New hermit owner

[Ronbo0032]

Hello everyone.

I'm a new hermit owner, and new to forums. I have at least two question I would like to ask here in this post. Now some info.. lol. My grandkids "rescued" two hermit crabs while at the beach. I've had them in the cage they were purchased in two weeks ago. They are named,the smaller one, Moana and the other is Maui. (Didn't know I would be the adopted parent) I removed the gravel and cleaned some beach sand, baked it, to replace it. Added a hiding place for them.

- Are my crabs okay? Thay are not as active as they were when purchased. I'm sure they're stressed. They other day I went to pick up the cage, while lifting on the handle it would not fully raise up. I lifted again and I'd seen Moana fall to the bottom. I think she was hanging by the handle and I didn't see her. She crawled to the hut I have in there for a bit. I noticed her out when I checked, and later I had seen she went into the hut and burrowed herself in. I don't think she has come back out yet. The reason I say that is because Maui has also went into the hut and has burrowed himself in. He is always by her side at night. I had seen him crawl in there last night. I'm afraid that I might have injured Moana. I'm hoping they be okay until I can get the tank set up.

- Question about tanks. I have a 5.5 gallon that I was given which I know housed a hermit crab at one time. I'm going to use vinegar to clean that one quickly while I clean the one I just purchase from someone. The newly purchased one is a 20 gallon long I believe, and housed a different reptile I think. I was going to clean that with a bleach solution today. Now my question.. is it okay to remove the crabs from their "cage" and put them into the 5.5 gallon until I can get the newly purchased one set up and properly humidified(Hopefully in 2-3 days from what I have been reading) or leave them be until complete and hope for the best.

I'm really worried about the lack of movement and not eating much from what I've noticed. Sorry for the novel, any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

[Hermiesguardian]

Hi! Welcome to the world of crabbing! I'm sure your crab didn't get hurt in the fall. They climb trees in the wild and fall from greater heights. Personally I would wait until you get the larger tank. (Clean with vinegar) or they may molt in the 5.5 gal and you can't dig them up. In the meantime, you can seal the lid of their current cage with saran wrap and tape it down. To keep in the humidity. I assume the lid has open slats. You can cover the tank with a blanket to try and keep it warm. You can also put damp moss in there. Feed them organic honey in addition to the other food you feed them.

[GotButterflies]

Hi! Welcome to the HCA!

Were these hermit crabs "rescued" from the actual beach? If so, then they are marine hermit crabs and will need to find a home in a marine saltwater aquarium asap. Marine hermit crabs can live on shore for up to two weeks before perishing.

Are you able to post a picture of them? You can download an app called Tapatalk to your phone, then look up our forum on there to post a picture.

[Ronbo0032]

They were purchased at one of those gift shops. The ones held captive until a family on vacation decideds to purchase them. Still in the painted shells at least until I can get tank set up and order different shells.

[Ronbo0032]

I posted another reply but don’t see it. If I duplicate the post sorry. I’ll try again because I need someone with experience to let me know if I’m doing the right thing.

I have them in a circular cage which they were purchased in. I used beach sand instead of gravel and noticed a fishy smell today. I haven’t sifted the sand yet. I have them in a bathroom that isn’t used other than someone showering. It has a skylight so it’s getting sun and heat. I have a humidifier in there as well, and something to check the humidity. I was thinking about replacing the sand with EE tonight and clean the cage in the process to eliminate the fishy smell until the other tank is set up. Is this a good or bad idea??

[aussieJJDude]

Sounds like a good idea to me, but I would just consider upgrading to the 20g if you can do it sooner rather than later to allow heat/humidity to be trapped in.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Ronbo0032]

I have a 20 gallon long I believe it is. Hoping to have it up by next weekend. I don’t have much time to work on things. Just want them to be comfortable until then.

[ciaraalston]

Welcome to the HCA!!

First of all, i too was sucked into buying hermit crabs at the beach. Mine came in a painted shell and a tiny kritter keeper that was plastic with a screened lid. Bless his heart i had no idea the HCA existed until about 7 months after buying him. I'm lucky he survived that long.

A 20 gallon long is a great tank for 2! Ecoearth can be found on amazon for a few dollars cheaper than pet stores. The bricks are cheaper than the bags, you'll just soak it in freshwater or salt water.

Treat you water with Seachem Prime. There's other conditioners out there, but this is the only one i'm familiar with. The pros can chime in with the others. It's a white bottle with red label, it's only a few bucks at petco/petsmart and it lasts a long time because you only use 1 drop per gallon.

Instant Ocean for your salt water is found on amazon too, i found it much cheaper there than the pet stores. I bought the 15 pound bag for $11 back in march and i still have over half a bag left! Also treat your salt water with the seachem prime.

You'll want your substrate to be at least 6 inches deep, or 3 times the size of your largest crab. Don't use calcisand that's branded for hermit crabs. When it gets wet it hardens like cement on them and can kill them. I use eco earth and play sand from home depot. (The kind of sand for sand boxes and such. it's about $4 for a 50 pound bag)

Are your crabs purple pinchers? Check their big claw, if it looks purple. That's what mine was from the beach. if so, those are not active usually! Mine stayed in their cocohut and rarely came out for the first 9 months. They also barely ate, or if they did there was so little that i didn't notice any gone. Purple pinchers eat more vegetarian that other types of crabs.
Heres the link to the care sheet for purple pinchers: https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 51&t=92452

Just in case yours aren't purple pinchers, heres the link to all the care guides:
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... m.php?f=51

If you have etsy, i order all my food from TheHealthyHermit. Theres also thehermitcrabpatch.com and Hermies Kitchen. I've ordered from all three and absolutely loved the service. My favorite is TheHealthyHermit though.

If you're looking for shells, I've ordered some from Naples sea shell company and their prices are great. I've seen lots of other places to order shells as well though. (again, the pros can chime in! )

For a lid for your 20 gal long, you can use seran wrap to hold the humidity in. I used just seran wrap on mine for a long time. There's also a screen lid with clamps on amazon for $20. But you'll want to wrap seran wrap around that as well, to hold humidity. (I think someone else said that already? sorry!)

I hope i've covered everything. I'm sorry if i repeated anything that the pros said. Again, Welcome to the HCA! This place has amazing people with lots of knowledge ready to give advice and answer questions!

EDITED TO ADD:
For heat if you need, try reptilebasics or the bean farm. They have ultratherm heat pads that go across the back of your tank, never under. You want to heat the air for the crabs. if you need a thermostat, i found mine on amazon for $20 but other folks have some that are much better than mine.

Also, you don't have to buy food from those sites, anything organic that's on the safe food list is great. I just don't have access to much organic food where i'm at so i order online.