Exotic Land Hermit Crab Paradise for Crabs

Dog Lips · Post by **Dog Lips** » Mon Apr 12, 2010 10:55 pm

Wow, sounds like Bob's doing everything right, good on him!
PM me pictures, us Canadians can be trusted

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 7:53 am

Crabola wrote: That is what happens in their natural environment, temps go up during the day and down at night.

In fact, as the temp drops, the RH spikes just at the time the crabs are most active.

Makes sense.

The question is though - what is the temperature differential where a given species is native to What is the optimal range and what is the tolerated range, and if tolerated, for how long? Remember, animals do not always live in the perfect environment, often they live in the best environment they can find.

Keith "it is not survival of the fittest, it is survival of the fit enough" Benson

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 8:51 am

Look at this: Weather from around the world!

http://www.1blueplanet.com/weather/

Keith

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 9:42 am

after feeding worm castings to my crabs each day when i refresh them i dump the old worm castings in my substrate and that too is ok and healthy for the crabs. Worm castings are more like soil then co co nut fiber.

Where are you getting your worm castings?

Keith

suebee · Post by **suebee** » Tue Apr 13, 2010 10:32 am

I buy them in bulk and have some for sale in my etsy site but also hermit crab patch sells them as well. Keith, great info on the weather site. I can use them in some of the research ive been doing. Thanks.. Ill be sending you a message in a min here.

kgbenson · Post by **kgbenson** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:13 am

Dog Lips wrote:So..........

Is the HCA still at war over ELHC?

Crazily enough - yes.

What I find fascinating is that when hermit crab vendor was introduced as a source of exotics, they got an almost opposite reaction.

I haven't figured that out yet - then again, it isn't worth devoting a lot of time to that particular question.

Regarding night time temp drops - it may not be the temps that make them more active - but the increase in RH . . . just a thought.

Keith

Post by **wodesorel** » Wed Apr 14, 2010 7:29 am

kgbenson wrote: Regarding night time temp drops - it may not be the temps that make them more active - but the increase in RH . . . just a thought.

I've seen mixed results from that. I've noticed a spike in activity from RH increases after I've rehydrate the moss pit in both my E and my PP tanks, while the temperature stays the same. If it changes by about 10%, the activity level shoots up.

But two weeks ago I was able to turn off the heating because the ambient air temp was warm enough to keep the tanks around 77 (instead of the 82 I normally keep them at). That also caused a spike in activity, and since the tanks were well-vented the RH barely changed 1%. The crabs spent three days trashing everything in sight, which for them is really unusual.

I'm wondering if the activity change could also have been from the barometric pressure. It would make sense that as tropical animals they would have a "built-in" detector so as to sense when severe weather was approaching. I keep meaning to track changes in pressure with their activity levels, but I just never seem to remember to do it daily.

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Sat Jun 19, 2010 9:13 pm

This thread contained a lot of good information, so it is worth moving it back into the forums so that it can be used as a resource.

This thread *used* to also contain an argument that devolved into personal attacks, resulting in the thread being locked and moved away.

We have edited out the flames and negative arguing. Certain whole paragraphs or whole posts were deleted. If you see part or all of your post missing, that is why. It's a small price to pay to let this info be reposted.

This thread will remain locked. Discussion of hermit crab research such as
- New crab species
- Substrate preferences
- Day/nigiht cycles
- Methods for caring for large populations of crabs
- Reviews of crab vendors
Are always encouraged.

Constructive debate is healthy and welcome. Just do not:
(Definitions from urbandictionary.com)

Flame
- To insult a person you are arguing with over the internet in hopes of reviving your argument.

Troll
- One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument

Heated Argument
- A discussion that occurs in which I'm right, but he/she/they haven't realized it yet, (and it makes me mad)

Or make personal accusations. If you have a personal issue with someone, discuss it with them via PMs, or report the post to a moderator. Do not air dirty laundry in public.

Bringing up the personal attacks/heated arguments from locked threads may result in the new thread being locked and/or an official warning. But you are allowed to continue to discuss relevant crab research topics.