HCA: Hermit Crab Association

If you have proper substrate, you never need to clean it all unless you have an emergency like a flood or bacterial bloom. I have had my crabs for over 9 years and have never replaced all their substrate, only added more as they grew and I upgraded tanks. Don't dig them up. Just surface clean any bi...

Here's the link to the care sheet about size of tank/ size of crab/ how many:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 26&t=92541

I am going to send you a private message, inquiring about a few things.

My big crab seems to prefer lighter shells, which the pearl turbos are. What other type of shell is light but more sturdy?

I decided when I first started and found the HCA, that I would only get my info from this group. I have literally never gone on any other site, and the only Facebook page I belong to re- crab care is the HCA page. This way, there is no conflicting advice, LOL! Do I follow every single detail right d...

Welcome to crabbing! Moe has given you great advice. Three small crabs in a 10 gallon will only be okay for a while - as they grow, a ten gallon will be too small quickly. Maybe only start with two in a ten gallon. That way, you won't need to upgrade your tank for longer. You could also check places...

Can you insulate? Depending on the type of UTH - some can be insulated over top and some can not. The ones you can't insulate over top of, you can insulate around them.

All you can do at this point is wait and see. You should not go digging for him. He could be molting, or he could be destressing, after having already been dug up once.

A heat lamp and a partially open lid will zap your humidity. A room humidifier won't hurt, but probably won't be able to bring the humidity up to proper levels consistently. Can you get a UTH to mount on the side or back, instead of the heat lamp?

Cover the screen with plastic wrap (ie- Saran Wrap). That will hold the humidity in the tank. If your sub is moistened to sand castle consistency, then that along with the plastic wrap may be all you need to do. My first two tanks did not have lids (10 and 20 gallons), only plastic wrap over the top...

Increasing the humidity in the room won't do a lot for the humidity in the tank, IMO.
What do you have as a lid/ cover?
What and how deep is your sub?

Crabs do not just 'drop their shells' and leave them. However, they do move shells around a lot. So he could have moved the new shell before getting in it, then left his old one far from where the 'shell shop' is, and buried himself. That's one possibility, but unfortunately there are others too. If...

The crab from this thread died.

A Brita doesn't necessarily remove all the necessary things that should be removed, so the general consensus is no, that's not enough. Bottled water is not all the same. If it is RO (reverse osmosis) or distilled, some people feel that is okay (personally, I use RO water). But 'spring' water or any ...

I hope one of the admins can weigh in!