Hermie Crab Adventures

ASK ME Follow me on Instagram: happyhermitcare Hello! My name is Emily. I am 21 years old and live in Alabama. I am a full time student. I currently have 8 PP hermit crabs housed in a 55 gallon tank. I like to blog about my crabs as well as reblog others' crabs and various other animal topics. I have several guides available which links can be found at the top of page, however if you need help feel free to fill up my ask box!

[happyhermitcare]

Can I have some links to basic care for a beginner? thanks!!!

Sure!

I have a link to a guide a made here: http://happyhermitcare.tumblr.com/basichermitcareguide

And a shopping list here: http://happyhermitcare.tumblr.com/shoppinglist

I also recommend the HCA for beginners.  http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/index.php?sid=2526be5ba874c8440abdb7ab2310825d

Its a nice, helpful community with very knowledgeable members.

[happyhermitcare]

How would you give them the food, though? I'm sorry if I'm asking a lot of questions I plan on getting one soon and I want to be prepared.

You can just put the food in a dish. Fresh food should be changed daily and dry food every 1-2 days. Here is a list of hermit crab safe food. I would avoid most food in the petstore marked for hermit crabs.

[happyhermitcare]

Hey, do you think it'd be okay for a hermit or two to live in a 10 gallon tank? (With all the proper and required things that they will need) and then maybe upgrade it to a 20 gallon when they get bigger? What do you suggest for a first timer?

You shouldn't keep only one hermit crab, as they are social creatures, so two minimum. A 10 gallon for 2 small hermit crabs would most likely be okay for a couple of months. I would really suggest suggest to start out with 20 or 29 gallon as this gives you way more room and will last longer as they grow.

[happyhermitcare]

Asking this here because I know a lot of hermit crab ppl follow this blog! Would anyone be interested in a supply giveaway? :o (dishes / bag of assorted sticks from petco ?) sorry to bug u!

God knows I have WAY too many hermit supplies, but I'll reblog this for my followers to see. I'm sure many would love a give away as I've gotten some asks expressing concerns about financial limitations on providing for their hermits and they would love a chance to win some freebies.   

And of course you did not bug me! :)

[happyhermitcare]

Grubbin’

[happyhermitcare]

Does he need a tankmate too? He seems to love being played with or being let explore around my table or bed so I thought he might not really require another hermit crab. Thanks! (Part 2)

Hello! First I'm going to set you up with set you up with some links. I have a shopping list here  and a basic guide here. I also have a more indepth guide here, but I would recommend you mastering the first guide before moving to the more in depth guide as hermit crabs can have a bit of a learning curve and it is easy to get discouraged and hard to take in all the information. 

A 29g tank is a GREAT size to start out. You mentioned 6 inches of coco bedding, but what you really need is 6 inches of a 5:1 ratio(1 50lb bag to 1/2 brick of eco earth) of playground sand to eco earth/coco bedding. Unbleached playground sand can be found in hardware stores in 50lb bags and is very cheap (~$5). Using all coco bedding increases the acidity to unsafe levels, it decomposes and will have to replaced while the 5:1 ratio will not. I've heard of several molting issues with an all eco earth substrate occurring as well. With the pools, make sure they are deep enough for the crab to fully submerge.

You also need to make sure the heat is between 80-85 F and humidity is atleast at 80% (over is okay for the crab, but may present molding issues).  These are important because the crab is cold blooded and has modified gills and needs a certain moisture level in the air to breathe properly.

He defiantly needs a friend. Hermit crabs need social interaction with other hermit crabs and can die from lack of social interaction. For a 29 gallon you could fit 3 hermit crabs comfortable for a long while.  Personally, I do not recommend handling/playing with a hermit crab. Some crabbers do, but most of the long time crabbers generally regard against it. All hermit crabs are wild caught (they are extremely difficult and costly to breed in captivity) and view us as possible predators. Plus they cannot breathe properly when they are taken from their crabitat. Many believe handling is stressful to hermit crabs and hermit crabs are very sensitive to stress. If you choice to handle your crab I would suggest to at least wait till your crab molts with you. Many 'new' crabs can develop pps (post purchase syndrome) and need to be left alone for a while to recover. 

If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I'd also like to plug in a link to the hermit crab association. This is a website filled with crabbers who can help you and they have many forum guides available for stuff like safe foods, shells, etc. It is a plethora of information . 

Thank you for trying to improve the quality of care for your hermit crab!

[happyhermitcare]

Hey, I know that to get hermit crab shells, stores like Petsmart and PetCo take them from beaches, and contributes to shell loss for wild animals. So where can I get man-made shells? (and preferably not the clear ones, because that doesn't really let them hide away if they wanted too).

Really, there is none. Shells are created from snails and we cannot replicate that process with the same materials. Hermit crabs are very sensitive to materials in several ways, preference, toxicity, etc. Many believe the type of material the shell is made of allows it to 'breathe' so to speak so the glass blown/man made kinds aren't preferable to the hermit crabs. Rarely will a hermit crab change to a glass shell and even then he most likely will not stay very long. 

