Meet Cheetah! And crab yet to be named

[Astronna]

I'm rather new to all of this, but I have a 20 gallon tank that has been holding only one crab because she was the only one to survive of the 3 bought at the mall. We just figured out this morning she was in fact a "she", but thankfully "Cheetah" is a pretty gender-neutral name

Cheetah:


It's hard to get a good picture of her because if she's not on a very particular spot under the alligator skull in the tank she's usually all over the place. Thought I haven't seen her climb that much except inside of things yet? In any case, we figured she might be lonely in that huge a tank by herself.

This afternoon, we went to Petsmart and looked at their hermit crabs. We found one that looked very healthy, very active, and after only a few seconds of being in my hand came out of his shell again and started crawling quickly all over it. He also looked to be of a similar size to Cheetah. I would provide a picture, except within 2 minutes of being in the tank he went behind the tree and started digging a tunnel. He was in a little plastic tub with holes in the top to get him home, and he didn't really stop crawling around it the entire time back. I guess he might be destressing? The substrate at the store wasn't very deep though so.... perhaps he's just taking the opportunity to molt? Any case, I'll post a better picture of him as soon as he's above ground for one.

Tank:


Cheetah peeking out from behind the alligator skull:


And new arrival (yet to be named) barely visible as he's most of the way underground:

[GotButterflies]

Cute! Did you dip him into the freshwater of your tank so he doesn't smell like an intruder?

Edit: Also, by no means am I trying to be rude, so please don't take it that way! I just want to make sure that your pools are large enough for your hermits to fully submerge in. You should have one dechlorinated freshwater, and one dechlorinated marine saltwater. Love the decor of your tank! Also, you can pick up more shells at Michaels, JoAnns, or Hobby Lobby if you have one or more of those stores local to you! They have apps for smart phones, and each of them accepts the others coupons. 40% of bags of shells is great!

[Astronna]

I didn't actually know to dip him into the freshwater, I placed him near the water and he went straight for under the tree, and then went digging. Short of making him crawl out as a new crab from the waters, I don't think I had enough time to even do that. I don't really want to dig him up to do so at this point, but he was going to get dunked the next time he came up anyway, same as Cheetah gets every so often. I suppose it'll sort itself out shortly?

Both of the crabs are quite small, and both of the pools are rather large. They can submerge, no worries. It just doesn't look that deep because I've put them in as sort of in-ground pools.

I have 9 shells around the tank for the 2 crabs and a small bag of other shells should they need it. You can see them scattered about in the pic of the tank. I got a giant bin of them from a Michael's, though most of them ended up being clam shells I've been using as food dishes and the like. Some of them have the mother of pearl stuff on them so Cheetah's been scratching it off and eating it.

I didn't know they'd all accept each other's coupons, that's cool. I might try that. I'm in an area where I can get to multiple locations of all of those stores.

I am having trouble finding ones that are the right size, though? Everything I've found is either for the super tiny (and is super fragile), or about double the size of Cheetah there. This includes hunting at various home goods stores since seaside decor is so popular right now. Thoughts?

[GotButterflies]

Next time you see him out, just gently dip him in. Definitely don't dig him up!

The bags of shells unfortunately don't always have the shells they like. Here is the shopping resources guide: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pa ... pping.html I can personally recommend Richard's Shells (Deltona Shells) - They are the only one I have used on there. I'm fortunate enough to live by the beach so I have a lot of souvenir shops to go to. Some people use Ebay also. Just check with the seller to see if the measurement is for the entire shell or the shell opening.

As far as the shells scattered around the tank, I personally recommend what we call a "shell shop". It is putting all of your shells into a centralized location - like in a basket - in a second level. This helps with a few things. Number one - Crabs have to climb to it - keeps shells cleaner! Number two - prevents crabs from burying less shells! Believe me, it happens!!

