New Crab Owner!

[MurkyCrabs]

Hi! i just came in here to introduce myself and maybe ask a question or two!
I've had my crabs (regular land hermit crabs) for about two months now with one of them just going into molting which I've been very nervous about since it's their first time in my care. I have two crabs who I ended up just dubbing Little Guy and Big Guy since originally I only planned on getting one crab but read they do good with having a friend around. All I really have to ask at the moment is for any recommendations of good food brands if possible and any suggestions on creating a second level in a tank! My little crab loves to climb but unfortunately would pull his climb wall off its adhesive and get himself stuck (thankfully only ever on his shell, only once did he ever get a leg stuck) or he would knock it down (which i found my big crab LOVED lol). Any suggestions appreciated!

[Pumpkincrab]

Welcome to HCA! First off.. what size tank do you have? How deep of substrate and what kind? Is there heat and humidity?
I personally recommend Etsy for hermit crab food although they can eat a lot of what we do. The commercial brands have bad things in there which can harm your crabs. HermitGrub or my shop, CloverScrubsShop (On Etsy) have adequate foods, as well as many other shops. You can also feed them organic fruits, veggies, meats ect. viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92557 here's the safe food list.
For the second level, I've seen some crabbers attatch egg crate to the sides of the tank, then add hammocks, wood, cholla, bark, ect. There are tons of options out there! I don't really have a second level at the moment but do have a piece of driftwood they can climb.
Maybe check the DIY or Pictures forums? I've seen tons of good ideas there.
Best of luck!

[MurkyCrabs]

i have a 10G with mostly coconut fiber on one side and sand on the other with it being about 3 inches deep but I want to add more, unfortunately, I just have a molting crab right now that I don't want to disturb. plenty of heat and humidity! my room is cold but I have a UTH (its on a surface where it is not a fire hazard in a corner of the tank) usually about 77 or so farenheit and I do my best not to let the humidity to fall below 70. thank you so much for the suggestions!

[Pumpkincrab]

Whenever your crab is done molting I'd suggest adding more substrate, like you said! If you can get your hands on some play sand, I'd also recommend that. It's at a lot of hardware stores!
You look to be good to go otherwise!

[curlysister]

You can safely add substrate even when they are underground - many people will add up to an inch a day or more, as long as you don't pack it down. The way your tank is set up with EE on one side and sand on the other is fine - some people mix the two or use more of one than the other, but it certainly isn't necessary to change what you have if you don't want to. Sub should be at least 3 times as deep as your largest crab, so you might well have enough depending on how big your crabs are. But deeper sub is never bad for them! LOL! Just don't want you to think you have to go out and buy anything else if you don't want to.

[MurkyCrabs]

i do actually have some leftover unused coconut substrate and my dad informed me we have an unopened bag of playsand! as soon as I'm able to I'm definitely about to revamp their substrate.

[Pumpkincrab]

That's awesome! I wish you the best with that!

[crabbycasey]

A climbing idea...I use a cookie cooling rack on one end of my tank and they climb it all the time!
You can see it here...along with my little digger


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[MurkyCrabs]

That’s so smart!! Thank you so much!!! Now my only challenge is to remove any calcium sand and replace it with playsand! (Yeah, PetSmart messed me over on that one...)

[crabbycasey]

You’re not alone on that one! Wish they had better knowledge of crab care. We need to get them hooked up with the HCA so they can learn!


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[CrabbyLover77]

That’s so smart!! Thank you so much!!! Now my only challenge is to remove any calcium sand and replace it with playsand! (Yeah, PetSmart messed me over on that one...)

Don't feel bad. I used calcium sand for years without knowing any better. I was lucky and never had any issues until right at the end. I had 2 crabs, Beau and my Katrina (who passed in 2019). She went partially under for a molt, and the calcium sand got caked up in her shell. She didn't make it. That's when I found the HCA. I didn't want to buy another friend for Beau, I wanted to adopt. So I put out my adoption request on here. In the meantime, I read the care sheets and realized how much I had messed up, like with the sand. I credit the HCA for giving Beau and the rest of my rescue crabbies a much better life!

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[crabbycasey]

Same! Thank goodness for this place!


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[MurkyCrabs]

I’m so glad I found this place, it’s helped me SO much with my crabs. I just really hope my little guy makes it up at this point there are so many factors against him


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[crabbycasey]

Positive vibes he’ll make it! Trust their little crabby instincts


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[MurkyCrabs]

Positive vibes he’ll make it! Trust their little crabby instincts


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I would be more inclined to do so but this is the same crab that would pull back his climb wall so he could get himself stuck to adhesive and also jumped (yes, JUMPED) out of my hand while I was holding him on more than one occasion


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