Im a newbie and a nervous wreck!

[AHuff]

I am that parent who got suckered into buying hermit crabs for the kids while on vacation. The person who sold them to us talked about how easy they were to care for and gave us a pamphlet on how to care for them..... feed them, water them, play with them, 12 hours of light per day. that's it! I even bought the biggest cage they had, cause I even knew with no experience, that they should have more room to roam. Anyway, I get home and start investigating, and wow... much more to it than I thought!. I don't want them to die because of my carelessness. So as soon as I got home and started investigating I bought a 10 gallon tank, play sand that I baked and mixed with eco earth. Bought a cave, extra shells and dishes for fresh and salt water. I have spent over $100 so far for these little guys when they were supposed to be easy! Husband is not happy, but I cant let them die! Anyway, this molting thing has me the most scared. I never in a million years thought that they would eat each other! One of my hermits hides in the cave and the other digs in his hole every morning. They come out at night and walk around, I assume they are both eating. I have read the posts on molting, but I am still so confused on how to know when they are molting and also when to move them and how. you aren't supposed to disturb them when they are molting but you are supposed to move them into an iso tank. I am an over googler so my head is swimming. So what if they start molting and I don't catch it in time? Do I just leave him and hope the other doesn't eat him? Now that I have these little guys, I am attached and I want to do whats best for them.

[Hermiesguardian]

I am that parent who got suckered into buying hermit crabs for the kids while on vacation. The person who sold them to us talked about how easy they were to care for and gave us a pamphlet on how to care for them..... feed them, water them, play with them, 12 hours of light per day. that's it! I even bought the biggest cage they had, cause I even knew with no experience, that they should have more room to roam. Anyway, I get home and start investigating, and wow... much more to it than I thought!. I don't want them to die because of my carelessness. So as soon as I got home and started investigating I bought a 10 gallon tank, play sand that I baked and mixed with eco earth. Bought a cave, extra shells and dishes for fresh and salt water. I have spent over $100 so far for these little guys when they were supposed to be easy! Husband is not happy, but I cant let them die! Anyway, this molting thing has me the most scared. I never in a million years thought that they would eat each other! One of my hermits hides in the cave and the other digs in his hole every morning. They come out at night and walk around, I assume they are both eating. I have read the posts on molting, but I am still so confused on how to know when they are molting and also when to move them and how. you aren't supposed to disturb them when they are molting but you are supposed to move them into an iso tank. I am an over googler so my head is swimming. So what if they start molting and I don't catch it in time? Do I just leave him and hope the other doesn't eat him? Now that I have these little guys, I am attached and I want to do whats best for them.

Welcome! Take a deep breath and relax. I was where you are about 9 months ago. My daughter came home from a trip with 2 crabs. Small plastic cage. Pitiful. I left their care up to her but when she left for college guess who had to take care of them. I did what you did. Thankfully I found this forum. I now have 6 crabs in a 90 gallon tank and just re-set up my 40 gallon so I could get 2-3 more. Warning...they are addictive. You've done a great job researching. I want to put your mind at ease about the molting. There's no need to iso them. As long as you are providing plenty of protein and calcium there should be no problem. And you should have at least 6" of substrate or 3 times the height of your largest crab. And the substrate has to be sandcastle consistancy to hold its shape. They dig, they tunnel, to destress, to molt, and just because. They are also climbers.
Please fill out the emergency template so others on here who are more experienced can help you with anything else. viewtopic.php?t=46102

And as for the expense, once you have the initial set up, it really doesn't cost much to maintain.

[curlysister]

I would recommend getting off Google, and reading the info on this HCA site only. The info in the FAQ and care sheet section is excellent, and covers pretty much everything you need to know. There is other information out there, but the people who put together the information in that section, seriously know what they are talking about.

Like Hermiesgarden said, once you get the set-up, the costs are minimal (food, dechlorinator, and Instant Ocean). Do you have a thermometer/ hygrometer yet? That's needed for sure.

And I agree that the crabs will do their own thing when molting - no need to iso them unless there is a problem. I have had my two crabs for over 7 1/2 years, and have only iso'd a crab once (I did not have deep enough substrate, and Sonny dug Cher up, so I had to iso her). They have molted multiple times over the years and that's the only problem I ever had. They have both molted again since I added substrate to the proper depth, without incident.