If you want to be more ethical about buying shells, you can not buy shells form Petsmart and Petco. Most of the types of pet stores provide substandard conditions for animals so the less you purchase from them the less you are supporting that- plus they mark them up astronomically. 

I would try buying them from walmart, dollar general, craft stores such as Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.  People often buy these types of shells for crafting/decor reasons, so regardless of hermits there will unfortunately always be a demand for these shells. 

However, if you want to obtain shells without contributing more, I would suggest to buy them second hand from thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales, other crabbers,  that way you are creating less demand from retailers. 

I've heard of several crabbers who live/visit/have a friend who is visiting/ an area that has a population of hermit crabs that will give their un used shells 'back' to the hermit crabs. 

[happyhermitcare]

Hi. Recently I was surprised with 3 new hermit crabs for Christmas and noticed they had little white mites crawling around on them. One of the crabs dropped a leg on the 26th so I'm worried he will die. Is quarantining all 3 and drawing out the bathing process for 3 days my only option? Can I bathe them several times throughout a day to kill any mites/eggs on them? Or can the eggs survive the saltwater? I want to get them into my main tank asap before one of them croaks. :/

Hello. First thing I would do is make sure they are 'bad' mites. Some mites, such as food mites, may crawl on hermit crabs, but are harmless.

The bathing process will most likely last longer than 3 days. For bathing you are suppose to bathe as long as you see mites. When you stop seeing mites- still bathe for an additional three days for the eggs.

Some people argue whether to bathe multiple times or only once. The more you bathe, the more mites that will come off, but it is stressful to the crab. Considering  one of your crabs has already dropped a limp, a sign of post purchase syndrome, I would just try to bathe only once a day.

Eggs/mites seem to be able to survive for the saltwater, but dislike it which is why the come off of the crab.

There is another option to do- purchase predatory mites. The outcome of these seem to be fickle and they can be expensive, so keep that in mind.

I would suggest reading this hca mites guide. It has tons of good information with pictures to help you and further explains the things I've outlined here.

Best of luck with your new hermit crabs!

[happyhermitcare]

My crabs seemingly refuse to eat anything fresh and healthy. When I give them veggies and fruits, they just sit there until they're soggy, OR my biggest guy will get it out of their food dish and hide it. They devour things like crackers and popcorn, but I know this isn't a diet they can live on. What should I do about this? It's been going on for months now.

Sometimes it seems they don't eat. You didn't specify how many hermit crabs you have which can make a big difference. I have 8 and when most of them are up I defiantly notice the devoured food dish, but when many are molting and only 2-3 are up its hard for me to notice a change in the food level.  

Hermit crabs crave variety. Since you haven't figured out what they really like yet I would include 6-8 food items per feeding and try to note which they like. Hermit crabs can be picky if they get the same food over and over.

Also, I'm not sure in what context you are using 'fresh' (as in either a fresh fruit/vegetable like you get in the store, or if you are just replacing their foods with new foods often). Hermit crabs need a diet of fresh and DRIED foods.In fact, most hermit crabs seem to favor the dried foods which could be contributing to the issue if you are feeding solely fresh. In nature, hermit crabs are scavengers and optimized to eat low grade food including stuff like rotting/dried fruit/veg. Sometimes hermit crabs may not even seem that interested in foods until they've began to get soggy/grow slight mold. The fact that one is hiding probably means he was interested in eating it, just not at that moment.  Do you remove the hidden food? They could be eating on that instead of their dish. Another note, personally my crabs seem to enjoy powdered food items over anything. Might be just my crabs though. If you don't have dried foods and want info on how to obtain them, please send me another ask. 

Another thing to consider is they could be eating from other sources in the tank that we sometimes forget about. I know many crabbers will sprinkle worm castings and cuttlebone/ crushed oyster shell on top of the substrate which is a possible food source. Another is any kind of tree branch, like chola wood or stuff like lava rocks crabs love to snack on. They could eat the moss.They will even eat other sea shells. 

Here are some foods my hermit crabs seem to enjoy to give you some ideas of what you can try to give:

-fresh banana

- local honey

-walnuts

- dried or boiled egg

- dried flowers

- kelp seeds

-spirilium powder

- dried squash

-dried coconut

- This complete diet mix from Thehappyhermitsupply on etsy 

This is kind of a wide ranging topic and I tried to brush over the most likely possibilities. If you need to know more about anything else specific please send me another ask and I'll go further in depth!

[happyhermitcare]

P2/2 I haven't seen him bathe or eat heaps (I'm always up at 3am and I check constantly) and the temperature has been average 30 C. Ive only had him for 4 nights, tonight being 4th. Tigger digging is apparently either a destress or molt, do you know which one it could be, and if molt when I should isolate him? I don't want to isolate him if he's just getting used to things. But I don't want him to molt when I thought it was nothing and get attacked.

