Just Brought home Molting crab and he turned blue?

[hermitharbor]

All natural is the best way to go! Whether that’s fresh foods or mixes bought from crab food places (I get mine from HCP, shops on Etsy, etc) that’s what you want to feed. They are scavengers, so they eat pretty much anything they get their claws on. And there’s no artificial stuff in the wild (although anything is possible I suppose). As long as you are feeding them a variety, all is fine. Always have a protein source and a calcium source available, and just rotate other sorts of food. I always have protein in their food mixes, and then have cuttlebone out in the tank all the time (those can be purchased in the bird aisle, they look like little surf boards so it’s cute in the tank!) and I also love giving them the soil supplement from HCP that I have. They love it! Otherwise I mix up foods that have different fruit, veggies, grains, etc just to make sure they don’t get tired of eating the same thing

Do you have a hide/hut of some sort? That’s better than a plant, but in a pinch the plant can’t hurt!


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[wodesorel]

We have a major guide to complete nutrition here, if you want more research into which major food groups to cover! viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554

[GotButterflies]

Hello Welcome to the HCA!

I noticed your substrate looks like it is wood. Do you have playsand and or eco earth? That is what we recommend here at the HCA. We recommend a minimum depth of 6" or three times the height of your largest crab. You would also mix the substrate with dechlorinated fresh water or dechlorinated marine saltwater to make it sandcastle consistency.

[Plasmoc]

Hello Welcome to the HCA!

I noticed your substrate looks like it is wood. Do you have playsand and or eco earth? That is what we recommend here at the HCA. We recommend a minimum depth of 6" or three times the height of your largest crab. You would also mix the substrate with dechlorinated fresh water or dechlorinated marine saltwater to make it sandcastle consistency.

I think it’s kind of like eco earth..? It’s All Living Things “tropical mix bedding”. I mix it with white sand, but ran out this time. The tank started to smell really bad so I changed out most the substrate a while ago. I bought more sand today though. I didn’t know about mixing it with dechlorinated water, I’ve been misting with dechlorinated water a couple times a day and sometimes using wet moss to help keep moisture to 70-85%. My hermit crabs are pretty small I have it thicker in some area than others. 2-6” roughly.

Is this substrate ok or is ecoearth different?

Also, thanks for the good link! Lots of great info in there. He really liked the honey last night, he fell asleep in the food dish! And I did do a cave for him which he seemed to like.




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[GotButterflies]

Hello Welcome to the HCA!

I noticed your substrate looks like it is wood. Do you have playsand and or eco earth? That is what we recommend here at the HCA. We recommend a minimum depth of 6" or three times the height of your largest crab. You would also mix the substrate with dechlorinated fresh water or dechlorinated marine saltwater to make it sandcastle consistency.

I think it’s kind of like eco earth..? It’s All Living Things “tropical mix bedding”. I mix it with white sand, but ran out this time. The tank started to smell really bad so I changed out most the substrate a while ago. I bought more sand today though. I didn’t know about mixing it with dechlorinated water, I’ve been misting with dechlorinated water a couple times a day and sometimes using wet moss to help keep moisture to 70-85%. My hermit crabs are pretty small I have it thicker in some area than others. 2-6” roughly.

Is this substrate ok or is ecoearth different?

Also, thanks for the good link! Lots of great info in there. He really liked the honey last night, he fell asleep in the food dish! And I did do a cave for him which he seemed to like.




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Hello That bedding is Douglas fir bark and sphagnum moss mixed together. I personally would not use it. That wood is not on the safe list.

Eco earth is made from coconut husk. When moistened it helps retain moisture.

The purpose of mixing the substrate with dechlorinated msw or dechlorinated fw is so the substrate remains sandcastle consistency when the hermit crabs dig tunnels of molting caves


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[LadyJinglyJones]

And I'd just add, if it hadn't been covered, that the sand you want is play sand (silica sand) that you can buy in big bags from a harware type store.

Petstores mostly sell calcium carbonate sand, which isn't recommended at all (after being moistened it can then harden in clumps as it dries - potentially hardening in the crab's shell or even leg joints ).

Flukers does make a crab sand mix from silica sand, but is is very pricy compared to the playsand at Home Depot or Lowe's. This stuff averages about $5/50lb. bag, and is generally thought to be the best value.

[soilentgringa]

One of my E's was blue when I got it and it's quadrupled in size over the last couple of years. It's still got that blue tint after several molts.

They get a varied diet including a rainbow of veggies.

[Plasmoc]

Thank you!! I will switch over to EcoEarth and s different sand. When would be ok to shift it in the tank?

The new hermie has been very active the past few days - even during the daytime! His color is much better. I haven’t seen him eat, or noticed anything missing from the food dish, but I’m assuming he’s eating or will eat when he needs to.

I’m varying their diet more, though still including some pellets while they get used to the new foods. Today I gave them banana, royal jelly, raw oats, calcium, pellets, and tomato.

For the past couple days they had royal
Jelly mixed with bee pollen, calcium, quinoa, dried shrimp, Cheerios, & pellets.

There’s also this thing, I’m not sure what that is. A bug? Shedding?




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[Plasmoc]

I did pick him up briefly today since he’s been out so much. Here’s his color now.


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[AwesomeHermit]

I did pick him up briefly today since he’s been out so much. Here’s his color now.


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I am pretty sure that the bug was a mealworm


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[Plasmoc]

I did pick him up briefly today since he’s been out so much. Here’s his color now.


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I am pretty sure that the bug was a mealworm


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Ok thanks, it looked a bit different then I’m used too. Tonight I caught him eating calcium powder and oats which is great.

Do you think I can take down the barrier and let him mingle with the other crabs now? He’s smaller then they, but he’s been very active. My other 2 have been pretty quiet lately and might be getting ready to molt themselves.




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