I had them when I was a kid and enjoyed them So when I seen a lady selling her Crabitat, and two crabs for $50 I jumped on it. I have a non verbal 3yr old (at the time he was 2).. And I thought these might be a good friend for him, help him start communicating.
Well, on the car ride home after pick them up, I realize they are huge! The biggest hermit crabs I've ever seen!! Lol, way too big for my toddler to play with. I asked around and people told me they get bigger as they get older so they were apparently a few years old. Fred & Pickles were now a part of my family.
I realize now, I had no idea what I was taking on... When Fred dug under I researched all over online... I read on some site that if after a few weeks, he doesn't come up, to dig him up. So I did. I dug him up to make sure he was alive and when I seen he was I put him back and covered him with sand. ...
Well, I'm not sure what happened but I have an idea. That's the last time I saw Fred alive. I waited 2 more weeks and this funky smell was coming out of my tank so I got nervous and dug him up, again. This time when I flipped him over his big claw just drooped and hung out of the shell, he was grey. Fred was Dead!!
I assume when I put him back in his hole and covered him, I might have packed the sand and he couldn't get out of his shell. Poor guy.
So I went to PetSmart and bought a couple little guys. One was teeny tiny. After Fred died I switched tanks because I was concerned about Pickles getting sick. I would go and pick up 1 or 2 crabs every time I went to PetSmart... I ended up with 7 as of last week. Because I'm slightly OCD, I had to go pick up another crab because I have to have an even amount. (I'm crazy, I know) ... But when I got there, the crabs were all bigger than I wanted. I looked and looked through their tiny tank which had at least 20 LIVE hermit crabs...not counting the dead ones just laying on the substrate or hanging out of shells. I asked for teeny tiny, but for whatever reason the girl who was helping me kept telling me all the tiny shells were empty, but... They weren't. So idk if they were dead or she was hoarding them. Either way, I picked out two guys that I felt were the smallest in the tank and I chose the smaller of the two. The lady either didn't listen or hear me and she put both of them in the container. I didn't have the heart to put one of them back. So then I wound up with 9. Another odd number... And my tank is getting crowded...(okay, its really not, but in my mind it was.) Found a 55 gallon tank being sold for $25, a little over 2 hours from me. Apparently crabs included.
I get there and ... Oh my ... First she tells me that one of the two crabs had died. She assumes it was dead for at least 3 days, since that's the last time she checked them. The tank has an inch of DRY, HARD sand on one half and the other half had about an inch of fish gravel. With an assortment of those beads you can buy from the craft store. There's what looks like a self made coconut hut. From like, an actual coconut. Its all broken on the edges. And in the middle is this giant ceramic hidey, climby, tree thing. There's 2 painted shells in the tank, empty, on the smaller size.
Now let's talk about the remaining, living crab. If I was surprised when I first seen Pickles and Fred... I was slightly terrified when I met Zilla. Sills is at least 1/4 bigger than Pickles. The whole way home I was concerned with adding Zilla to my tank. I was concerned about him and Pickles fighting. I was concerned about Zilla killing my smaller crabs. And I was concerned about the horrible, ugly, chipped painted shell. I was going to adopt him out to people who had jumbos or at least more experience with them. But then I decided to give him a chance. When I picked him up to move him he shot out of his shell, legs spread wide, waving around. I can't lie, it scared the crap out of me. Luckily I wear gloves when i deal with my Hermie's, so he couldn't hurt me as easily, if that's what he was trying to do. I added him to my tank and Pickles came running over to check him out. Let him know who's boss. I dont know if they fought or what, but claws were flying and next thing I know Pickles went rolling across the tank. I pulled Zilla away and put him in the corner and put Pickles in the hut. Zilla went crazy looking for shells. Unfortunately I didn't even know they could get that big, so I have no shells for him. The first night he destroyed my Crabitat. Ripped my coconut fiber back right in half. Knocked my little branches over, dug up a little sign. I woke up and it looked like a little tornado had run through my tank. I've gone back and forth with adopting him out. I felt bad though because he was obviously in terrible conditions before I got him. He seems to have dug down for a while now. I decided to keep him. I've been looking online for shells...
I have enough substrate for him to bury in...just barely... But instead he only dug halfway down, right next to my hut... He's underground, but his shell is not.
So that's where I am now. I have 3 tanks, only using one at the moment. Setting up my big one this weekend. I have 10 Hermie's. Most of them seem to be PP... But Zilla and Krog aren't. Zilla is red. Almost looks like a regular crab. Krog is dark grey/blackish with a red leg, and red markings on another leg. I have 3 underground at the moment. I'm also pending an adoption for a crab that was listed on reddit...(take him or they'll kill him post) Just waiting to hear when I can pick up.
I'll post pictures in a little bit.
So hi everyone, so very happy I found you guys!
[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]
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Update:
**apparently I have 5 down. Accidentally found one while trying to fix the medium tank. I covered him back up... I hope he doesnt die. I also moved some stuff around to accommodate Zilla and his massive size until I can get the 55g ready. Here's some pictures...
my tank after I just messed around with it. 
That's Pip. My survivor. Had a molt cut short I believe. Was really grey and lazy for a while. I gave him some lettuce and let him hang out under the lamp and he seems to be getting darker everyday. 
That's Krog. Upon inspection during these pictures, I realize Krog is turning purple. A PP after all?
That's Pickles. My pal. He's shy, but nosey. Lol
That's Peach... Very shy. Almost never comes out. 
That's the best picture I could get of Zilla. I'm assuming he's just destressing. 
two of my diggers. Been down a couple weeks now, im assuming they are molting. I covered Zillas shell, very lightly with sand and shredded CF.
not as dark as I originally thought he was... But hes moving around the tank fine. Seems to be looking for a hidey hole.