HCA: Hermit Crab Association

For reference, we have been owners for about 4 hours.

I really should have done more research before allowing my son to purchase 2 small (1.5") crabs from PetSmart. Based on their recommendation we put together a 5g hex aquarium with gravel and a bowl for food and water and a hide. We purchased pellets which now I understand is not good for our crabs.

After coming home I started searching the internet and determined that 100% of what we did was wrong. I happen to have a bag of "Pavestone" Play Sand and a spare 10g glass aquarium with cover and light that I plan to set up immediately. I am ordering Exo Terra coconut fiber, spare shells, aquarium salt and moss from Amazon being delivered on Tuesday.

Some questions
What should I order for food? Will the dehydrated fruit/veggies be OK?
Will it be OK to set up a sand only tank and then mix the fiber in when it shows up?
Does 3D printed bowls and climbs work? Is 3D printed items OK for crabs?

Thanks in advance, we could return these two guys to Petsmart but their life there was just as bad!

Yes, you can use dehydrated fruits and veggies, just make sure there aren't any preservatives in them, sometimes they'll add stuff to keep them longer. You can feed them almost anything so long as it's not preservatives. Eggs (with the shell, cooked or raw) is a good source of protein. Shrimp, various untreated meats. Hermit crabs are scavengers. Food list: https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 25&t=92557

https://www.hermieskitchen.com/ sells a lot of dehydrated stuff that's great.

Sand only, moistened to sandcastle consistency, is fine til you can mix EE in, some don't even use EE. I prefer the mix though. At least 6 inches high.

3D printed can be fine so long as the material isn't toxic.

I would try to get up to a 20g if possible, but you seem on a pretty good track. Basic care sheet for crabbies: https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 28&t=92457 You seem to be following it well.

Pelagic wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 9:50 pm

Yes, you can use dehydrated fruits and veggies, just make sure there aren't any preservatives in them, sometimes they'll add stuff to keep them longer. You can feed them almost anything so long as it's not preservatives. Eggs (with the shell, cooked or raw) is a good source of protein. Shrimp, various untreated meats. Hermit crabs are scavengers. Food list: https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 25&t=92557

https://www.hermieskitchen.com/ sells a lot of dehydrated stuff that's great.

Sand only, moistened to sandcastle consistency, is fine til you can mix EE in, some don't even use EE. I prefer the mix though. At least 6 inches high.

3D printed can be fine so long as the material isn't toxic.

I would try to get up to a 20g if possible, but you seem on a pretty good track. Basic care sheet for crabbies: https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 28&t=92457 You seem to be following it well.

Yea, after setting up the habitat totally wrong, I started reading! I very quickly found out that I was doing a lot wrong! I will keep reading and upgrading their habitat! Thanks for your help!

Welcome! They do need calcium and protein daily.

Welcome to crabbing! My first tank was a 10 gallon, with saran wrap for the lid to hold in humidity. Your 10 gallon will be fine for a while, as they get larger and you want to add more stuff, you will likely upgrade to larger in the future.
This website is the only site I have gone on for hermit crab advice and care information. The care sheets have a ton of info. Crabs can eat much of what we eat, without any additives and as organic as possible. I also give mine dried foods (I order from the Hermit Crab Patch) because they last so much longer in the tank.
You will need to get a dechlorinator (such as Prime) and marine salt (such as Instant Ocean) to add to the dechlorinated fresh water to make salt water. When you first moisten the sand or sand/ EE mix, you can use either declorinated fresh or salt water, but then in the future if it needs more moisture, you should use the fresh.

I used to have a large saltwater fish setup for a number of years and I have an RODI system that I used for that. Would that be sufficient for the water?

