New to the forum; have had my crab several years

[crabocado]

Hello, I am excited to join this forum and share about my hermit crab Busy. I gave her that name when I first got her at a very tiny size, and she was such a busy little eater that that became her name. I'm not sure how long ago that was; most likely at least 10 years, perhaps 15? It was only 3 years ago that I began documenting her molts & other activities in detail. More on her in a bit.

Along with Busy, I used to have several larger crabs: Moby (named after the whale), a rather huge crab, from a specialty aquarium/exotic pet shop. Moby did not live long. I also had others from PetSmart: Pinchy, a medium crab, who was somewhat lop-sided, having one eye larger than the other, subsequent to a molt. And Joey, a bit larger than Pinchy, had more pronounced color, seemed the most vigorous, and lasted the longest of all the others except Busy.

All these crabs lived in a cheap plastic terrarium from PetSmart, perhaps 12-15" long. They had a dish of food, and a dish of tap water, and a heating pad stuck to one end. I can't remember the substrate, although I was generous with spraying them and monitored humidity. If I recall right, for most or all the crabs that passed away, it happened while molting, underground. When only Busy remained, I decided cannibalism was the main issue (during molts), so she's been solitary ever since.

After a few years my sister was visiting and met Busy for the first time. Her immediate remark was, "Hello Busy! Do you want a bigger cage?" and within days after she left, I did a complete rethink of my crabitat. I bought a much, much larger tank (standard glass fish tank size; 21" long?). I added a plastic climbing "tree" from PetSmart as well. I also chatted with the exotic/aquarium pet shop clerk who said distilled water was important, so ever since then I have used distilled water bottles from the grocery store. And also, I added a salt water dish.

Busy's response to the salt water was sheer ecstasy. She basically camped out there at the edge of the tank, for hours! Like somebody who'd just crawled across the Sahara Desert, and barely survived to reach an oasis. The whole time she was dipping her claw over and over again, making up for all the years of salt shortage. I was so happy! And sorry too, that I'd taken this long.

The substrate I use for her is the coconut-fiber stuff from PetSmart that looks like soil after you soak it in water. It's about 4" deep. Often I add some yellow "calcium sand" from the store, as a bottom layer. A problem I used to have while traveling was the crab(s) would push the water dish over, or fill it with substrate so it all leaches out. My solution for several years has been to stack flat rocks strategically one end of the cage, as a stable support for the 2 water dishes. The two dishes are also carefully chosen to fit snugly against each other, held together by the two sides of the cage.

One ongoing issue - tiny flies seem to live in her cage. It's been going on for years. Hopefully, they leave each other along.

Hopefully I haven't over-stepped the "new crab" forum guidelines, but while introducing it seemed appropriate to give some background. In the past couple years, I've more frequently taken her out on walks in the lawn or house. I am hopeful to keep this crab happy for many years to come!

[curlysister]

Hello and welcome! There are a few things that you can probably still do to improve her tank conditions even more. There is tons of great info in the care sheets.
Where do you live that you can take her outside? I presume somewhere much warmer and more humid than I do! LOL!
Calcium sand is not safe for crabs. Used in the small amount you have been using, it probably hasn't done much harm. But it turns to cement when wet. And sub should be kept moist enough to hold it's shape when wet, so crabs can make tunnels and caves that don't collapse. Most of us use a mix of play sand and EE - 5 parts play sand to 1 part EE is the most common, altho other mixes are used successfully. Playsand is cheaper than using all EE, and the mix holds it's shape and helps with humidity. It should be at least 6 inches or three times as deep as your largest crab - whichever is deeper wins. What are your temp and humidity readings?
What brand of salt do you use for mixing the salt water?
Cannibalism can be more common when diet and/ or conditions aren't correct. Maybe once everything is ideal, you could consider getting Busy another friend!

[Crabby in NJ]

Welcome! I hope you and busy stay for awhile and chat with us! I’m relatively new here as well! I’ve had crabs before am now taking over for my sons winnings from a school fair and my addition to the family haha! I love having pet sand although I would love a camera to be able to see what they do when I sleep! It’s on my wish list lol
Anyways, like curly said, their are some things u can do to make busy happier but I’m sure as u read through all this wealth of info, you will figure some stuff out just like I did! It was a very quick change once I started reading all these posts! I especially love looking at other crabitats! Oh the ideas you will get! Again, welcome and stay awhile!

