# Anyone here have hermit crabs?



## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

*Anyone here have hermit crabs? [Image heavy]*

I have 8 hermit crabs. 5 Ecuadorian hermit crabs and 3 purple pincher hermies. 

Blu, my largest PP, I've had for 2 years now. She is the most gentle crab of the bunch. She shares a 10 gallon tank with Theo and Skip, PPs, Scuttles, and Spudnut, whom are Ecuadorians. Dwelling in my 5.5 gallon tank are Athena, Roxanne and Squirt, the other three Ecuadorian hermies.

I've also had Theo and Skip for 2 years, with Scuttles and Spudnut approaching a year and a half. The other three I've had for about a year now. (I can't remember exactly without looking back :lol

Just some info about the tanks...
The 10 gal has about 6 inches of Aragonite (sugar sized) sand, with several terra cotta pots, plastic ivy, fresh water bowl and ocean salt water bowl and food dishes, as well as loads of shells. 
The 5.5 gal tank has 4 inches of sand and the same decorations mostly as the 10 gal.
Both tanks are kept at 78% humidity, have a UTH (under the tank heater) that keeps one side about 81-82* and the other side stays around 70*.

My goal is to get a minimum of a 20 gal long tank to move them all too. My current conditions work for them now, but they are growing quickly! hehe.

Now onto some pictures!

Blue









Scuttles










Skip










Spudnut










Theo










Athena (left ) Roxanne (right)--(I need to look at Roxanne again...I think she's actually a he, but I can't remember)









I'll edit in a picture of Squirt later. She just surfaced from a molt recently.


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## Badjer (Oct 25, 2011)

Hermit crabs were my first non-fish pet when I was little. I love the critters...last year when I was in the Bahamas, my little brother and I would go out each morning and catch as many wild hermit crabs as we could. One day we caught over 200 of them! I wouldn't mind owning another one sometime soon...I do have an empty kritter keeper. Nothing compared to your awesome sounding set ups but enough room for a crabby little friend! :-D

Also, how exactly do you tell a hermit crabs gender? Didn't even know that was possible!


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

We had one, but sadly it was already pretty sick when we got it, so he didn't make it too long despite finally being in proper care.  For a while it looked like he was going to make it, but alas, just didn't happen. 


I'd love to have a huge glass furniture piece/aquarium dedicated to a large colony of hermit crabs someday.  











He/she was rather pretty, and I still miss the cool little guy. It was actually Nathan's sister's.


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

Badjer said:


> Hermit crabs were my first non-fish pet when I was little. I love the critters...last year when I was in the Bahamas, my little brother and I would go out each morning and catch as many wild hermit crabs as we could. One day we caught over 200 of them! I wouldn't mind owning another one sometime soon...I do have an empty kritter keeper. Nothing compared to your awesome sounding set ups but enough room for a crabby little friend! :-D
> 
> Also, how exactly do you tell a hermit crabs gender? Didn't even know that was possible!


Well...here's some pics of their underbellies. Also, they do require 78% humidity; a warm and cool side of substrate, room to crawl around, and fresh and ocean salt water. So if you get one, please make sure you can provide these conditions for him at the least. 

Female underbelly. Females have gonopores.








Male underbelly. Males don't.









photos from thecrabstreetjournal

here's the topic. FAQs - Hermit Crab General topics - How can I tell if my hermit crab is a boy or a girl? : The Crab Street Journal


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## animallover (Dec 10, 2011)

We had started with two Ecuadorians, one died, got two more. The rest died last year which was sad because we only had them a year. They kept dying after their molts-the last one wouldn't pick a shell,many different styles/sizes to choose from. I had the moist soil,sand,hideaways,plants,climbers, foods and misted the tank usually 2x a day. But still did something wrong,I still think it had to do with the humidity. All you crabs are cute!


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

animallover said:


> We had started with two Ecuadorians, one died, got two more. The rest died last year which was sad because we only had them a year. They kept dying after their molts-the last one wouldn't pick a shell,many different styles/sizes to choose from. I had the moist soil,sand,hideaways,plants,climbers, foods and misted the tank usually 2x a day. But still did something wrong,I still think it had to do with the humidity. All you crabs are cute!



E's need at least twice the amount of ocean salt water that purple pinchers need. Misting twice a day isn' t usually enough to keep the humidity at a constant 78%...so that was probably a big part of your problem. 

What were you feeding them? If it was hermit crab food from the store, it's actually fatal to crabs in the long run. Using pine or cedar logs in their tanks can also affect them as well. It's an irritant to them.

Not being accusing or anything, so don't get me wrong. Just trying to help you troubleshoot what your problem with keeping them alive was.  PM me if you have any questions!


