your crabs to live a long, healthy life span without succumbing to permanent gill damage or death due to inability to molt.

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[Meemo4556]

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[Crabinski]

As @soilentgringa suggested, the Care Guides are a good starting point and will actually address many of your concerns. That said, I'll put my $0.02 in so here goes!

First of all, I actually trusted pet store employees and crab care books for the first few years I had my PPs and somehow they managed to survive so don't feel bad not knowing how to better care for them. Now you're here and can access Care Guides, elicit advice, see what others have found to work and not work, etc.

For starters, 2" of substrate is too low, even for very small crabs. Whether you use moistened EcoEarth, sandcastle consistency playsand or a blend of the two (that's what I have), the substrate should be a minimum of 6" deep so the crabs can tunnel for fun as well as set up a safe molting cave. The larger your crabs, the deeper the substrate should be. Once your substrate is set up correctly, there is no need to change it out unless you end up with a flood in the tank. All you need to do is spot clean the surface (old food, excess poop, etc) at least weekly. The crab you lost last year could have been trying to molt in shallow substrate, died in the attempt and was consumed by his friend(s).

For a 10g tank, 2 crabs is as many as you'll want in there. During a molt, a crab can really undergo a big growth spurt so more than 2 is pushing the boundaries of a 10g. As long as a crab has a companion, he'll be happy.

95% of commercial crab food is, to put it bluntly, crap. One of the few good products geared for hermit crabs is Wardley's Dried Shrimp (under $4 at Walmart). The Care Guides list the incredible number of things hermit crabs can eat and most of it is what you eat (unless you live on fast food ). Freeze-dried reptile and amphibian foods are generally good: crickets, meal worms, shrimp. It's good to always have some form of dry mix available 24/7 but be sure to offer them fresh food, too. A simple and nutritious food they love is half an eggshell with raw albumin left in it (the clear goopy stuff) so next time you're making scrambled or fried eggs, save 1/2 a shell with some goop in it and pop it into the crabitat. They'll eat the albumin for protein and will pinch away at the shell for needed calcium, too.

Remember that hermit crabs need two types of water, fresh and salt, so two water bowls, each deep enough for the crab to dunk himself in. Reverse osmosis water is a good start if it removes not only heavy metals but chlorine and ammonia, too. The easy way to make sure the water is good for the crabs is to use an aquarium dechlorinator and many good brands are listed in the Care Guides. Salt water is prepared from the dechlorinated water by using a saltwater aquarium prep such as Instant Ocean or Sea Prime: these products return needed minerals to the water, making it as close as possible to what the crabs had access to in the wild.

As far as losing humidity goes, a lot depends on the type of lid you have for the tank. If it's a screen lid, cover the majority of it with saran wrap as that will keep the moisture in -- obviously, the area where you've been placing the lava lamp base (kind of ingenious) will have to be left uncovered. Adding a bubbler to one or both of the pools will go a long way toward boosting humidity (and crabs enjoy the moving water). A moss pit is another good way to amp humidity and create a second level by using a suction cup soap dish or small shower caddy as the pit. Ideally, both temperature and humidity need to be 80 or higher.

If you're planning to stay in crabbing for the long run, check craigslist for a larger tank (20l, 29g or larger) or take advantage of the periodic sales Petco and PetSmart hold where it's $1-per-gallon for tanks up to 55g. You'll probably also want to switch to a UTH at some point (Ultratherm is excellent) as a heat mat on the back of the tank keeps everything nice and cozy without having to worry about turning anything on/off or trying to juggle temperature drops/spikes.

Hopes this helps!

[kieagcarm]

1. That's normal crabs dig naturally anytime they feel the need.
2. No clue on this one
3. Depends on the size of tank. There is a guide on a sticky. Each can needs atleast 5 gallons per crab I believe it says.
4. Crabs need tons of variety foods, including protein. There is also a sticky under food & water that tells everything they need, so you wanna offer lots of different foods. For substrate I use play sand and eco earth.
5. Completely organic
6. I got a coco wall and moss pit
7. No it needs to be atleast 6 inches, no less
8. Not sure I manually mist
9. I don't know what the moss stuff is but I use coco wall
10. I never thought to do that

I learned everything from this forum, the people here know what they are talking about and give great advice. I haven't been crabbing long but every thing I told you here was told to me on here. Do you have pictures?

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[tymeacrab]

Crabbies like to burrow; at times for no reason at all.

It is not uncommon for first time molters to not survive their first molt, especially true if they are especially small, inadequate food, substrate, temperature and humidity being a top cause as well as the stress of new captivity

I had 1 crabby at first, because he was given to me, nearly dead. I wanted to get him healthy before getting any friends for him. My second one I bought at Petco and in good health, when I got the second, I saw the two of them more often and they were inseparable they seemed content together, but a friend of mine was wanting to rehome her 2 they were in a 20Long gallon tank, she gave me them tank and all, during the cleaning process I discovered that there was actually 3, not 2, I had a 40 gallon breeder tank, and moved all 5 of them in it, it has an under tank heater UTH in it as well as a Red infrared heat bulb, my warm end is usually around 80-81 degrees Fahrenheit , I run both heaters 24/7 , they are very low wattage . They really like the added space, and are usually climbing on something.

10 gallons is fine for 2, but I don't know if the largest one has enough space, as the substrate may not be able to be provided deep enough for it.

