Rescued crabbies from outside, never owned one before!

[CallaLily]

Yes, that brand comes highly recommended here. You tape down the UTH, then over it place aluminum foil, cardboard, and/or styrofoam and tape in place. 40g will be great for them.

[Alien00]

So I'm going to order this UTH pad (http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm ... uth-11-x35) my tank is 36.3"Wx18.2"Dx16.8"H SO the 35"x11" will be the best if I'm providing 6" of substrate.

The Ultratherms are great. Very good choice. Use clear packing tape and tape it onto back side of tank around the top area. You don't want it hitting the substrate too much as it'll dry it out. Over time (a couple days) the substrate will warm up and absorb the heat from the rest of the tank.

For a 40 gallon you're going to need at least 2 50lb bags of playsand. Possibly three. The minimum is 6 inches but 7-8 is good and the substrate will eventually settle a bit so if you start with 6 it'll lower to 5-5.5 inches. Remember the 5:1 ratio (sand/eco earth) - more sand is better and be sure it's not sopping wet but wet enough to hold like a sand castle. Start mixing it in the tank and add warm, dechlorinated water or even dechlorinated salt water once you start mixing. (The warm water will help start the tank off being warm so you don't have to wait several hours for it too warm up. You'll probably still need to wait a few hours but it helps a bit. And if the substrate is too wet it'll flood at the bottom of the tank. The cocofiber/eco earth helps retain humidity and is more like their natural habitat.

Get extra shells as they grow fairly quickly and they need a good selection. This lady on Etsy has some nice shells - these are some I got recently but check out her entire store - she has nice shells of various sizes for pretty good prices. https://www.etsy.com/listing/163509545/ ... urbo-shell

Good luck!

[Sweet Pea]

I commend you for jumping in and learning how to properly take care of these crabs. You certainly have been their knight in shining armor!

[kayepaye]

I ordered my ultratherm! Keeping them in the 10g for now until it comes in. I have made it a little more comfortable for them, have 2 pools, salt and fresh, lots of substrate and hidey house, I have several shells, watched one of them switch today, it was SO cool. I discovered as I was cleaning out the tank that there are actually SIX crabs, 1 large, 4 medium and 1 tiny guy. I hope a 40g is still okay for 6 of them, if not I am going to look at getting a 55G after Christmas.
They seem pretty happy.

The humidity is holding at about 65-70.. I know that is too low but I can't find any way to get it higher. It was at 15-20 when I got them. I have done everything I can to get it higher... plastic wrap.and a moss pit has helped, but the heat lamp is sucking all the humidity out

[CallaLily]

Have you calibrated your hygrometer? viewtopic.php?t=98858. They are often off on their readings.

[indyred99]

The lamps will do that. Mine is between 75-80% and I mist quite a bit. Just haven't had the funds to get a fogger yet.





The climbing pad you bought is good I use that. The white one on there has been there most of the day. The other one in the middle is always climbing around on it as well. The tape that it came with is garbage so I just have it sitting in there and had no problems.

Thank you for saving them. Glad you are researching how to care for them. I don't have a lot of experience with them so I'll leave other people to give you more advice.

Sent from my Galaxy S5

[kayepaye]

I just wanted to say how much I truly appreciate the advice I have received on here.
This is probably the friendliest, most welcoming, supportive forum I have ever been a part of!

My babies are still in their 10 gallon until my ultratherm comes in, but overall seem MUCH happier than they were when I first got them. They are constantly out and about, instead of just hiding like they were before. They love soaking in their pools, and climbing on the shell pile I have. They are really cool animals, I can't believe I haven't really thought about them as pets until now!

I have a couple more questions;
I worry that my teeny tiny guy is going to get bullied by the bigger ones. He is about 5x smaller than the rest of them (about the size of a quarter), the rest are BIG.
Should I move him into his own tank and get another similar sized crab? Or will he be okay with the bigger ones?

Another question I have is how to keep the pools clean! They are full of poop and sand within hours of me cleaning them out, these guys are pigs!

My last question is about sexing. How do you find out if they are boys or girls?

Thanks again everyone!

[Alien00]

The ultratherm should be enough heat to keep the warmth up. I have one that covers entire back top of tank and have to use a light dimmer to lower the wattage or it gets too hot.

Once you mix the sand/eco you shouldn't have too many problems with humidity. We have a plexiglass hinged lid and just drilled some holes in the plastic slidy part so they get some air.

You can also cover the tank up with a blanket to help keep some heat in. Especially in the winter.

We just added a small guy to our tank. One big one pinned him to the wall and they had a little antennae fight that lasted a few minutes but they've been fine after that. Hermit crabs are generally friendly to each other.

