HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Post Molt Questions:
This little crab buried himself the 2nd day I had him. He was buried shallow in a 10 gallon tank in about 3 inches of hermit crab sand and EE unmixed. (it had 2 others in it that I moved out into a 20 gallon.) I added an inch a day until it had about 6 inches in it. He came out possibly last night or sometime today and ate a little and was looking at some shells and then buried himself in another spot in front of the tank. I moved one of my coconut huts in there for a place for him to hide and misted the moss. I put some eggshell in there and a piece of apple in the food dish that has mealworms in it.

I just bought a 40 gallon breeder yesterday. I want to reinforce my desk where my 20 gallon tank sits just be be sure it will be able to handle the weight before I set up the 40 gallon. I moved the 10 gallon back to the bathroom where it has spent 3 of the past 4 weeks There is no natural light in there. I will have to move the 20 gallon off the desk and onto another surface I just cleared off for it in the same room.

Questions:
Do I need to be concerned about the lack of natural light in the bathroom now that my molting crab is up?
This crab had it the roughest of all the ones I have. I don't want to stress it anymore than I have to. Should I move another crab in with him or wait until I have the new tank all set up which may take a week or so? I don't really want to move him 2x close together by introducing him into the 20 gallon and then again when I move them all to the 40 gallon. Is it better to just leave him in there by himself until the 40 gallon is ready? The 20 gallon already has 6 crabs in it already 3 of them are definitely medium 2 small and one in the small/medium range and possibly overcrowd that tank.)
How do I know when he is ready to be introduced to the others?
What other post molt suggestions do you all have? I have some fruit and veggies and some coconut and papaya I can put in there so he can have a good balanced diet. I need to get him some better water dishes, even for his size he can't really dip himself into the original zoomed reptile ones I have in there.

Moe2076 wrote:Post Molt Questions:
This little crab buried himself the 2nd day I had him. He was buried shallow in a 10 gallon tank in about 3 inches of hermit crab sand and EE unmixed. (it had 2 others in it that I moved out into a 20 gallon.) I added an inch a day until it had about 6 inches in it. He came out possibly last night or sometime today and ate a little and was looking at some shells and then buried himself in another spot in front of the tank. I moved one of my coconut huts in there for a place for him to hide and misted the moss. I put some eggshell in there and a piece of apple in the food dish that has mealworms in it.

I just bought a 40 gallon breeder yesterday. I want to reinforce my desk where my 20 gallon tank sits just be be sure it will be able to handle the weight before I set up the 40 gallon. I moved the 10 gallon back to the bathroom where it has spent 3 of the past 4 weeks There is no natural light in there. I will have to move the 20 gallon off the desk and onto another surface I just cleared off for it in the same room.

Questions:
Do I need to be concerned about the lack of natural light in the bathroom now that my molting crab is up?
This crab had it the roughest of all the ones I have. I don't want to stress it anymore than I have to. Should I move another crab in with him or wait until I have the new tank all set up which may take a week or so? I don't really want to move him 2x close together by introducing him into the 20 gallon and then again when I move them all to the 40 gallon. Is it better to just leave him in there by himself until the 40 gallon is ready? The 20 gallon already has 6 crabs in it already 3 of them are definitely medium 2 small and one in the small/medium range and possibly overcrowd that tank.)
How do I know when he is ready to be introduced to the others?
What other post molt suggestions do you all have? I have some fruit and veggies and some coconut and papaya I can put in there so he can have a good balanced diet. I need to get him some better water dishes, even for his size he can't really dip himself into the original zoomed reptile ones I have in there.

Hello! Congrats on the successful molt! If you have the space to keep the 10 set up then I would leave him in there, alone, until you have the 40 ready, just be sure to dip the guy in the water bowl so he doesn’t smell ‘foreign’ to them.
Post molt foods I like to offer are any calcium, or even several, as well as honey or bee pollen, greensand and worm castings, along with assorted fruit/veggie mixes and a couple of proteins (one animal and at least one plant.) That’s my post molt mix, loosely. Your instincts are right about not moving him twice, that’s great! And I would also not want to put one who has been thru a lot recently in a tank that could be a bit snug for everyone, as you mentioned.
As for light, he does need a daily light cycle of some sort until he gets moved over to the new 40! Awesome!
Hope that helps, congrats on the upgrade and the growing colony!


Dave the Wondercrab~Pat~Maggie~ Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~MissTeri~Tim~Gene~ Barry~Mr S~Princess + 5 Es + Mr EnDoh =my crabby clan!

Thanks so much! I do have the space to keep for the 10 gallon (barely... 4 weeks and 3 crab tanks 10, 20 and now 40...... LOL) For now I'm going to try and leave the light on during the day and turn it out at night. How do you serve your honey? I have some and I have held off giving it because I can just see the mess to is going to make. I could put it in it's own dish, but wont sand and stickiness go everywhere? Does that even matter... sand, substrate honey... LOL

Moe2076 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2019 12:40 pm

Thanks so much! I do have the space to keep for the 10 gallon (barely... 4 weeks and 3 crab tanks 10, 20 and now 40...... LOL) For now I'm going to try and leave the light on during the day and turn it out at night. How do you serve your honey? I have some and I have held off giving it because I can just see the mess to is going to make. I could put it in it's own dish, but wont sand and stickiness go everywhere? Does that even matter... sand, substrate honey... LOL

I don't think there's a way to avoid the mess. Lol. Considering they eat with their feet. I put honey in a shell usually.

Looks like Overmountain1 covered everything They only need a drop of honey - so it won't be that messy

ooo in a shell is brilliant! I put some in the lid of a KFC dish ( I wash all of my dishes then rinse them and then wipe them down with a 50/50 declor water white vinegar mix) and i'm not sure the crab even noticed it at all LOL. I have seen him/her out and about eating meal worms. I've got blueberries, carrots and pineapple in the fresh dish, meal worms dried coconut, papaya int he other dish plus and eggshell and a cuttlebone. I sank 2 bigger dishes so that he can get in with rocks, but if he's got any water it's just been a clawful, he's covered in sand still so if he got a bath I'd see that. He's been in and out of the coco hut and likes to bury himself whenever he's not out, but I've caught him out about 3x already. He's eyeballing shells but has stayed in the same one. I know how they can be, there's like 8 shells in there. S/he is hard to gauge with his size he can completely hide in the shell he is in so I've got a few different sizes in there with him.