New Strawberry Owner

[tykesanimalkingdom]

After months and months of searching, and making phone calls, my boyfriend and I FINALLY found a pet store in our state that sells Strawberry hermit crabs. They get them in every 6-8 months or so and are usually sold out fast. The owner told us he was making an order for them in a couple weeks. I guess you could say we were a little excited..

We both have done crazy research about them and we understand that they are one of the hardest species of crabs to take care of. We are prepared for the worst.

We should be getting some within the next 2-3 weeks.

If any Straw owner has any helpful information or just things to tell us, please do. We want to make sure we prepare our tank for their arrival.

Thank you in advance!

[Hermit-Yote]

I'm curious, what makes them the most difficult?

[tykesanimalkingdom]

I'm curious, what makes them the most difficult?

Well, I've heard that a lot of people don't have them for very long because they pass so soon. They require a large saltwater pool that they can completely submerge in for their exoskeleton. Along with A LOT a lot of substrate because they can get very stressed out if another crab bothers them during a molt. I also heard that they tend to only live 1-3 years in captivity and no one can explain why.

Now some of this information could be false. But I read most of it on here and on LiveHermitCrabs.com. Wherever I've looked, it's said to make sure you are an experienced hermit crab owner.

[hermitcrab101]

Strawberries rarley adjust well into captivity and usually don't live that long in captivity if they do. So most websites and books only reccomended straws for experinced keepers. They live on the shore or on the edge of the near forest. So it'd make sense to use a substrate with more sand than eco earth ration.

Strawberries are also the most aquatic species of land hermit crab having 14 modified gills (more than any other species) so have a humidity of 85% in your cage. They can't regulate their haemolymph hypo-osmotically. So large cycled salt water pools should be used.

Their diets should be full beta carotene and lycopene, this helps them retain their bright red colors. UVA lights are reccomended to help keep their color bright. They are somewhat diurnal and lot's of people recommend UVB lights.

I've seen 1 type of color variation of straws (besides an unhealthy pale one) it's called a black straw. It's very dark red and almost black in some spots, but I doubt the store will get ahold of these.

[Hermit-Yote]

One of my straws has stripes of dark dark red. Think he might be one of those?

[Scarlz]

One of my straws has stripes of dark dark red. Think he might be one of those?

I doubt it. Straws come in all colors. I have some that are completely mixed in color patterns.

I am proud to say I've had to same straw for 2 years. They are difficult to keep. Lots of salt water, substrate and humidity is the key.

[Careyenz]

I've had pretty good luck with my straws too. Scarlz said it best. Bigger straws hold their color better in captivity. I have a jumbo that I raised from a teeny. She molts every few months, and is a bright orange/red? The others that I bought as adults are still the deep red color they originally were. This seems true among others who have raise smalls to jumbos as well. She's not unhealthy. I've had her for 3 years, but her coloring is definitely different.