HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi! I own two hermit crabs, Shelli and Scuttle. My little guy Shelli is currently molting above-ground. Scuttle is my big boy, and when Shelli was active, so was he. Now he just hides in the coco hut, lays inactive in the substrate, or sleeps in the salt dish. My humidity is 85% and the temp of my 10 gallon tank is currently 74 degrees.

Any way to get Scuttle to be more active while his friend is molting?

(I had another small hermie, Seaweed, but sadly he died a few months ago, so Scuttle has no friends to hang out with.)

I have 2 pictures of the tank. (Shelli is the shiny gold shell sticking out of the ground, Scuttle is moving around but it's cause he got hungry.)

Hi! Saw your other thread, glad shelli is back to digging back under a bit:) As for activity, I would recommend raising your temp a bit. I find my crabs are most comfortable and active at around 78+ degrees and I generally try to get 80+. Did you get a digital thermometer yet or is the 74 degrees from the analog one?

Also hides and climbing decor! I see you have a cocohut, plastic foliage is a great way to provide both hides and climbing decor in a limited space since it is flexible.

It's very possible and that he is getting ready to molt as well. If you got them fairly recently from bad conditions and they havent molted yet, they may be seizing the opportunity around the same time. Is Scuttles showing any signs of molting (https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 23&t=92522)

Another factor is that they are crepuscular (active dawn and dusk) so while it's not odd for them to be active in the daytime, it's equally normal for them not to be if all other needs are provided for!

I still have the analog temp and humidity readers. I've been doing research on different brands of heat mats since my heat lamp isn't raising the temperature in the tank enough and is lowering the humidity.

So far Scuttle isn't showing any signs of molting. I recently added two more inches of substrate to my tank and I think that may be why he's digging. (Because it's deep enough for him to completely go under the substrate now)

He climbs out of his little holes to eat and swim in the salt dish, then either goes into the coco hut, a corner of the tank, or back into one of the holes he already dug.

I've been misting him with freshwater a few times every day to make sure he's okay. So far he's responded every time I misted him.

I bought Shelli and Scuttle (and Seaweed) from a little shop on a boardwalk in the state of Delaware (USA) while on vacation last summer. They were outside in a wired enclosure with a whole bunch of other hermies. No substrate in there at all! It was very warm outside though, and it stayed pretty warm even at night.

I do remember when I brought them back to the hotel room I had for a few days that all three were VERY active and moving around a lot. I knew I had to get a tank for them, but for about a week they were in a small, circular wire-mesh enclosure with a plastic lid on the top and tiny fake rocks covering the bottom. They loved climbing up the wire-mesh walls.

When I first got them set up the tank, all three of them were pretty confused and were barely active for a few days besides eating and drinking. Scuttle and Seaweed were the first to start exploring the tank, and Shelli started moving around with them after a day.

This is why I think Scuttle may be adjusting to the extra substrate, as he really has no other things to do with Shelli partially underground.

That flurry of activity you remember from them in their wire cage was a panic response - like any wild animal, they get desperate to escape when confined. Happy crabs are slow crabs! Them settling down is a good thing, though safe climbing items are also a good idea. Natural wood from the pet store or even branches from your yard both work really well for crabs.