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## animallover (Dec 10, 2011)

Tappy4me,
I forgot to add that I also kept a wet towel over their tank as well.I had a Humidity gauge, and think it was close to that..of course, the tank was previously used and perhaps I should of bought a new one. Hmm. I also was looking into those reptile misters for inside the tank but never got one because I kept having problems with those other little bugs..forgot what they were.. and ants.I did give them that salt water in another bowl as well, dechlorinated of course. I changed their tank and never left the fresh fruit/overnight except once-never did that again ( put in another plate).I did not have pine or ceder logs,I had a driftwood from the petstore in the reptile section,fake plants,a basket with holes to climb up. I know your not accusing,I would love to know what I did wrong! Yes, they did also have all the flavors of the Hermit food,didn't think they were bad  Thank you so much, for your input! I feel so bad about those little guys and gals!


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## WiggleSwim (Dec 31, 2011)

I have been recently thinking about getting a hermit crab, but have been taking time to read up on what they need. Also, I spent so much money on Charlie recently that IDK if I even have money for a hermie right now. They do seem interesting. Any tips from a current hermit crab owner?


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

animallover said:


> Tappy4me,
> I forgot to add that I also kept a wet towel over their tank as well.I had a Humidity gauge, and think it was close to that..of course, the tank was previously used and perhaps I should of bought a new one. Hmm. I also was looking into those reptile misters for inside the tank but never got one because I kept having problems with those other little bugs..forgot what they were.. and ants.I did give them that salt water in another bowl as well, dechlorinated of course. I changed their tank and never left the fresh fruit/overnight except once-never did that again ( put in another plate).I did not have pine or ceder logs,I had a driftwood from the petstore in the reptile section,fake plants,a basket with holes to climb up. I know your not accusing,I would love to know what I did wrong! Yes, they did also have all the flavors of the Hermit food,didn't think they were bad  Thank you so much, for your input! I feel so bad about those little guys and gals!



The Es can be hard to keep. Sometimes you end up with a hermit crab that has just had too much malnutrition before you even got it, and they just can't molt successfully. I lost the first few I had that way, and a couple others due to mistakes we all make and learn from.

Bugs definitely can sometimes be a problem, and you usually need to find the source of what is causing them to come into your tank. Did you have a covered tank? Wire lid and plexiglass or glass covering it? That's what is needed to hold in the moisture. The tank has to maintain at least 78% consistently, or the hermies gills can be damaged. For the salt water, was it ocean salt water or table salt? If table salt, that could be part of the problem. 

Also, what substrate did you use? The humidity gauges need to be calibrated once in awhile to make sure they are accurate


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

WiggleSwim said:


> I have been recently thinking about getting a hermit crab, but have been taking time to read up on what they need. Also, I spent so much money on Charlie recently that IDK if I even have money for a hermie right now. They do seem interesting. Any tips from a current hermit crab owner?


if you don't have the money right now, let me warn you. They are quite expensive to set up. I also spend about 20 bucks a month on food, as you can't feed the store bought stuff.

PM me and I can give you some info about them, and a great site that has helped me out ALOT with mine, and are a great bunch of people who have had hermies for years!


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## JLove (Jan 11, 2012)

My kid brother kept hermit crabs when he was in high school. I'll never forget the laugh one of his crabs gave me when he got out one time. I was talking with my father in the den and suddenly noticed the crab walking across the den. Now that crab had crawled quite a ways from my brother's room to the den! I couldn't believe my eyes! But I think they're cute now.


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## animallover (Dec 10, 2011)

Tappy4me said:


> The Es can be hard to keep. Sometimes you end up with a hermit crab that has just had too much malnutrition before you even got it, and they just can't molt successfully. I lost the first few I had that way, and a couple others due to mistakes we all make and learn from.
> 
> Bugs definitely can sometimes be a problem, and you usually need to find the source of what is causing them to come into your tank. Did you have a covered tank? Wire lid and plexiglass or glass covering it? That's what is needed to hold in the moisture. The tank has to maintain at least 78% consistently, or the hermies gills can be damaged. For the salt water, was it ocean salt water or table salt? If table salt, that could be part of the problem.
> 
> Also, what substrate did you use? The humidity gauges need to be calibrated once in awhile to make sure they are accurate


I had a 20gallon tank with a sliding screen lid.When I used the wet towel,I would just cover most of the screen that way. So a full glass lid? I thought they had to have some air going through? The first time we had ants it was because I left their veggies overnight.The second time we had those white looking bugs,I thought because it was too moist,and the third was ants, IDK know why on that one.The salt was specificlly for them,"Crab Salt" in their section at Petsmart.The substrate,I statred using the tiny ,over expensive colored bags for hermit crabs as well as "Jungle " something,in the reptile section- it was all soft,no points. Then I switched sand to the vitasand in the reptile section.