[crabocado]

Hello and welcome! There are a few things that you can probably still do to improve her tank conditions even more. There is tons of great info in the care sheets.
Where do you live that you can take her outside? I presume somewhere much warmer and more humid than I do! LOL!
Calcium sand is not safe for crabs. Used in the small amount you have been using, it probably hasn't done much harm. But it turns to cement when wet. And sub should be kept moist enough to hold it's shape when wet, so crabs can make tunnels and caves that don't collapse. Most of us use a mix of play sand and EE - 5 parts play sand to 1 part EE is the most common, altho other mixes are used successfully. Playsand is cheaper than using all EE, and the mix holds it's shape and helps with humidity. It should be at least 6 inches or three times as deep as your largest crab - whichever is deeper wins. What are your temp and humidity readings?
What brand of salt do you use for mixing the salt water?
Cannibalism can be more common when diet and/ or conditions aren't correct. Maybe once everything is ideal, you could consider getting Busy another friend!

Hey curlysister, it's great to get your reply! I'm in CO, so when I say "lawn" I mean in summer - these days it's all indoor walks. I keep her substrate quite moist, in fact sometimes too moist (which I can tell when water pools along the edges where the flat stones are stacked). I just dribble distilled water on it when needed. The tank has a metal screen top, which she crawls on, but I cover it with plastic to keep humid. I am unaware what "EE" means. I'll check around this site - most likely there are some care sheets about substrate. Six inches sounds like a lot, but you know what, I think you are right, she is getting pretty big so I think it is time to deepen the substrate. Her current shell is probably 2 to 2.5 inches across.
I sheepishly admit, I have not measured temperature OR humidity in many years. The house is kept 68-73 *F and I think honestly, it may be too humid in there, given how happy the flies look. For salt water, I think I use Instant Ocean.
Well, I definitely need to start perusing this site for more info. I'm really glad I found this group, and thanks!

[crabocado]

Welcome! I hope you and busy stay for awhile and chat with us! I’m relatively new here as well! I’ve had crabs before am now taking over for my sons winnings from a school fair and my addition to the family haha! I love having pet sand although I would love a camera to be able to see what they do when I sleep! It’s on my wish list lol
Anyways, like curly said, their are some things u can do to make busy happier but I’m sure as u read through all this wealth of info, you will figure some stuff out just like I did! It was a very quick change once I started reading all these posts! I especially love looking at other crabitats! Oh the ideas you will get! Again, welcome and stay awhile!

Thanks Crabby for the welcome, I've thought about setting up a camera too! In fact for her last molt, she burrowed right up against the front of the terrarium so I was able to take photos of different stages! It was incredible! The photos were pretty lame though ... But, still you could see her cuticle darken over time, and the bits of her old cuticle that she was gradually chewing up, I suppose.

[curlysister]

EE is the coco fiber that you use. EE = Eco Earth. Some people use all EE, but it can be more prone to flooding. And is much more expensive than EE mixed with cheapo play sand, LOL. I have used a mix of 5 parts play sand to 1 part EE for the 9+ years I have had my crabs and have never thrown out and replaced all the sub - I have just added more as they grew and as I upgraded tanks.
Instant Ocean is the correct salt to use.
There is no such thing as 'too humid'. Anything over 80% is good. You really should get a guage and check that and the temp, just to be sure it's in a healthy range.

[crabocado]

Aha, thank you. Interesting that you can just reuse it, I have always thrown out the old substrate as I wash out the cage, every 6 months or so; there's usually a lot of crab poops that make me want to start fresh. I did not find it that expensive, but that may be because I was too stingy on substrate depth

[Crabby in NJ]

Curious, what play sand is used? I just read something and now idk if it was here since I’m forever reading over these crabs lol ... someone was saying they used a 5 pound magnet on the playsand bc it has a lot of particles of metal which many say is bad for the crabs. Certain playsand is supposedly better? Idk just curious bc I use mostly eco earth and don’t have any issues with flooding etc. (I also hardly ever see ! Oops!)

[JoeHermits]

Curious, what play sand is used? I just read something and now idk if it was here since I’m forever reading over these crabs lol ... someone was saying they used a 5 pound magnet on the playsand bc it has a lot of particles of metal which many say is bad for the crabs. Certain playsand is supposedly better? Idk just curious bc I use mostly eco earth and don’t have any issues with flooding etc. (I also hardly ever see ! Oops!)

I have never had any problems with metals in my playsand. Quikrete is a good brand but anything without dyes will work.


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[Crabby in NJ]

I wish I knew where I read that now. Sigh...guess it doesn’t much matter, I’m glad to know that it’s really a non issue. I couldn’t imagine having to sift through pounds and pounds of sand with a magnet! Lol thanks for clarifying joe!

[JoeHermits]

I wish I knew where I read that now. Sigh...guess it doesn’t much matter, I’m glad to know that it’s really a non issue. I couldn’t imagine having to sift through pounds and pounds of sand with a magnet! Lol thanks for clarifying joe!

I think I know what you’re talking about, I saw a similar post a few years ago.

I tried sifting once, but didn’t find anything and haven’t bothered to since.


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