[GotButterflies]

BTW - do you have a cuttlebone in your tank? That will help keep Cheetah from munching on your shells as much. She is doing that because she needs calcium. You can just go to the pet store, buy a regular cuttlebone, and pop it into your sand so it looks like a surfboard sticking up Great calcium source!

Shell guide has been fixed with the pictures: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 24&t=92552

[Astronna]

I'll definitely look into that list for shell resources. I haven't seen them trying to bury any shells.... mostly the new little guy is trying to bury himself (herself? Haven't checked yet). I was thinking of crocheting some things from hemp for them to climb on, so I'll definitely consider the shell shop. Cheetah's not climbing too much in the tank yet, so I've been trying to keep everything she actually needs really close to the ground.

The new little guy's name is Diglett, on account of him exploring the tank from underground. He surfaces briefly just to dig under something else. I think it's kinda cute, and both Cheetah and Diglett appear to be getting along.

They're both acting like the space is too open for their comfort, so I've been looking for leafy branches and fake plants to put in there for more cover. I don't have a picture of it at the moment, but I also remembered one of my larger shells that I got from the beach over a decade ago, and put that in like a giant mushroom. It's extremely pitted and eroded so it'll be fun for them to climb up I think.

[Astronna]

As far as the cuttlebone, no I haven't gotten that yet, but I have the various shells with mother of pearl on them specifically for them to munch on, and there's calcium in the sand, so they can get calcium from nearly wherever they like. I believe the proportion is roughly 4:1 EE:calcium sand by volume, potentially more EE than that, and I didn't mix it all the way down so there's pure EE at the bottom. The shells are specifically for them because they sadly weren't packed well in the last move or two so many are just fragments anyway. I hope to get back to a beach at some point (last time was over a decade ago) and restock my shell collection.

Anyway, picture of Diglett:


and peeking at Cheetah in her favorite spot (sorry about the focus of both)

[Astronna]

Giant shell of mushroom shape added to tank (it's stuck about 4 inches in to keep it upright):


both in one rare shot:


Diglett between digs:


Cheetah under the tree:

[Jellybean!]

Aw they're adorable! I love their names too. It looks like they have a nice setup! I think the nets are a great idea - I'm always amazed by how much they love to climb!

[Astronna]

I think Diglett is molting. He dug a neat tunnel straight down through the center of the moss and hasn't been seen from the last couple of days, and was eating quite a lot before that. Hooray growth! Is there any way to encourage Cheetah to molt? She has a couple of limbs that look like they haven't healed completely from something that must have happened before I got her.

[HermitHound]

I think Diglett is molting. He dug a neat tunnel straight down through the center of the moss and hasn't been seen from the last couple of days, and was eating quite a lot before that. Hooray growth! Is there any way to encourage Cheetah to molt? She has a couple of limbs that look like they haven't healed completely from something that must have happened before I got her.

As long as you provide the correct conditions (80/80) they will eventually molt, hermit crabs are stubborn and do what they want when THEY want So there isn't much more you can do than that to entice a molt. Also I saw you say you had calcium in your sand? If you mean the sand is calcium sand I urge you to promptly switch out the substrate as soon as both hermit crabs are above ground as even though pet stores sell this as hermit crab sand, when calcium sand dries up it becomes like cement and can trap one of your little Hermies underneath.

[Astronna]

The sand is calcium sand for reptiles, I did a test off to the side and it didn't clump/harden when dried. The substrate is mostly EcoEarth though, about 4:1, and at the bottom it's pure EE (mixed it in the tank and didn't get all the way down). The sand's also something they've been eating a lot of, so it'll eventually be a lower ratio lol. I did test it though. Is there a particular amount of wetness that's supposed to set it off? I just had it normal damp for my test, I'll do more tests but I'd like to make sure I'm replicating the right conditions that are supposed to be a problem.

Is there a way anybody's devised of making larger pools of water have regular waves? And would the crabs like that? I have a rough idea in mind for a hydraulic circuit but I figure there's probably a simpler method.