We all started out that way and made improvements as we can. The best thing is that you are trying to do the right thing and that is all that matters. I have a few recommendations for food. My favorite places are all on Etsy.
This one is a friend of mine, her shop is called 2OldCrabs. Here is a link to her shop.
https://etsy.me/2SlX81o

The other one is a member here named GotButterflies, her shop is called TheHealthyHermit. Here is a link to her shop.
https://etsy.me/2J5FVYy



There is another I love, EarthWaterFireStudio that also sells amazing pottery but her shop is on vacation right now.

Edit: Here is a link to all of the care guides where you can find anything you need. If you have any questions, just ask. Everyone here is amazing, welcome to the HCA.

http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... .php?f=120

RODI....is that reverse osmosis?
From what I have read, not everyone is in agreement as to whether RO water is appropriate for crabs or not. Personally, that is what I have always used - for both my fresh water and for mixing the Instant Ocean into to make my salt water. I have had my crabs for almost 9 years.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2019 6:50 pm

RODI....is that reverse osmosis?
From what I have read, not everyone is in agreement as to whether RO water is appropriate for crabs or not. Personally, that is what I have always used - for both my fresh water and for mixing the Instant Ocean into to make my salt water. I have had my crabs for almost 9 years.

The worst health issue (with people) around RO is a calcium/magnesium deficiency. It can be slightly more acidic too due to lacking minerals. But you probably supplement your crabs with calcium, and instant ocean adds a lot more minerals to the water that the RO took out. So RO isn't necessarily bad for hermit crabs because it's common to supplement what you're removing anyway.

RODI is Reverse Osmosis and Deionzied water, RO cleans up about 90% of the water, DI takes it the whole extra mile. It's commonly used in saltwater aquariums because you're adding minerals back in with aquarium salt. Basically starting from scratch which helps control the environment if you're keeping coral. Saltwater aquariums can so easily crash even over trace elements in tap water, so RODI tends to be super safe and the mineral removal is moot because you're adding it back with instant ocean or something.

Pelagic wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:47 pm

The worst health issue (with people) around RO is a calcium/magnesium deficiency. It can be slightly more acidic too due to lacking minerals. But you probably supplement your crabs with calcium, and instant ocean adds a lot more minerals to the water that the RO took out. So RO isn't necessarily bad for hermit crabs because it's common to supplement what you're removing anyway.

RODI is Reverse Osmosis and Deionzied water, RO cleans up about 90% of the water, DI takes it the whole extra mile. It's commonly used in saltwater aquariums because you're adding minerals back in with aquarium salt. Basically starting from scratch which helps control the environment if you're keeping coral. Saltwater aquariums can so easily crash even over trace elements in tap water, so RODI tends to be super safe and the mineral removal is moot because you're adding it back with instant ocean or something.

Exactly. I did SW for about 15 years. I would always have a garbage 40g can of RODI at a time and I would make 20g of SW for a water change. I think I can ratchet it back a bit with the crabs!

Ok so Amazon boxes have arrived and we revamped the habitat.





There are 2 crabs in there. Cuff & Link. Once we put the extra shells in there, both crabs changed. First Cuff changed within a half hour. Then Link changed last night. Then Cuff changed again into Links old shell.

Let me know what you think.

It looks great! I would say at this point the only thing you need to add is something to climb on. They love to climb. And where is your thermometer/hygrometer? That is a must to know the temp and humidity. Digital is best and can be found at Lowes for about $12. Walmart may have them too.

Hermiesguardian wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:06 am

It looks great! I would say at this point the only thing you need to add is something to climb on. They love to climb. And where is your thermometer/hygrometer? That is a must to know the temp and humidity. Digital is best and can be found at Lowes for about $12. Walmart may have them too.

There are 3 climbing logs in the picture but they are laying down. How should I orient them?

The temp/humidity monitor (digital) is arriving today

CrowleyFam wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 18, 2019 10:18 am

There are 3 climbing logs in the picture but they are laying down. How should I orient them?

The temp/humidity monitor (digital) is arriving today

You can lean them up against the side. If no one is under you can dig it into the sand a bit.

Nice! You could also zip-tie the cholla logs together to make them into a tee-pee type set up!