Helping my kids with a first pet

[Wernicke85]

Good morning from Pensacola, FL. My kids and I were at the beach the beach Saturday and they found a few hermit crabs and wanted to take them home. I have a few questions and would like recommendations on the set up.

My first question is, how fast do hermit crabs tend to drink? I bought the XL reptile bather for their salt water pool and after 8 hrs it is almost empty. It is near the heater side of the tank. Is that much water getting evaporated?

My next question is feeding. I got a dried food medley, do I just leave that in the bowl and then just lay the fresh stuff around on the land for them to find? I saw that on vacation you switch to dried versions of fresh foods? I read coconut flakes, seeds(which kinds)? Which dried fruits and veggies are best? Can you give dried meats like plain jerky? Feeding snacks like shrimp, do they go in the water?

Finally, I have attached a picture of what I have done so far. I didn’t buy much. Pretty much the basics. I ordered a shell variety specifically meant for hermit crabs. It is a 20 gallon long aquarium tank. I am having trouble with posting pictures, so I will describe as best I can. I have a large freshwater pool on one side and an XL salt water pool on the other. I put an 8W heater on the Saltwater pool side. The substrate is 2 bags of play sand and two bricks of coconut fiber. We put some coral and shells we found on the beach in the salt water pool. My kids bought a bridge and a cholla wood for their crabs to climb. We plan to get more toys. I guess one of my biggest concerns is the salt water pool. Since these were from the beach, do they need a deeper pool? If the water is evaporating as fast as it seems, I don’t think they will have any left after our upcoming 12 day vacation. Thank you for any and all suggestions.

[Wernicke85]

Additionally, how much do I need to use the heater? We keep our house at 75 for the summer and 72 in the winter. My wife is from the Philippines and doesn’t like a cold home anyway.

[Hermitsandplants]

for the water bowl, make sure the sides of it are free of sand and dirt because that can absorb the water and flood the tank(that happened to me once, be careful!) hermit crabs don't drink that fast, so that is the only thing I can think of.
I usually giver my hermit crabs fresh fruit, veggies, and meat, so I don't have much advice for that, but dried strawberries usually work well. also not sure about shrimp in the water, sorry but I give my crabs the dead ones from my aquarium sometimes. for seeds, chia work amazing, but really any seeds would be good.
the tank you have now sounds pretty good, and for the saltwater pool, I make mine so my largest crab can submerge, but also have plenty of exits for my smaller crabs
for the heater, I only use mine when my house temperature drops below 70 because its warmer in the tank(in my house, anyway). If your tank is by a window the temperature will likely drop/rise depending if its warm or cold outside, so a heater in the winter would be beneficial. remember that a UTH should be placed on the side of the tank rather than the bottom as it can be a fire hazard.

sorry if I didn't answer all the questions, but if you have any further questions I would be happy to help

[Wernicke85]

for the water bowl, make sure the sides of it are free of sand and dirt because that can absorb the water and flood the tank(that happened to me once, be careful!) hermit crabs don't drink that fast, so that is the only thing I can think of.
I usually giver my hermit crabs fresh fruit, veggies, and meat, so I don't have much advice for that, but dried strawberries usually work well. also not sure about shrimp in the water, sorry but I give my crabs the dead ones from my aquarium sometimes. for seeds, chia work amazing, but really any seeds would be good.
the tank you have now sounds pretty good, and for the saltwater pool, I make mine so my largest crab can submerge, but also have plenty of exits for my smaller crabs
for the heater, I only use mine when my house temperature drops below 70 because its warmer in the tank(in my house, anyway). If your tank is by a window the temperature will likely drop/rise depending if its warm or cold outside, so a heater in the winter would be beneficial. remember that a UTH should be placed on the side of the tank rather than the bottom as it can be a fire hazard.

sorry if I didn't answer all the questions, but if you have any further questions I would be happy to help

Thank you, I will turn off the heater at night. I read somewhere that it is still good to have some fluctuation in temperature between day and night as it simulates natural conditions. It will also give me a chance to see if the water levels change as drastically. It is kind of a small heater, so I didn’t think it would cause too much change. I did stick it on the side.

I think one of the smaller ones drowned already. The bowls are the lizard bathes, so they have ramps each direction. The entrance is a shallow slope compared to the exit ramp. There is another small one, so I bought some sponges with a set of shells to arrive tomorrow. Hopefully, it survives till then. It has so far.

I had the bowls buried so there was just a lip over the sand, so they could have easier access. I will take them higher out of the sand when I change the water tonight and see if that helps with the water disappearing. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions.

I told my wife to stop throwing away older fruit that is not rotten, but beyond our consumption standards. We have a dehydrator, so we can prep for our trip. I will get some chia seeds.

[Hermitsandplants]

that sounds great!, however, what do you mean by "one drowned already"? was it dead in the water dish??
also sponges can be home to bacteria and stuff that might not be good for your hermit crabs, so if you are going to add the sponges I would think about replacing/ thoroughly washing every month or so.
about the water dish, if you are worried about the hermit crabs not being able to reach, you could put some crab safe rocks or aquarium pebbles as a pathway to the water( but don't mix it with the sand) or you could just use some plastic craft mesh attached to the bowl going into the sand

[Wernicke85]

I am not sure, we couldn’t find it…I think I may have removed it by accident when I was terraforming. It probably didn’t drown..

I actually figured out they are thin stripe marine crabs and we have done a complete overhaul of the tank to make it 2/3 underwater with about 4” of substrate on the bottom of the tank and a screen mesh to hold a beach. They were the most active we have seen enjoying the new deep water. After coming home they were all just chilling on the beach. Most marine setups don’t seem to have a beach at all. We figured since they like to come to shore to forage we would put some food on the surface and some in the water. It seems most people have land crabs, so it has been a challenge finding information.

[Hermitsandplants]

i wanted to adopt marine crabs a while ago, but it became too difficult to find the correct supplies. sounds like they are doing well! they do need substrate on the bottom like sand or crushed coral so they can bury themselves. I would also put some food underwater for them to scavenge for, but take it out after a day or so. Putting some driftwood or rocks in the saltwater part would also be beneficial for them. I would love to hear about how you care for them and hopefully I can adopt some of my own if I get enough information, I don't have much right now.

[Hermitsandplants]

so I found my notebook with hermit crab care pages(a few years ago I made a book with tons of hermit crab breeds and facts) and here are some things that marine crabs need
-they are usually submerged most of their time unless they are scavenging on land
-their tank water must be filtered and cycled for healthiest crabs
-if these are the only animals in the tank, a 20gal is recommended but would likely be fine in a 10gal if they are small
-these crabs are very hardy
-they can and will eat algae in the tank
-these crabs can get to about 3"
-you can feed them small fish, worms, plankton,fruits and veggies

hope this helps a bit

[curlysister]

Please seek out a source of someone who knows a lot about marine crabs, as their care is quite different than land crabs.

[Wernicke85]

Please seek out a source of someone who knows a lot about marine crabs, as their care is quite different than land crabs.

It has been hard to find the resources, but I think I have a good baseline. There are no saltwater aquarium shops in Pensacola. I will go somewhere this weekend. Hopefully, they are okay until then.

[Wernicke85]

hope this helps a bit

Yes, thank you. The diet stuff especially.

[Hermitsandplants]

Yes, thank you. The diet stuff especially.

glad it helped never thought I or someone else would actually use my "I'm bored in class and want to know everything about hermit crabs" notebook lol