I know its concerning when they don't seem to eat/drink. I have a crab I was convinced that had Post purchase syndrome and I was sure he was gonna die cause I NEVER saw him out and I'm like you- I'm up at weird hours like 3am. I got him 6 months ago and he is still alive and still hides like that, but I've been able to 'catch' him out and about a few times. He simply doesn't come out if there is activity going on near the crab tank.

There really is no way to tell for sure if he is just digging to molt or to destress as both as likely at this point. My guess is just destressing, but some crabs do go to molt that quickly.Normally you do not need to isolate a crab during a molt unless something went wrong or if your other crab has a history of attacking molters. If it its that situation then I would defiantly consider either doing an ISO.

[modifiedmermaid-xo-deactivated2]

First time seeing Athena on the vine.

[happyhermitcare]

She was buried until the other one dug her up. If she does pass would you recommend cleaning out cage? Replacing the sand and such?

Ah,  I see. It is still atypically behavior. Hermit crabs can be cannibalistic, but normally due to bad conditions. Most cannibalistic attacks are brought on by lack of animal protein which since you just got your crabs its very likely their previous diet was lacking in that area which might have provoked the attack.  I would take special note to include animal proteins in their food bowl- stuff like dried shrimp, dried krill, meal worms, blood worms, cooked or raw unseasoned meats, etc.

Another reason could be to lack of space. I don't know what size tank  and what other hermit crabs you have beside those two. The typically guidelines is 5 gallons per 1 crab that is small/medium size, but those are just guidelines and that particular crab due to its personality commands more space which is why the other crab was attacked. 

Some crabs can just be cannibalistic just because even with perfect conditions, but that is rare. Oh, and Ecuadorian hermit crabs sometimes tend to attack more than purple pinchers. I would watch the attacker crab very closely in the future and ISO him if he begins attacking/digging up another crab.

If you had ants, I would defiantly clean and replace the sand for that fact, but I wouldn't do that just because the crab died.

[happyhermitcare]

So both of my two new hermies are down molting (probably, I mean they're both underground and they're going from shitty to good conditions), but I discovered that the one is literally under the food dish, like if I pick the food dish up, they're exposed. I have one still up so I need to change the food, but I'm worried that picking the dish up every other day will disturb the one under it. I also worry that in the short time it takes me to change the food, Wic will get at the molter.

I would quickly dump any old food out of the dish and replace it ontop of the molters and I would just add in another food dish elsewhere in the tank so you can change your food out without bothering the molters. If you don't have another food dish you can use practically anything- bottle caps, tiny bowls you can find at the dollar store, even petsmart little food dishes cost like $1 (sometimes even less if on sale), so its always a good idea to get a few of those 

[happyhermitcare]

My hermie got into my moulting hermie today and I separated them since (didn't know they had to be separated, I've had them for 2 weeks). She fell out of her shell when I found her being attacked but I saw a leg wiggle later. Then I found ants getting into her. So I sprinkled water around her and that got rid of them. Will she be okay? I've slid her gently into a large shell for privacy in the mean time. Worried because she hasn't seemed to move since.

Is she surface molting or did she dig underneath the sand to molt? From the way you worded it, it sounds like she was surface molting so that is how I'm going to address the situation.If she wasn't ignore the parts about surface molting. Surface molting is not normal and most likely due to inadequate environmental conditions. Normally a crab digs down to molt and during a normal molt, the molting crab does not need to be separated, but during a surface molt the molting crab defiantly needs to be separated in an ISO tank. 

I don't know your tank conditions, so I'm going to review that. Heat should be 80F, humidity 80%, and substrate should be around 6 inches deep and should consist of a 5:1 ratio of playground sand (no calci-sand, or colored sand!!) to eco earth moistened to sand castle consistency. If these conditions are off, please correct these immediately as they can contribute to instances of surface molting If your conditions are spot on, then the surface molt could be triggered my pps (post purchase syndrome).

My honest opinion is it doesn't sound good for her. Since you just got her she is probably stressed out due to the environment change, plus molting is stressful- especially surface molting (which some crabs can't even surface that alone), plus the stress of being attacked, losing her shell, and the ants it doesn't look good. She needs to be in an iso with proper conditions and food and water. Ants are a huge problem if they are in the crabitat. You need to relocated the crab to another iso and change the substrate and decorations. Water will not keep the ants away forever and can even attract more as they also need water to drink. Once you the tank is ant free put a ring of Vaseline on the outside around the tank and any cords (from a heat mat, or heat bulb) leading to the tank. Ants cannot cross Vaseline. Next for the molter, give her shell, food and water in her iso and place her under a dark hide (like a coconut hide or something of the sort) so she can be alone and not subject due the outside world. If she begins to smell like dead fish then she has passed as that is pretty much the only way to tell if a crab has died.

I wish you the best of luck with your crab. 

[modifiedmermaid-xo-deactivated2]

[modifiedmermaid-xo-deactivated2]

Sandy💖

[modifiedmermaid-xo-deactivated2]

Sheldon🐚