HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My isopods love living in the cholla wood I have with the crabs.

Rocks are fine unless you're constantly moving them around to squish them.

If you bleach you can actually soak it in tap water afterwards and use a dechlorinator to make sure the bleach is fully removed. Common trick for cleaning plastic stuff quickly from habitats.

Could be preparation to molt. Sometimes they become a little lethargic before a molt. Here are the signs to check for: https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 23&t=92522

When you lift him up, is he loose in his shell? Is there a bad fishy smell? The mites will eat the crab if the crab is dead.

Try drying the meter out, if it drops it's probably fine, if it's stuck at a 100 you need a new one.

Did you try Craigslist for hermit crabs? More and more will start to appear as people regret their spontaneous beach purchases.

Maybe leave it with a couple small holes, but it should be fine.

She may not even be up to eat or drink while you're away. But you can toss some food in to be safe (nothing that rots quickly) and top the water off, she should be fine for a week. You may find nothing is even touched. I would recommend a larger tank and a friend down the line, but that's up to your...

How big is the tank? It may not be wise to move if it's not an emergency situation because moving the tank can shift the substrate and bring it down on them. If there is no problem with keeping the tank til Jade comes back up I'd recommend that. If it's an absolute need to move it, then you have to ...

Do you see any bacterial blooms? Though you'll smell something nasty, and the sand will look gray. Kinda rare with isopods in there though.

I'm doubting flood, but it may be drying out and that makes it harder, which makes it harder for the crabs to tunnel/breath. I think I'd add some water and mix the substrate up by hand to sort of "fluff" the bottom to loosen it up. But that's me, others on here might have more suggestions.

Hard and heavy usually sounds more like it's wet but drying out. Or it could just be the pressure from the top. But you would see water pooling with a flood. Can you dig straight down to the bottom and leave the hole for a little while (like a half hour) and see if water pools? If not, it's not floo...

RODI....is that reverse osmosis? From what I have read, not everyone is in agreement as to whether RO water is appropriate for crabs or not. Personally, that is what I have always used - for both my fresh water and for mixing the Instant Ocean into to make my salt water. I have had my crabs for alm...

What do you mean by the sand is packed? It just needs to be sand castle consistency (as in you can build a sand castle and it can hold the form - makes for good tunnels), you would know if it's a flood because it would be pools of water. I'm not seeing calcium listed in their diet. They need a lot t...

A lot here don't even do a cleaning at all, unless there is a bacterial bloom or flooding. I understand wanting to get rid of the gravel though. My 50 definitely has smaller dimensions by a few inches and 3 bags of sand and EE gave me 7-8 inches (measure, my shallowest was 7 and my highest was 8). Y...

Yes, you can use dehydrated fruits and veggies, just make sure there aren't any preservatives in them, sometimes they'll add stuff to keep them longer. You can feed them almost anything so long as it's not preservatives. Eggs (with the shell, cooked or raw) is a good source of protein. Shrimp, vario...