HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm making a list of supplies I'll be needing for my new hermies (coming soon to an apartment near me), and like the true loser I am, I began to graph (to scale) the set up I'm hoping to achieve in my 3-foot tank. I heard somewhere or watched a video or something that hermit crabs enjoy toys, so I drew in my sketch ping pong balls. Apart from climbing branches and stuff, what kind of "toys" do PPs (or hermits in general) tend to enjoy? Also, do they tend to redecorate at all?

(Also, I'm pretty new and I think this is the right forum but I'm not positive. Sorry if it is in the wrong place. )

The main thing to keep them entertained is stuff to climb, really. Ropes, wood, nets, aquarium decorations, etc. Mine love to hang out in cork rounds, hide in plants, stuff like that. At their most active (middle of the night) they climb anything and everything. If you can get them a deep pool of SW with a bubbler, a lot of crabs like to hang out in that as well.

They'll redecorate your tank by digging huge holes, knocking stuff over, covering things in sand...crabs are many things, but neat and tidy don't describe them at all.

Hello,
Ping Pong balls? That's a new one . Just make sure they don't eat it.

My crabs are pretty boring at the moment, but they seem to enjoy their wood log. They can be found at most petsmarts. They are the half logs, the smaller size.

My first crab, who sadly passed away, loved this blue climbing stick. Not sure what it is called, but its in the hermit crab section at petco. And for whatever reason, he also loved to climb the sign that said "I'm crabby," that I had in there. He was a climber

I know there is some sort of net you can get that most hermits LOVE to climb, I have never had one so I don't really know what it is.

Have fun with your new friends ,
Bonnie

megmaholm, I think this is the second time we posted at the same time

megmaholm wrote: They'll redecorate your tank by digging huge holes, knocking stuff over, covering things in sand...crabs are many things, but neat and tidy don't describe them at all.

So true!! My crab Starlite (who I recently discovered passed) had an ADDITUDE!! The first, and only, day I had her, I decided to put some moss in the tank, but she clearly did not like it. So she walked right over to it, and covered it with sand, What a diva!!

My current crabs enjoy digging under a red plastic party cup I turned into a hide, they dig under the sides, so it is tilted now

hermitcrab24 wrote:megmaholm, I think this is the second time we posted at the same time
So true!! My crab Starlite (who I recently discovered passed) had an ADDITUDE!! The first, and only, day I had her, I decided to put some moss in the tank, but she clearly did not like it. So she walked right over to it, and covered it with sand, What a diva!!

My current crabs enjoy digging under a red plastic party cup I turned into a hide, they dig under the sides, so it is tilted now

Haha I think you're right about posting at the same time! Great minds DO think alike

I gave up on keeping anything in the tank level, especially my water dishes, because they just dig around them and then they just sit tilted. I figure if it makes them happy to destroy my tank, I might as well let them have at it.

Lol, okay then I'll just stick to pools and climbing toys. I'm planning to build a second level for extra play space so I'm sure I can come up with some creative climbing equipment.

DO include a pingpong ball, at least to try. I am absolutely 100% going to copy you and do the same.
I read an old thread where someone put some kind of ball inside a pool, and had a crab ride this ball back and forth. Whether the crab was actually playing i'm not sure, but just think of how cute that looked! I'd love to catch a crab rolling a pingpong ball back n forth! Maybe even a golf ball, too!


Crabbers unite!!!

Haha, I'll try it then, just for you! When I get them all set up, I'll keep a careful eye on the ball to see what happens.

Yay! hope one of us can catch an epic video!


Crabbers unite!!!

Mine love to dig under any object sitting on the sub....which is everything, all the time! Love the second level moss pits, and the shell "corral". I could have only shells in there and they would be happy!

Adding a ping pong ball to the tank now, I'll report what happens

Mine love Cholla Wood and the Moss Pit the most. I never look in the tank without seeing a crab in or on the Cholla Wood.

Now I'm tempted to try a ping pong ball..I have a visual of a crab climbing it and rolling madly across the tank.

Yay the pingpong revolution!


Crabbers unite!!!

Atticus, try objects with different textures, i.e., cork, wood, coconut shell, sisal/hemp. My guess is that they enjoy touching/climbing on things that feel different (and probably smell different) to them, simulating the variety they'd find in their natural habitat.

Over the years, I've had 2 or 3 types of wood in the crabitat at the same time, each with a slightly different texture, and it was interesting to see which one(s) they preferred! As part of the current 29g upgrade, I'm adding some over-sized weird-shaped shells, impossible for crabs to get into, for added textural stimulation. There will also be a hanging coconut cave with a wood and sisal ladder. The bottoms of their FW and SW pools will have small river rocks and a plastic plant or two. The home-crocheted jute net is fairly thick so I picked up some thinner burlap mesh, about 6" wide, to drape from the suspended moss pit and wrap around one of the branches. It'll be very interesting to see what they like and don't like.

I'm planning on using Mopani leftover from an aquarium, several branches of cholla wood, and two large-ish pieces of grape wood if I can find any that appeal to me. I have a gorgeous piece in my shrimp tank, but I refuse to pull it out.

I'm going to knit a net for my crabs, and I have visions of two portions of "hanging" moss which will be tucked into pieces of plastic needlepoint canvas. I may also carpet the "loft" with moss. The shell idea really appeals to me, Crabinkski. I'll have to try something like that.