New to Hermit Crabs

[Reptilian Feline]

Hi all!

I accidentally became a hermit crab owner of 5 PPs. I have read a lot since I got them, done research and are in the process of building their crabitat. I'm a bit surpriced in how much I enjoy them... I had all the wrong ideas about them, thinking they were hermits, living on the ground, and kind of "fake" because they don't use their own shells, some kind of souvenir people would get.

The pet shop owner gave them to me for free so that he didn't end up killing them from not knowing what to do with them. I buy crickets and so on from him and did well with some GALs a few months ago, so he knows I'm the right kind of person to ask about odd animals (he knows reptiles and frogs and so on, but not the odder terrarium animals that you rarely come across here in Sweden. They started off as 6, but one was dead, so I ended up with a spare shell.

I found out they are PPs from my research. One is half the size of the others... that doesn't seem to be a problem though. The little one had a chance at getting a new shel from an old collection I have had since childhood. I added 2 shells of the right size and type and the little one tried first one, then the other, back to its old one and now is in the first of the new ones.

One of the larger one changed into the left-over shell from the dead one... if they've changed around more, I'm not sure, they all came in the same spiece shell.

A quesion about substrate... I have mixed coconut mulch with filter sand and that works well, but the sand was very very heavy and I think I didn't make the layer deep enough. I'm also a bit confused in how to know what size the crabs are and how that relates to depth of substrate. If it isn't deep enough, how do I find that out and can I add more on top if some of them have buried to molt already?

[CallaLily]

Welcome to the HCA! Be sure to read through our Caresheet section, if you haven't already. There is a lot of very good information there.

Your substrate should be at least 3 times as deep as your largest crab stands tall but should not be less than 6 inches. You can gently add prepared substrate a handful at a time to your existing substrate safely, even with crabs underground. Just don't pack it down or add a whole bunch all at once. I hope this helps.

[Reptilian Feline]

Thanks, CallaLily!
I guess what confuses me is the "crab stands tall" reference... is that if the crab has been removed from its shell and is "standing" on the tip of its tail, or is it if its standing normally and has its head out of its shell? Sorry if I seem confused, but I've never had to deal with pets or animals whos outside size is based on someone elses (the snail whos shell it's living in) size.

[wodesorel]

I guess what confuses me is the "crab stands tall" reference...

It's been hard to come up with a way to phrase it correctly! We mean when they stand like this:

[Reptilian Feline]

Oohhh what a pretty crab! And thanks for explaining that way... now I know