HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello All:

So the last Saturday in August I was cleaning house rentals at a popular beach city. We go in to the houses after people leave for week or more of vacation. Well we went into a house that had 2 hermit crabs left in a cage. The crabs are both in painted shells, one is purple and the other is Spongebob. No one wanted to take them and me being a lover of animals could not let them suffer!! I brought them home with me and had to decide if I wanted to keep them or not. After realizing I would not be happy with giving them to someone who might not take care of them I decided to keep them. Since I brought them home and had nothing to give them proper care I started to figure out what I could do best until I got them into somewhere better. I had a 10 gallon tank but while they were temporarily in a coco fiber substrate in a medium sized plastic container the smaller crab dug down and I am guessing that she is molting. I named her Violet because she is in a purple shell (I'm unsure what the gender is). I have not touched her because I know bothering her while molting could end up bad. I put a humidity/thermometer in there. It's reading 85% humidity and 80 degrees. I also mist the substrate because it started looking dry on top. I also recently was able to get a 50 gallon tank for very cheap. I bought an eco earth block and play sand. I've heard mixed reviews about the play sand. I did bake it to dry it out first (I did a lot of research before). I mixed the play sand and the eco earth together. I added different climbing areas and a small hut that Spongebob loves. Spongebob is the second crab who will not change out of his shell even tho I put multiple shells in there! Overall he seems to be doing better and is very naughty! He has quite the personality! He has the 50 gallon tank to himself, I wish I could get him into a bigger area but I'm not sure I have the space. I have a running waterfall and a small bowl that has purified water in it. Then I have a corner bowl that has salt water I made with instant ocean. I have given Spongebob spinach which he seems to like. I haven't tried other vegetables yet. The humidity in the tank has been a steady 80%-85%. The temp is at 75 because that's my house temp. I just purchased a heater so I can get the temp warmer inside the tank. I would appreciate any advice! I tried my best based on the research I found online. Thank you in advanced!! -Stephanie

P.S. I wanted to attach pictures but I'm not sure how.

Welcome to crabbing! Sounds like you are doing great so far!
If you haven't had a chance to look through the care sheets, start with the 'basics' then look to others on specific topics for more details.

Stephanie, Your new tank sounds like the start of a dream setup and you are doing all the right things. I would skip the purified water and use tap water treated with Seachem prime or equivalent. Use tap water treated with prime and then the salt mix for your salt water pool. I've had best luck with ultratherm heaters, but there's lot of choices there.

curlysister wrote:Welcome to crabbing! Sounds like you are doing great so far!
If you haven't had a chance to look through the care sheets, start with the 'basics' then look to others on specific topics for more details.

Awesome, thank you!! I will definitely go look and read up more!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JTKermie wrote:Stephanie, Your new tank sounds like the start of a dream setup and you are doing all the right things. I would skip the purified water and use tap water treated with Seachem prime or equivalent. Use tap water treated with prime and then the salt mix for your salt water pool. I've had best luck with ultratherm heaters, but there's lot of choices there.

Thank you for the suggestions! I also boiled my tap water and let it cool. Would I still need to treat it with prime? Actually the heater I bought is ultratherm, I did some research and those seemed like the best option.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks great! Is your tank top sealed?

The top is only sealed with Saran Wrap and the top I purchased from Petco it’s a wire top that most glass tanks come with. I would prefer a different way to seal the tank but not sure how. I would rather not have to buy glass or plexi glass.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If the mesh top covered with plastic wrap is working for you and keeping the temp and humidity both in the 80+ range, may as well keep it. You can always throw a beach towel or blanket over the top to help hold in heat/humidity if needed.

Assuming your 50g is 48"x12" with a center brace, you'd need two 24"x12" glass versa tops or cut two pieces of plastic coroplast or similar. Coroplast is not easy to find near me, but I see Home depot shows they have it in 36"x18" sheets for around $11. A pair of glass versa tops would run you about $40-60.

Many of us vent our tanks a bit, not totally sealed, to allow some air flow.

Treating tap water with a dechlorinator is a better plan than boiling it, to use for crabs.

Thank you both for your help!! I appreciate it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk