Long story short, looks like we'll be adding to our colony this weekend!
Now the long part... I only asked for basic info: species (he wasn't sure but the photo he sent looks like PP), size (he sent a photo of one in his hand, look about the same size as ours or smaller), how long he's had them (about four months). Their story is that his little sister brought the first one back from the Bahamas (I forgot to ask if she bought it or caught it), and after doing some research he bought 3 more at Petco so it would have friends. I'll ask about molts, general health, temperament when we meet on Saturday.
I also asked if he had any questions for me. He just wanted to make sure I knew the "basics" like that they need to bury themselves to molt, not to feed them food with preservatives, and to offer them lots of non-painted shells. In the photo it looks like he has a variety of food on offer and a good substrate mix (though I can't tell how deep). He's rehoming them (as well as a crested gecko and an aquarium full of fish) to make room in his house. Keeping in mind your "good adoption experience" advice, I told him it sounds like he's taken good care of them (which it does), and we'll be sure to give them a good home.
It turns out they are in a 20 gallon tall, not a 30 like I thought. So most likely we will keep them in their 20 and our current two in their 10 gallon while we set up a new, larger crabitat to house all six, hopefully within the next 1-2 weeks. I figure this will serve as a kind of "quarantine" period and will give us a chance to observe them and get to know them.
So my next question is, what should I look for during this first week, as far as examining them for health, pests, anything I might need to take care of before introducing the new four to the current pair?
Once I get the new crabitat set up and am ready to introduce them all, what's the etiquette? Should I give everybody a bath before introductions or just the new quartet? I didn't bathe the original pair since they were already living together. The crabitat will be new to all of them, so it's not territory that belongs to anyone (do crabs care about that?). Do I put them all in at the same time, or start with one of the groups that already know each other? Wondering if there's a way to minimize the stress, or if we should just go for broke. The pair we've had for almost three weeks have finally relaxed enough to start tunneling and sleeping outside the coco-hut, I'm sorry to put them through another transition, a new 'tat and crabs at the same time!
Tonight as I scooped tiny poop I realized that in a few days I'll be doing that times six, lol. What have I gotten myself into? "Come on," said the husband and child, "hermit crabs will be fun!" LOL.