Preparing for my first crabs

[JenniFUR]

Hello all!

I don't have any crabs yet, so I wasn't entirely sure if I should post this, but I wanted to introduce myself. I've kept dogs, cats, guinea pigs, and a variety of tropical freshwater fish, but currently only have two cats. Someone abandoned a pair of hermit crabs at my workplace a few weeks ago (I work for a well-known pet retail store; a coworker claimed them while I was researching their needs) and my brief research led me down a rabbit hole. Next thing I know, I'm assembling a new tank to eventually host crabs of my own!

I have a 20 gal long tank and unused aquarium sand, and I have started to get other items like coconut fiber for the substrate and a hydrometer. I would love to adopt if I can, so right now I'm just focusing on learning how to be an excellent crab caretaker and slowly assembling an ideal habitat. I'd love any tips or advice folks have to share!

[Altaccforhermitsssss]

Hii! Welcome, i am really glad you are doing reaserch before adopting, and ill try to give you some tips. A major mishap in new crabbie owners is sand and food, sand to coco fiber ratio is usually about 5:1 and three times thw depth of your largest crab. There is a food forum in here where you can see all the safe foods, and make sure to feed a large variety with meats, calcium source, vitamins, ect. Hermit crabs love to climb, so make sure you have lots of climbing toys for them. You should have about five extra shells per crab( all around the same size as crab).

Do not throw out a molting crabbie, and dont mess with crabs inder the sand, molting crabs look alot like dead crabs, only dead stink like fish and a molting crabbie will not.

That is definitly not all you need to know, but i hope it gets you an idea and hopefully others will chime in as well. Good luck!!

[JenniFUR]

Hii! Welcome, i am really glad you are doing reaserch before adopting, and ill try to give you some tips. A major mishap in new crabbie owners is sand and food, sand to coco fiber ratio is usually about 5:1 and three times thw depth of your largest crab. There is a food forum in here where you can see all the safe foods, and make sure to feed a large variety with meats, calcium source, vitamins, ect. Hermit crabs love to climb, so make sure you have lots of climbing toys for them. You should have about five extra shells per crab( all around the same size as crab).

Do not throw out a molting crabbie, and dont mess with crabs inder the sand, molting crabs look alot like dead crabs, only dead stink like fish and a molting crabbie will not.

That is definitly not all you need to know, but i hope it gets you an idea and hopefully others will chime in as well. Good luck!!

Thank you for the tips! I assume that's 5:1 by volume? Also, is there any particular type of sand I should look for or avoid? I expect I'll need to buy more sand to get a decent depth in my tank.

[Altaccforhermitsssss]

Avoid calcium sand, and the five to one ratio is five parts playsand to one part soil, any playsand is fine( as long as no pesticides), you dont need soil however it is recommended.
Hope that answered your question, if not let me know.

[curlysister]

Welcome to the site!
You can use all play sand, all eco earth (aka - coco fiber) or a mix of the two in any ratio for the substrate.
If you haven't already, be sure to read the 'basics' care sheet to start with for all the basic info you need.
Also what you need is a hygrometer, not hydrometer (they sound similar, it's no big deal that they are mixed it often, just don't want you to buy something that isn't needed).