Learning as I go new owner

[PeekaBoo2013]

Hi all. So one of my old students gave me her hermit crab on Friday since her parents said she had to get rid of it. So I started doing some research and I found out that its habitat was all wrong. Here's a before picture:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p6Ax87 ... p=drivesdk

So I spent all day Saturday purchasing and putting together its new crabitat. I bought some Moss, a fake plant, somewhere for it to hide, a saltwater Bowl. I mixed Eco Earth with the sand and made it much deeper. And I've even sent an email out to my staff to see if there is anyone who is looking to get rid of their hermit crabs so that this little guy can have a friend. After picture:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pJXCLn ... p=drivesdk

If you have any advice I'd love to hear it. I've never been around a hermit crab before. But I want to make sure I am doing everything it needs.

[PeekaBoo2013]

I do have the temperature and humidity gauge in there it's just hidden behind the leaves a little bit so it's a little hard to see in the picture

[Pebbles]

Maybe some more climbing things and a lid.


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[PeekaBoo2013]

Thank you. Yes I have a mesh lid but I've read it should be plastic to keep humidity high? I think I'm going to try to make a "loft" area so that it can climb (if not I've seen some climbing sticks, are they good? )

[Pebbles]

Mesh is okay. You can put cling wrap over it if you have problems keeping the humidity up. Be careful using sticks though because some are toxic. Otherwise boil them before outting them in the tank. Good luck!


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[Maddamay32]

That's so sweet that you would take in a crab! You definitely gave him a much better home! The only things I have to add is toss the sponge, their unnecessary and harbor LOTS of bad bacteria just sitting in the water. Also the pools are a bit small to allow your crab to submerge.

Other than that you're doing pretty good! Hopefully you hear back soon from your coworkers!

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[PeekaBoo2013]

Thank you. Can I try to use a reptile water dish in order to make sure it's deeper? If the newer crab I get is small can I just put few pebbles in there instead of the sponge so it can get out?

[Maddamay32]

Those dishes are safe but you will save a lot of money just using plastic tupperware containers. Pebbles are good too, lots of people do that. You can also find lots of DIY's for crabs to get in/out of their pools. Plastic canvas is a popular one, really just stick any crab safe object in the pool that will allow them to climb on lol.

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[Hermiesguardian]

Welcome! Is your substrate sandcastle consistancy? It has to be to hold their caves and tunnels. And you need a sealed lid to keep in the humidity. They need a minimum of 80% humidity. A digital therm/hyrometer will really help with that. What are you using for dechlorinator?

[PeekaBoo2013]

Hi and thank you! Yes I moistened the substrate as I mixed it together sand and eco earth. The thermostat and hydrometer are just dials not digital. I am bringing suran wrap to school tomorrow to wrap around my mesh lid. (I'm having problems keeping humidity high- i have moistened moss but only put in one piece ) Since I haven't bought declorinator yet I'm using distilled water gallon at the moment for fresh. And a bottle of "hydrate" from walmart for salt.

[Pebbles]

I suggest moving the water dishes closer to the heat pads so they can evaporate and raise the humidity.


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[PeekaBoo2013]

Thank you, I can always switch up the tank (I was leaving the are right near the heater spacious in case my crab gets cold?), I have since made a deeper freshwater pool with two stacked tuperware and some plastic canvas/plastic plants to help crab get in and out, covered mesh lid mostly in suran wrap, and will add more moss today. Thank you everyone for your advice, I really appreciate it!

[DinkDonk]

Good morning, it seems like you're taking a good job caring for your current hermit crab! I am also preparing for hermit crabs, and I think if I set up my tank tonight, then I'll be able to get them tomorrow! I'm really happy that you're doing all you can for your hermit crab!

What I can suggest for your little guy is that you can increase humidity in the tank by moss pits, but it seems like you are doing that. Another way you could increase humidity, which I read about somewhere else on this forum is that you can use pits of 100% Eco Earth, what should be kept wet, but not too wet with dechlorinated water. The water evaporating from this Eco Earth should help humidity over a while, and you can also grow hermit crab friendly plants in there as well I believe! Some great plants to put in there might be chia seeds, bird seeds, or dandelions. Another user also recommended Timothy Hay to use as a Moss pit, in a pinch.

It seems like your hermit crab might be eating food pellets, which might be okay, but they might have some harmful preservatives or chemicals within them that might you're crab. Feeding them fresh vegetables, and fruit, along with some calcium supplements like Cuttlebone or eggshells and some protein and chitin here in there would help them a lot! There are a plenitude of difference guides and resources available on this forum, it just takes a little bit of looking around. Unfortunately I'm not sure how to link to different posts on Tapatalk yet, but I'm sure someone more experienced than me can lend a hand.

I wish the best for you, and happy crabbing! Be sure to talk to me or anybody else if you have any questions!

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[PeekaBoo2013]

It seems like your hermit crab might be eating food pellets, which might be okay, but they might have some harmful preservatives or chemicals within them that might you're crab. Feeding them fresh vegetables, and fruit, along with some calcium supplements like Cuttlebone or eggshells and some protein and chitin here in there would help them a lot!

Thank you! Yes, now that I have his home about set up, I am going to start working on feeding him better. Today I brought him a piece of shrimp, eggshell, mushroom and am picking up some organic babyfood for him to try that I read about on another post. I still am in the process of figuring out all of his nutritional needs and have been looking at the "food forum"

I will definitely try out the pit of ecoearth, that sounds good.

[Motörcrab]

I'm a bit late to this forum. Better late than never I suppose.

My biggest suggestion is to read through all of the care guides here. Everything is covered to get started. They really go into a lot of detail on each topic. There is a lot to read and take in.

Caresheets are here. http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... .php?f=120

If you click the link in my signature there are a ton of links for ordering foods and other supplies. My three go to food stores are The Healthy Hermit, The Cholla Queen, and MT Pet Emporium.