HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Without EE, I think I did 1/2 gallon water per bag of sand.

The last time I had one go it smelled like mothballs. I thought the classic rotting egg was bad, but 50 gallons of mothball sand was atrocious! If you really want to be sure it's sterile, use bleach to wash the tank. If rinsed well it won't leave any residue behind. Because I am a mess with bleach, ...

Anaerobic bacteria dies off when exposed to oxygen, so it's not a huge issue when working with it. I have had several blooms in different enclosures while I figured things out, and never had much issue when retaining the clean sub and reusing it with new sub to fill the remaining space. Bacterial bl...

1. What level of humidity do hermit crabs need in their enclosure and why? At least 70%, as they are from the tropics. Excursions lower than that seem to be okay for healthy established crabs. There is no maximum but the higher the humidity the more likely mold growth is 2. Do hermit crabs change sh...

I heat the sand in my tanks, it's the only way they would have a space warm enough to molt in the middle of winter. It'll dry the area out a little faster but it doesn't cause any harm to them and it can help boost both the heat and humidity. Any bit of the UTH beneath the surface will give them a s...

I would dig down in one spot and check it. The way it's straddling the line between mostly sand and mostly EE makes me suspicious of bacterial growth. It might be staining or algae, but it doesn't seem right.

They aren't illegal to own in the US, just illegal to import new ones. Like PinchersAndShells said, they cost a fortune to purchase now. I remember when they were $15 at the pet shop! There are so few breeders now that when they do come up for sale they are hundreds of dollars each. I've been wantin...

It is fighting, which can have a few different causes. I'd go with him having just molted and is still smelling yummy. Crabs are opportunistic, and other crabs are the perfect meal if they can get it without it being a huge risk. Even with a perfect diet and perfect conditions, they are still going ...

Some crabbers have had good luck boosting temps by insulating around the heaters. Covering any sides you aren't using for viewing with cutouts for the UTH, and covering over the top well since heat rises, will help to retain a lot of warmth.

No, Zoomeds cannot safely be insulated over. Insulating would part of the 'encapsulating heat' that they warm about.

You can find the instruction sheet PDF on their product page. https://zoomed.com/reptitherm-under-tank-heater-u-t-h/

Condensation is based heavily on the difference between the room temp and the tank temp. It's a dew point, and it's where the RH reaches 100%. That's generally the point where you could potentially end up with explosive mold growth, and flooding and/or oversaturated substrate. Being watchful of how ...

Thank you. I really couldn't find any pics of them online. No real reason though. I can assume mine are pp's right? Definitely assume they are PPs. Indos have always been an exceptionally rare find in the US. Even if you were to stumble onto a surprise exotic someday, it is much much more likely to...

I agree he needs to be reshelled as soon as possible. Choose something lightweight that is similar in size to what he was wearing. It's dangerous to the crab to handle them after molting, but if they aren't able to harden up in a shell they often won't survive, so you don't really have a choice. Onc...

Hermiesguardian wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:24 am

How can you tell the difference between an indo and a pp? To me, these look like pp's.

They have rounded eyes, and their big claw is substantially larger than a PPs. Their color and markings can be very similar though.

A bittersweet congrats!