Strawberries!! Need info!

[mool]

One of my local pet stores has a ton of strawberry hermit crabs and a couple of Blueberries.

I just happened to have transitioned my two XL PP's from a 20L to a 55 this weekend. Now I have an empty 20L that needs to be filled.

What would I need to do to prep it for a few Straws? How many should I get?

Is $16.00 a good price?

Thanks!

[uphoto]

$16 is a fantastic price!
We picked up our strawberries for between 25 - 40 each


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[mool]

Glad to know the price is good. I didn't actually see any Blueberries, but was told they were there. All of the Straws I saw looked good and were cruising around the tank as were some PP's. I picked a couple of them up to see them closely.

The tank was very interesting. It was open topped, high backed angled down to a lower front. It had a light overhead. There was lots of natural decor and a little self contained river with a waterfall. The sub was only 2-3". The set up was somewhere between a commercial tank and a home tank.

[AutumnHermie]

Straws are very hard to keep, and I would not keep them in anything less than a 55g. They also need deep sub, IMHO no less than 12.

Here is their caresheet: viewtopic.php?f=51&t=92450


A 20 long would be too small for straws, however a 55 could hold around 3 or 4 straws, depending on size


Off topic: Blue's are very hard to find in the U.S. A few years ago I found some near the Canadian border, but have not seen them since. The "blue's" at your store are most likely viola's or ruggie's.

[landlubber]

I have four straws in a 70 with 10 other crabs. They do fine in there. A couple of things I do a little differently than the care sheet, just because I've had straws as long as I've been crabbing and started with them before that care sheet was made so I just kept doing what was already working for us. As a matter of fact after my first crabs died I sent my ex hubby to go and get the remaining one a friend and he unknowingly came back with a straw. I also didn't know it was a different species. That straw had a surface molt-my first molt experience and that is when I started to get help on how to care for these guys and what they heck they were doing. Several years later when I was moving I had to dismantle the tank and dig up molters and she was on the bottom-I put her in an ISO deli cup and turned back after a few moments and she had surface molted again, but my first reaction (should know better by then too) is she's dead, I killed her! So I started crying (I totally cried over Rose, she was my favorite). But then I notice no abdomen and did a happy dance! Rose lived with me for 7 years and was going strong before that shell rot epidemic got her. She was a real survivor, that one.

I agree 100% on the salt water issue, deep pools good quality salt water mixed correctly. Higher temps and humidity for sure. I have day/night temperature cycles myself, don't have a UVB light (although I'm sure they'd like it if I did), and deep substrate is something I'd recommend for any crab. In my experience PPS is much tougher on them. If they make it past that period and conditions are good they do all right. I might put a couple of smaller strawberries in a 20.

[mool]

My 55 only has the two XL PP's. I could get the Straws and put them into the 20 as an ISO. If they make it past quarantine, I can add them to the 55.

I didn't see the alleged Blueberry, so I can't really comment on that. Straws aren't all that rare around here (Texas). I've seen them several times in mall kiosks. These seem a bit more robust than the typical mall variety. All of the crabs in the mall kiosks seem 90% dead.