Adding other animals.

Sweet Pea · Post by **Sweet Pea** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:30 am

I've kept guppies in the FW pool. It was filtered and about 3 gallons. I meant for the crabs to be able to eat the guppies. They didn't and I ended up giving guppies away every few months to thin the school.

I've also put earthworms in the tank. The crabs hunted them down and are them, which was fine with me. I don't think that earthworms do well in Ecco earth. They didn't last in the tank. The crabs ended up eating them all. Again I was all right with it. They loved them.

We raised a few tadpoles in the FW pool. They grew into frogs. One managed to live for over a year. It died when it climbed into the salt water bowl. I never found the skeleton or pieces of the other frogs. I assume the crabs ate them. We fed crickets to the frogs and the crabs caught and ate the crickets as well. As far as I could tell the frogs and crabs ignored each other. I'm sure there was some interaction, but I never saw one chase or even come close to the other. There were 20 crabs in the tank at the time, all PP.

Pill bugs worked well in my tank. Again the crabs eat them. I keep a separate tank for breeding them so I'm not expecting them to colonize the tank.

I'm saying this with my head ducked down and running for cover because there are so many people against multiple species in a tank that I expect fall out from this post. Before you throw rotten tomatoes at me you should know that my tank at the time was 225 gallons with lots of different levels for everything. (I'm working on a redo at the moment and plan on multiple species again.) There was plenty of room for the different creatures. All in all, the entire tank is managed for the hermit crabs so if it doesn't seem to be working for the crabs then it goes to another tank.

Crabbzymagnus · Post by **Crabbzymagnus** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:40 am

Ok thanks for the tips! YYWWI'll go catch some in the local parks

Crabbzymagnus · Post by **Crabbzymagnus** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:56 am

Sweet Pea wrote:I've kept guppies in the FW pool. It was filtered and about 3 gallons. I meant for the crabs to be able to eat the guppies. They didn't and I ended up giving guppies away every few months to thin the school.

I've also put earthworms in the tank. The crabs hunted them down and are them, which was fine with me. I don't think that earthworms do well in Ecco earth. They didn't last in the tank. The crabs ended up eating them all. Again I was all right with it. They loved them.

We raised a few tadpoles in the FW pool. They grew into frogs. One managed to live for over a year. It died when it climbed into the salt water bowl. I never found the skeleton or pieces of the other frogs. I assume the crabs ate them. We fed crickets to the frogs and the crabs caught and ate the crickets as well. As far as I could tell the frogs and crabs ignored each other. I'm sure there was some interaction, but I never saw one chase or even come close to the other. There were 20 crabs in the tank at the time, all PP.

Pill bugs worked well in my tank. Again the crabs eat them. I keep a separate tank for breeding them so I'm not expecting them to colonize the tank.

I'm saying this with my head ducked down and running for cover because there are so many people against multiple species in a tank that I expect fall out from this post. Before you throw rotten tomatoes at me you should know that my tank at the time was 225 gallons with lots of different levels for everything. (I'm working on a redo at the moment and plan on multiple species again.) There was plenty of room for the different creatures. All in all, the entire tank is managed for the hermit crabs so if it doesn't seem to be working for the crabs then it goes to another tank.

My Red Clawed crabs are just like your frogs,my crabs just ignore them and they don't mind sharing the freshwater bowls,they also occasionally take a dip in the saltwater bowl.Are you still keeping the frogs with your crabs?

CallaLily · Post by **CallaLily** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 9:15 am

Sweet Pea wrote:
I'm saying this with my head ducked down and running for cover because there are so many people against multiple species in a tank that I expect fall out from this post.

No need for that.

There are many who won't agree and may offer you advice but it won't become nasty. I do urge you to research, research, research any animal you consider taking into your care. Just like hermit crabs, many are thought of as "easy" or "disposable" but are anything but.

Post by **wodesorel** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:05 am

Sweet Pea wrote:We raised a few tadpoles in the FW pool. They grew into frogs. One managed to live for over a year.

This is the only one that bothered me, since depending on the species they should be living between 5 and 15 years in captivity. I have a wonderful pet frog who has been with me for two years and I hope is with me for 8 more.

I usually don't have a problem with using living things as a food source (my guppies are there for my fiddlers after all...) but I have trouble when the feed animal isn't being given proper conditions. My guppies have a 29 gallon which is the proper sized aquarium for them if they weren't being kept food. It's one thing if they're being fed off quickly, but if they are there to live (or have managed to live) then I personally feel we should be doing everything we can do make their lives as good as possible as are no different than any other pet type animal.

That's why I'm generally against mixing species, because it is so hard to put a large enough aquarium for fish or other crabs in a hermit tank and keep it cycled and clean, or because of the presence of salt in the environment which is dangerous for reptiles or amphibians. It's not that it's outright dangerous to the crabs or the other animal, but it's because hermits are so wacky with their care needs - marine but not marine, land but not entirely. And of course anything going into a crab tank will potentially become a meal if the crabs can catch it, so anyone who has their heart set on the other critter being a pet should never ever mix them.

Crabbzymagnus · Post by **Crabbzymagnus** » Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:16 pm

Is it ok for my red clawed crabs to live with my hermits?They can live for at most 1.5-2 years.I'v had them for a month,they don't bother my hermits,they share the fruits and veggies with my hermits and hide in the moss pit with my hermits.(I only own 3 red clawed crabs)

HCA: Hermit Crab Association