[moonbeam]

I just wanted to say how much I truly appreciate the advice I have received on here.
This is probably the friendliest, most welcoming, supportive forum I have ever been a part of!

My babies are still in their 10 gallon until my ultratherm comes in, but overall seem MUCH happier than they were when I first got them. They are constantly out and about, instead of just hiding like they were before. They love soaking in their pools, and climbing on the shell pile I have. They are really cool animals, I can't believe I haven't really thought about them as pets until now!

I have a couple more questions;
I worry that my teeny tiny guy is going to get bullied by the bigger ones. He is about 5x smaller than the rest of them (about the size of a quarter), the rest are BIG.
Should I move him into his own tank and get another similar sized crab? Or will he be okay with the bigger ones?

Another question I have is how to keep the pools clean! They are full of poop and sand within hours of me cleaning them out, these guys are pigs!

My last question is about sexing. How do you find out if they are boys or girls?

Thanks again everyone!

You're right! This is easily the friendliest forum I've found online, WONDERFUL people here

Your tiny guy should be ok. I'd get them into the 40g ASAP once your UTH arrives just because 6 crabs is overcrowding for a 10 gallon and can cause problems. It is normal for crabs to display dominance. In the wild they have a hierarchy and they often push and walk over each other to assert their place in the line up. They also do this in our tanks as long as no one is pinching or injuring another no need to interfere. Funny thing is, a lot of "fights" happen between crabs of the same size. My big guy NEVER pays attention to my smaller crabs. He walks over them occasionally but that's it. He even shares a food dish with the small ones. There's a link floating around here that does such a better job of explaining it. If I can find it I'll link it for you.

Water dishes... More frequent water changes? Or deeper bowls? My crabs seem to rarely use their bowls so I don't have this issue. When I was changing out the water bowls last night I actually got really excited (like call your husband at work immediately kind of excited) because I found poop floating around in them.

And sexing the crabs. I'm pretty sure there's a thread on that too that I'll link for you.


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ETA: gendering crabs viewtopic.php?t=92519#p852615
Ok so it's a thread with the link (couldn't figure out how to just link it lol) but it does a great job of explaining everything. viewtopic.php?t=101486#p930091

Just wanted to add, I'm so glad the crabs ended up with you! You're simply awesome for taking them in

[kayepaye]

Since I've got bigger pools(ceramic cat food dishes) in the water hasn't gotten as gross, but I've been changing it daily.
I ripped the plastic backs off 2 picture frames to use as ramps in the pools, since the little guy almost drown himself the other day.

The humidity has been holding steady at 65%. it's still low, but I'm spraying in 3x per day and I picked up a humidifier to try as well.

The ultratherm should be here this week, provided shipping doesn't take longer!
I've got the 40G all set up for them, just waiting for the ultratherm to get here.
I got a plexiglass top for the 40G and drilled some holes in for ventilation.

After I spent over $100 on the 40G, I found a 55G for $35 on kijiji, so I might end up buying that one too haha, and keep the 40G as a spare.

They are SUPER cute, I am in love with them

[moonshermies]

I haven't had a lot of time to be on here,but I've been following this awesome post!!i also would like to commend you for the rescue!! &your interest/love for the hermit crabs you now own..welcome to hca..for the humidity issue you can also get some moss.that will help boost the humidity(if you don't find the humidifier of your choice).


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[kayepaye]

I bought everything for a moss pit! I just dont' have any room in their 10G for it, but I'll probably just throw a bit in there anyway for them,

[aldebaron0626]

I suspended my moss pit. I purchased suction cups with hooks from the dollar store and hung the rim of the Tupperware like container on them. To make it stick I cleaned the glass, dipped the suction cup in fresh water, shook off excess and pressed onto glass. I waited a couple of days for it to "dry" before putting weight on hooks. (By dry I mean it stopped slipping when I applied pressure. Now they are rock solid.)

[kayepaye]

I suspended my moss pit. I purchased suction cups with hooks from the dollar store and hung the rim of the Tupperware like container on them. To make it stick I cleaned the glass, dipped the suction cup in fresh water, shook off excess and pressed onto glass. I waited a couple of days for it to "dry" before putting weight on hooks. (By dry I mean it stopped slipping when I applied pressure. Now they are rock solid.)

I will have to give that a try!
I never even thought of doing that!!!

[Crabinski]

I will have to give that a try!
I never even thought of doing that!!!

Suction cup-mounted plastic soap dishes and shower caddies also make great moss pits and shell shops, giving you a second level and opening up floor space. That's what I have in my 10g, with a small "fake" cholla branch propped up to give the crabs access to both the shell shop (soap dish) and moss pit (shower caddy). Only two of my guys are up right now but one or the other is always in the moss pit !