[wodesorel]

Okay, so two crabs in a ten is usually perfectly safe! The longest living crabs tend to be singletons and pairs.

How much sand and coco fiber is in the tank? Is it moist enough that it holds its shape when squeezing but not so wet that it drips water?

How big are the crabs, roughly?

[AHuff]

Thanks for all of your responses! The Crabs are fairly small, prob around 2 inches including their shells. I have around 6 inches of substrate. its a mixture of sand and eco earth. I think that Its wet enough, when I run my finger through it, it holds its shape and the walls don't collapse. I have a thermometer/hygrometer on order (couldn't find any around here), and I also have ordered some shells. I bought extra at the beach but they are the painted ones. I spritz their tank every day. the lady at the store said they need 12 hours of sunlight. is that true? I havent read anywhere about that. Ive been turning the tank light on in the morning and off at night. One of them buried himself 2 days ago and hasn't come out. theres no weird smells or anything. the other one is staying in his cave. im not sure they even ate last night. I put some hard boiled eggs, carrots and some bell peppers in there and it doesn't look like they were touched. I haven't bothered them in the week that we have been home other than to set up the new tank. I thought they were stressed out, so I just left them alone. this is like bringing a newborn home! im not sure what else that I can do.

[Hermiesguardian]

Thanks for all of your responses! The Crabs are fairly small, prob around 2 inches including their shells. I have around 6 inches of substrate. its a mixture of sand and eco earth. I think that Its wet enough, when I run my finger through it, it holds its shape and the walls don't collapse. I have a thermometer/hygrometer on order (couldn't find any around here), and I also have ordered some shells. I bought extra at the beach but they are the painted ones. I spritz their tank every day. the lady at the store said they need 12 hours of sunlight. is that true? I havent read anywhere about that. Ive been turning the tank light on in the morning and off at night. One of them buried himself 2 days ago and hasn't come out. theres no weird smells or anything. the other one is staying in his cave. im not sure they even ate last night. I put some hard boiled eggs, carrots and some bell peppers in there and it doesn't look like they were touched. I haven't bothered them in the week that we have been home other than to set up the new tank. I thought they were stressed out, so I just left them alone. this is like bringing a newborn home! im not sure what else that I can do.

Crabs eat such tiny amounts unless they drag the food away you won't notice they ate. They don't need exact 12 hrs daylight. I don't have any special lighting. Mine are in my living room near the tv. So I try to keep it dim in there in the evenings and put a shade on the side near the tv so it's darker for them. They can stay buried for months especially if they're molting so don't worry. And resist the urge to dig looking for them.

[AHuff]

Can you give me a good starter diet for them? Theres so much out there. I want to give them a well balanced diet so they don't eat each other! for instance Cuttlefish.. do I just throw it in there and leave it? I don't even know what it is! lol

[Hermiesguardian]

Can you give me a good starter diet for them? Theres so much out there. I want to give them a well balanced diet so they don't eat each other! for instance Cuttlefish.. do I just throw it in there and leave it? I don't even know what it is! lol

They pretty much eat what we eat. Try and make sure you feed them organic. Pesticides are very toxic to them. They can eat raw or cooked meat. Raw or cooked veggies. Nuts. Olive oil. Coconut oil. Peanut butter. Honey. Organic. Eggs. Eggshells are good for calcium. Cuttlebone that you would find in the bird section of a pet store. Check out the care guidd to the left and look for safe and unsafe food list.

[AHuff]

thanks! I guess im doing that right. I appreciate your help I always overthink everything.

[ciaraalston]

What a great start! Your crabs sure are lucky
Check out the DIY section, you'll find tons of things for them that you can do to save money. Like the others said, once you get it all set up, the maintaining is cheaper. Just the first bit of buying it all at once is a lot.
Welcome to HCA! I've had my crabs for about a year, but I didn't find this site until a few months ago. It's wonderful! You'll find a lot of advice and helpful people around here.
Good luck!!

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[GotButterflies]

Welcome to the HCA!

Safe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92557
Unsafe food list: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92556
Food pyramid: viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554