Stressed out, Moulting, or dead?

[Mintychan]

Okay so I got 3 hermits from the beach souvenir shops and then we drove 6.5 hours home. I was careful to keep them as still as possible but I know it was stressful. I also think the rocks at the bottom of the cage were not enough. They can't even bury themselves. One hermit, I am unsure of. I want to replace the roof KS with some sand but I don't know if it will stress them more to change it or to have an inadequate cage? Details below:

1. Substrate is the material covering bottom of the cage, right? It's just some neon colored pebbles. Not even an inch of them. In some places there isn't even any rocks at all.

2. No guages. Just the little cage they had to buy at the shop. It's a little plastic cage with a top that has the peep hole and the slits in it for air.

3. No heat source. It is warm here. Between 70-80 degrees so I thought they would be okay because that's what the little pamphlet said.

4. Water is just bottled fresh water. I use a sponge thing and soak it and sit it inside a shell for them like this pamphlet said to do.

5. I got a container of food from the shop for free.it isn't labeled. I was told not to feed them for 24 hours after the drive bc of car sickness. So when I woke up this morning I put a little bit in a shell for them.

6. I think they are all purple Pinchers but I honestly don't know. I got them yesterday before leaving Gulfport and got home last night at about 8pm. It is now 12:45 in the afternoon the next day.

I have bought extra shells and stuff but this cage is kinda small and I think I need a larger one for them.

One crab is not moving. It is in it's shell but kind of poking out and super still. I can see an antanea and it is t moving. It can't bury itself or anything and can't isolate itself in this cage. I am wondering if I should just leave it alone or should I make it a suitable place? I don't know the best course of action here. I also want to fix it for the other two hermits because they are trying to bury themselves but can't because of the crappy pebbles and lack of coverings. :c

[alypin]

First and foremost, welcome to the HCA I personally don't have crabs of my own yet, but I've gathered lots of valuable info from this site so I'll try to help as best I can I answered as AP

Okay so I got 3 hermits from the beach souvenir shops and then we drove 6.5 hours home. I was careful to keep them as still as possible but I know it was stressful. I also think the rocks at the bottom of the cage were not enough. They can't even bury themselves. One hermit, I am unsure of. I want to replace the roof KS with some sand but I don't know if it will stress them more to change it or to have an inadequate cage? Details below:

1. Substrate is the material covering bottom of the cage, right? It's just some neon colored pebbles. Not even an inch of them. In some places there isn't even any rocks at all.
The crabs need enough substrate to bury themselves in. You should use either EcoEarth, play sand, or a combination of the two, and it should be at least 6 inches deep or 3 times the height of your biggest crab. Which ever is more.

2. No guages. Just the little cage they had to buy at the shop. It's a little plastic cage with a top that has the peep hole and the slits in it for air.
You should upgrade to at least a 15 gallon tank for the crabs, as they require a minimum of 5 gallons of space, each/

3. No heat source. It is warm here. Between 70-80 degrees so I thought they would be okay because that's what the little pamphlet said.
The heat and humidity both need to be at an 80 minimum. Once you upgrade the tank you can put an under-tank-heater on the side of the tank, above the substrate, and you can either mist the tank with dechlorinated fresh water or use air bubblers.

4. Water is just bottled fresh water. I use a sponge thing and soak it and sit it inside a shell for them like this pamphlet said to do.
Hermit crabs need access to salt and fresh water, and both of these need to be dechlorinated. For salt water many recommend Instant Ocean products
Water care: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92553

5. I got a container of food from the shop for free.it isn't labeled. I was told not to feed them for 24 hours after the drive bc of car sickness. So when I woke up this morning I put a little bit in a shell for them.
Check out these links for info about feeding
Safe foods: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92557
Unsafe foods: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92556
Store Bought foods: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92555
Nutrition table: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92554

6. I think they are all purple Pinchers but I honestly don't know. I got them yesterday before leaving Gulfport and got home last night at about 8pm. It is now 12:45 in the afternoon the next day.

I have bought extra shells and stuff but this cage is kinda small and I think I need a larger one for them.

One crab is not moving. It is in it's shell but kind of poking out and super still. I can see an antanea and it is t moving. It can't bury itself or anything and can't isolate itself in this cage. I am wondering if I should just leave it alone or should I make it a suitable place? I don't know the best course of action here. I also want to fix it for the other two hermits because they are trying to bury themselves but can't because of the crappy pebbles and lack of coverings. :c

I hope this information helps you out You'll want to make these changes as soon as possible to ensure the best outcome for your crababies. Good luck and keep us posted!

[soilentgringa]

Unfortunately the little pamphlets are usually wrong.

1. Heat/Humidity-Land hermit crabs come from tropical environments. While they can survive at temps of 75 degrees and up, it's best to keep them at a temperature that their natural habitat would be. For purple pinchers, this would be mid 80's. They also need humidity of at least 80 percent. This is because they breathe through modified gills and need the air to be humid enough that they have that moisture to get oxygen.

2. Substrate-The gravel is going to have to go. They need at least 6" of coconut fiber, coconut fiber and playsand mixed, or playsand. You can get a 50 lb bag of playsand at a hardware store for under $5 in most American hardware store chains. We recommend a mixture of coconut fiber and playsand, because the moist coconut fiber helps keep the sand damp, and you want to be able to make a sandcastle with the substrate, so that it holds the tunnels they create.

3. Land hermit crabs need at least 5-10 gallons per crab depending on size. If you get up to the XL/Jumbo sizes, you will want to increase this to 15 gallons or more per crab. Petco is about to have a dollar per gallon sale again, and you can usually find decent used tanks on Craigslist or Offer Up. I have never paid retail price for a tank.

4. Do not feed them pellets. They usually contain toxic ingredients that will kill them. We have a Safe Food list in the care guides, and as long as you are providing a variety, with staples of protein, calcium, leaf litter, fruits and veggies, they should be good to go.

5. They need two different types of water. Dechlorinated fresh water, and dechlorinated marine grade salt water. This is salt that is used to set up saltwater or reef tanks. It is different than salt for freshwater tanks. Most of us use Prime, Kordon Amquel Plus, API for dechlorinator and Instant Ocean salt for the salt water mix. They must be able to submerge in the pools.

6. They need places to climb and hide behind. Hides are very important because hermit crabs are prey animals and they need to be able to have places to scoot under if they feel threatened. They're also known as "tree crabs" and have been observed fairly high up in trees in the wild, so they need to have lots of stuff to climb on.

These are the basic provisions that the hermit crabs need in order to thrive in captivity. Unfortunately there is so much misinformation given out by vendors, and since they're considered throwaway pets, few people really seem to care that they have a lifespan of 50-75 years (estimated) in the wild, and members here and elsewhere have crabs that have been alive for decades in captivity.

Check out our careguides and browse through the forums, use the search tool if you have a specific question; it may have been addressed already.

You need to make sure that you get them some deep substrate ASAP as the first thing new crabs usually do is bury in the sub to destress and molt, and surface molts are highly stressful/draining for hermit crabs, so it's best that they're able to do what they would do naturally in the wild.

[Mintychan]

Hey guys!

Thank you so much for the quality info. C: I knew this cage and stuff they gave me was totally inadequate but reading about the food and the fact that they don't tell you about the right types of water is just insane. :c

[LadyJinglyJones]

Yup - welcome to the (very large) club of people who came to crabbing via the misinformation highway!