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

animallover said:


> I had a 20gallon tank with a sliding screen lid.When I used the wet towel,I would just cover most of the screen that way. So a full glass lid? I thought they had to have some air going through? The first time we had ants it was because I left their veggies overnight.The second time we had those white looking bugs,I thought because it was too moist,and the third was ants, IDK know why on that one.The salt was specificlly for them,"Crab Salt" in their section at Petsmart.The substrate,I statred using the tiny ,over expensive colored bags for hermit crabs as well as "Jungle " something,in the reptile section- it was all soft,no points. Then I switched sand to the vitasand in the reptile section.



Yea, glass or plexiglass over top of the screen works best. You leave a crack so air flow can get in.

That was probably part of your problem. The hermit crab items at pet stores actually is no good for them. The "crab salt" has nothing in it...You have to use ocean salt, like the brand Instant Ocean, for them to get the nutrients and such they need for it. As for the substrate, the jungle brand stuff is made with cypress and such, which is bad for them. Anything in that family is an irritant to crabs and other inverts. The vita sand and hermit crab sands/reptile sands are no good. When the crabs try to molt, it can harden inside their shells and create sharp points. The best sand is actually in the fish section...it's Aragonite sand, sugar grain size.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Tappy4me said:


> if you don't have the money right now, let me warn you. They are quite expensive to set up. I also spend about 20 bucks a month on food, as you can't feed the store bought stuff.
> 
> PM me and I can give you some info about them, and a great site that has helped me out ALOT with mine, and are a great bunch of people who have had hermies for years!


Just curious.. what do you feed your crabs? I was actually thinking of doing these guys, or halloween crabs, for my 10gal. Do hermies need any special lighting? I know the halloween crabs do, which is what turned me off from them x-x


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## animallover (Dec 10, 2011)

Tappy4me said:


> Yea, glass or plexiglass over top of the screen works best. You leave a crack so air flow can get in.
> 
> That was probably part of your problem. The hermit crab items at pet stores actually is no good for them. The "crab salt" has nothing in it...You have to use ocean salt, like the brand Instant Ocean, for them to get the nutrients and such they need for it. As for the substrate, the jungle brand stuff is made with cypress and such, which is bad for them. Anything in that family is an irritant to crabs and other inverts. The vita sand and hermit crab sands/reptile sands are no good. When the crabs try to molt, it can harden inside their shells and create sharp points. The best sand is actually in the fish section...it's Aragonite sand, sugar grain size.


Oh great, I feel real bad now. When I looked at a website, it said those were OK! Yikes. Thank you for telling me! I doubt I will ever get them again, but if I did, I will use all your advice!


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

animallover said:


> Oh great, I feel real bad now. When I looked at a website, it said those were OK! Yikes. Thank you for telling me! I doubt I will ever get them again, but if I did, I will use all your advice!


Don't feel bad! You didn't know. Rarely do pet stores ever carry what they need, and there is much conflicting information about them out there...and I don't think I've ever seen a petstore that has the correct info. You had a good start with them! If you start with them again, check out hermitcrabparadise.com and read up on all their information.


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## Tappy4me (Jan 8, 2012)

Olympia said:


> Just curious.. what do you feed your crabs? I was actually thinking of doing these guys, or halloween crabs, for my 10gal. Do hermies need any special lighting? I know the halloween crabs do, which is what turned me off from them x-x


Nope, no special lighting. Just remember, no more than 3 (5 at the max) for a 10 gal. They need their space. 

I order all my food from hermitcrabaddictionstore.com, but you can feed them fresh fruits and veggies, seaweed algae, preservative free meats (like hamburger and such that you haven't added any seasoning to), and other things. Just stay away from any hermit crab pelleted/powdered foods in petstores.


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## animallover (Dec 10, 2011)

Tappy4me said:


> Don't feel bad! You didn't know. Rarely do pet stores ever carry what they need, and there is much conflicting information about them out there...and I don't think I've ever seen a petstore that has the correct info. You had a good start with them! If you start with them again, check out hermitcrabparadise.com and read up on all their information.


Thank you! I noticed when I first bought them, they were in a regular tank on the wall of petsmart with the soil,water bowls,hiding spots etc. After mine had died,They had filled the tank with some water a few inches? Now,, they are back like the first time I went! Very conflicting is right! I got some information off this site,but as I said fresh foods with the commercial. *hermit-crabs*.com Thank you!


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