Do you have 2 watering areas, one with clean declorinated water (I use a declorinated liquid that also has "stress coat" in it), and the other water is saltwater made for marine fish, this seems to work well and I premix 1 gallon of it at a time to insure it's readily available for top offs and regular cleanings.

Also, substrate should never be 100% coco husk, mine is playground sand 70 pounds of the stuff and 1 and 1/2 block of coconut husk, which is prepared with saltwater instead of plain declorinated water (this is done to hamper the liking hood of insects "nats" and mold/fungas)

I will be soon adding Isopods in the tank habitat

I have found that the best foods are mostly natural foods like fresh coconut, seeds, nuts, and 100% natural peanut butter (make sure it contains no added sugar or salt). Also provide fresh fruit and vegetables options like mango, bananas, apples, carrots, peas, lettuce (AVOID fruit that are high in acids like oranges, grapefruit and kiwi; also avoid onions), mine really like mushrooms and whey grass. As for meat proteins I offer things like snails, shrimp, hamburger, chicken (all cooked), dead insects are welcomed also. And mine love cooked rices, as well as whole grain bran cold cereal (I crumb it to small powder like gains, also loving whole raw oats.

Anything provided for climbing is a plus, just avoid anything from the conifer tree group especially cedar, and anything that is like floor carpet as they can get their legs caught in it, especially if it's looped.

Minimum depth of substrate is 3" above your largest crabbies. My largest is about 3-4" so my substrate is 8" deep,

PS at the Asian market you can buy whelk snails, with shells. I buy these cook the meat and de she'll it, I feed them the snail as a added bonus, and allow them to select a shell, I remove and add shells daily

I use a Jr. Mist'r Lizard mister and I had my screen covered with a clear shower liner curtain.

Hope this helps

[soilentgringa]

There is nothing wrong with 100% cocofiber. As long as it is deep enough and a good tunneling consistency for the crabs.

Your substrate needs to be at least 3X deeper than your largest crab. Not 3" deeper. If you have a 4" crab you need at least 12"-16" of substrate.

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[Meemo4556]

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[Meemo4556]

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[Meemo4556]

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[PinchersAndShells]

1 - Sounds like usual crab behavior, they like to dig for fun.
2 - Due to the harsh conditions the crabs face on the way to your pet store, many don't survive the first molt. They're just too weak to be able to do it. There's also a potential that he could have been eaten due to the low amount of substrate.
3 - Not quite sure what size tank you have, but in a 10 gallon two. Any more than that and I'd plan on upgrading ASAP.
4 - I don't exactly know what the food you're using is, but a good rule of thumb is to stay away from anything with added preservatives or chemicals. Feeding natural is the best option to keep the crabbies healthy and happy. If the reverse osmosis water removes heavy metals, chlorine, ammonia, etc. then it should be good, many of us on here use Seachem Prime as a water conditioner because it removes everything bad and the bottles last a really long time. Many of us recommend a mix of 5:1 playsand to coconut fiber, but it is possible to use 100% sand or coco fiber, as long as you can keep it sandcastle consistency and not sopping wet. A good way to test that is to take an object like a chopstick or a pencil and poke it into the corner of the substrate against the glass. If it holds the shape after you pull it out, then the crabs can tunnel safely without a tunnel collapsing on them and suffocating them.
5 - Variety is a good rule of thumb, and crabs should be provided with protein from both animal and plant sources, vegetables, fruit, calcium, and fats. There is a stickied guide under the food section that provides examples of each of these kinds of foods. I personally like to put in new things and see what my crabs enjoy, each one seems to have their own likes and dislikes. A popular food mine seem to like is freeze dried jumbo krill.
6 - I don't know what a moss wall is, but I'd assume if it's a safe kind of moss then you'd be good.
7 - Definitely need more substrate. At minimum we recommend 6", but the best is 3 times the size of your largest crab so they don't run into each other underground (if one would happen to be molting they'd be a buffet to the other crab.)
8 - You can buy a reptile mister or fogger (no drippers, they flood) but getting a humidifier on a timer is much cheaper. Those are usually used in large tanks with a lot to keep humid though. Using bubblers in your pools helps boost humidity, and having a moss pit helps too. I have both and hardly ever need to mist, which can cause flooding in smaller tanks.
9 - Coco fiber walls are safe, mesh (assuming you mean craft plastic mesh) is good, and moss is good too (if it's a safe kind of moss.)
10 - I can't view the links due to technology issues, but sounds pretty good as long as it gets temps at 80 (give or take a few.)
11 - Hermit crabs (particularly purple pinchers) are pretty resilient little buggers. My first one came from a fair kept in a wire cage with all crabs in painted shells, when I first started learning about proper care. My next two were rescued from my mom's boss who had them but couldn't take care of them anymore, after I received the thing they kept their crabs in (not suitable, plastic circular thing about an inch tall) I learned they had them for three months in that condition. They arrived with the third one dead in the bottom. I felt bad for them. My newest one was another rescue but from a pet store this time, he could probably sit on my thumb, and he was the only living crab in the tank. I don't know how they can make it through all of this and still be doing just fine. I've had my first three for over a year. I believe yours can do well too, and probably stay with you for a really long time with conditions up to par.

[Rawrgeous]

Seems like you've gotten an earful, so I'll just say welcome to the HCA!

[Rawrgeous]

Seems like you've gotten an earful, so I'll just say welcome to the HCA!