Do your crabs like sand?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:01 pm

I have had hermies for about 7 months now and have always had half sand and half eco-earth (ee). I have never seen any of them dig/tunnel/burrow in the sand. If it wasn't for the fact that the food and water is on the sand side of the tank, I think they would avoid that side all together. Anyone else have the same experience?

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:20 pm

All of my crabs seemed to prefer the coconut fiber side of my tank when I had it split, so I switched to all Eco-Earth.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:26 pm

My PP's like the sand side, they always dig under the sand and my E's seem to like the EE side *shrug* guess different crabs have different tastes.

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:28 pm

Wow, that's strange Thoughts, because PPs are usually found inland in tropical forest area (although there are many that dwell on the beach) and Ecuadorians usually come straight from the beach. Your crabs are switched.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 4:31 pm

lol they're twisted, and actually if the E's aren't in the EE side they like to ALL hang out on the vines/on top of my huts...I do have one PP who likes the EE though but he does a little of everything ...I have a hut on both sides so its not because of places to hide and such.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 6:54 pm

I only have sand in my tat, but the hermies seem to absolutely love digging in it and generally trashing the whole tat.

Tetracolor · Post by **Tetracolor** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 7:40 pm

My crabs all love to hang out on the EE side, but that is expected since that is where all the climbing toys are and the majority of hiding spots, but when it comes to molting they all dig down in the sand.

Christa · Post by **Christa** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:04 am

When I had a similar set-up, my crabs would go over to the sand side to check out the shells or whatever over there, and then spend hours obsessively grooming each grain of sand off their bodies. Even their little noodle-like 5th pair of legs would get into the act, brushing their abdomens and picking off minute sand grains. My crabs are weirdos, I think... :roll:

Now I have the sand and FB mixed and they seem to like it well enough. Not as many bugs as FB alone and not as tedious as plain sand. You've got to understand that I used sand in my crabitats for probably longer than many of you have been alive so I'm really, REALLY sick of it! With sand there is always the worry about the consistency -- is it moist enough, did it dry out over the UTH, is going to dry out over my molting hermie, etc. etc. Gah! Sorry I have years of pent-up sand angst threatening to leak out...

hc!
Christa

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:39 am

I have found that certain species seem to prefer the sand side, while others like the forest bedding side. Straws seem to truly prefer molting in the sand, while PPs definately prefer the EE.

Sand makes for a tougher deep clean than EE. I can easily whip through the EE side, but scraping off layer by layer of the sand is tiresome. The EE side of the tank always looks clean & presentable, but the sand side is usually covered with food, feces, and tracked EE, so it always looks dirty.

If your crabs prefer the EE, then I wouldn't hesitate to make the whole tank an EE substrate.

Cynderella727 · Post by **Cynderella727** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:10 am

When I had a 50-50 sand/EE tat all of my crabs preferred the EE side so when I did a deep clean I switched to 100% EE. I only have PPs and they seem to love it. It is much lighter than sand so I worry less about tunnel collapses. It also holds humidity well. I really like it. Just my 2 cents though.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:24 am

My crabs can also be found trying to rub all the sand off their limbs. It's especially present when I buy a new crab that came from EE, dry sand, or something like gravel. They look confused.

It's funny how all our crabs seem to have their preferences. My straws both molted(well, one is still down) in the EE side of their tat. Hardly anyone touched the EE side of my 30B when they had the choice available. The few that did were Es.

My original crabs had a 10 gallon of beach sand that they had no issues using. That's the last time the smaller crabs ever got straight sand. Both my Es and PPs seem to thrive in the 50/50 EE and sand mixed, so I stick w/ that. I also like how the mix offers the structural integrity of the sand, but you can't see all the poops b/c of the EE.

irishgirl45 · Post by **irishgirl45** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:49 pm

I have half beach sand and half with F.B. my crabs love FB. I have had a pp molt in the sand just fine. I am not sure of any others though. I wanted to mix them together because it seems like the dune sand you might find where dirt meets sand.
I agree that they do seem to want to get it out of the shell and all by cleaning off with little legs in back. It is funny to watch all the rubbing...
Also the sand side has water dishes and food too in my tat. I just like being able to provide both as they might find in nature...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:41 pm

So when you guys are talking about 1/2 sand 1/2 EE you are talking about two separate areas of the tank? I actually mixed the EE and the sand together and it covers the entire tank.

Also another questions I had...now that the temp and humidity are perfect I can't see anything. The sides of the tank are all fogged up. What do you do about that?

hermiefanatic · Post by **hermiefanatic** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:56 pm

when we (or atleast me) say that we half and half, it generally mean that there is half sand and have ee, and the meet up in the middle, with no boudaries. to answer your second questions, what exactly is ur temp & humidity? have you calibrated the humidity gauge?

hermietastic · Post by **hermietastic** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 7:04 pm

I mixed mine up as well, but it goes from 70% sand, to 50% sand, to 25% sand, to 10% sand. After talking to Tammy at the crabagge patch, I liked that. I like the EE because yes-when you are scooping sand out, you take your cup, reach in 12 inches (or more) scoop it out, drop it out, repeat, etc. Ugh! So tiring! :roll:

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Do your crabs like sand?

Do your crabs like sand?

i have both in my tat also