Did anyone ever hear of this???

Sally · Post by **Sally** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 2:07 am

I recently adopted hermit crabs for my 3 grandkids from a woman who owns a shell shop. She had many "beautiful" active crabs, some she claimed were over 25 yrs old. Her instructions were to keep them in the wire cage that I purchased from her, do not use any substrate, use spring water and change twice daily, sprinkle floor with sea salt every other day, feed once at night and remove uneaten food in the am. Make sure humidity is 70 - 80% and temp is about 76f. Clean cage every day to prevent bacteria growth. As far as molting, her instructions were to watch for lethargy and hanging around water and remove to another tank. After molting, offer a new shell. She had no instructions for putting extra shells in the cage. Needless to say after getting my crabs home, I started reading on the internet and found nothing to corroborate her instructions, and was wondering if anyone else does this. I have to reiterate that her crabs were very active and seemed happy - I guess they love climbing on the wire of the cage. They sleep attached to the wire near the top.I have since purchased a small glass aquarium, and added a combo substrate, but this is much more involved than her instructions. Does anyone agree with her?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 5:15 am

Unfortunately everything she told you is wrong and this is a very common practice because the goal here for her is to get your crabs to die as quickly as possible so you have to come back to her and purchase replacements this boosts her revenue at yours and the crabs expense.Nearly every pet store, gift shop, board walk curio, county or town fair that sells or gives these crabs away will give you the wrong information on purpose because these animals are considered to be cheap disposable pets by the harvesters and distributors which is sad to say the least.Hermitcrabs are by far and away not a cheap or inexpensive pet when you look at the initial cost of doing a proper setup which for a ten gallon which is the smallest recommended size of tank your looking at a total cost of about $300 this covers the tank, appropriate lid, food, extra shells for the first year, food and water dishes, heating, lighting, substrate, water conditioner and marine aquarium salt mix for making salt water.Play sand and Eco Earth are the only two approved hermitcrab safe substrates the sand is by far the cheaper of the two but there are a lot of our members who prefer to use the Eco Earth.What size tank are you using and how deep is your substrate and is is dampened to sand castle consistency?

Tetra4CClyPtus · Post by **Tetra4CClyPtus** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 5:16 am

I personally don't agree with her. Some of her instructions are incorrect.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 9:40 am

Theres no way that any of her crabs could be older than a couple of years because of the kind of care she's giving they will never make it to be teenagers or older.You can tell a hermitcrabs approximate age by its size so a 20+ year old hermitcrab would be the size of a soft ball and would require shells with a 3+ inch shell opening and have molt periods of three to four months.This woman lied to you the whole way except for the hermitcrabs humidity needs other than that she was likely just making things up in her head as she was going to make the sale.When a hermitcrab is pre-molt it will either have a massive appetite and will eat like a little piggy or it will display a serious lack of appetite and wont appear to touch the food much this is just dependent on the individual crab.You also notice a lot of digging where the crab goes up and down several times this is because it is searching for the best place to molt in the tank or what we call the sweet spot and each crab has its own individual requirements for what makes a particular place in the tank its own personal sweet spot.In some instances you may also notice that the crab is getting ashy in color or that a bubble or sac is developing on its body up near the head these are both good indications that the crab is prepping to molt in the next few days.Lethargy can sometimes be an early indicator of an impending molt but its not 100% because this behavior is also indicative of poor care ie the crab is either under fed or dehydrated.The last tell that sometimes appears is the crab will take on a flattened stance appearing like a squashed bug where the crabs stomach is closer to the ground than normal and its legs will be stretched out giving it that flattened appearance.Without the proper substrate she would never know that the crab is pre-molt because the lack of a proper molting substrate will cause the crab to secrete a molt inhibiting hormone that will stop them from molting until the right the conditions are found and if the crab can't find the right condition the molt inhibitor will build up in the crabs body until it is either forced to surface molt or it just outright dies from molt inhibitor hormone toxicity either way the crab typically doesn't survive.

Sally · Post by **Sally** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 11:54 pm

Thank you. Unfortunately I purchased only a 5.5 gal tank. I am using sand and eco earth combined, but it is only about 1-1/2 - 2" deep, so I guess I need to make it deeper? I have ordered some shells online, and am waiting for other climbing and hiding accessories. I was also told to give them table scraps for food. Should I be giving them "hermit crab food" as well?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 1:21 am

Yes the substrate depth needs to be a minimum of six inches.Unfortunately five gallons isn't enough space so I strongly encourage you to replace it with a ten gallon when you can.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 8:51 am

Since you said your crabs are smaller at least make sure the sand/substrate depth is 2x the sixe of the largest crab. Upgrade to a bigger tank as soon as possible. Giving table scraps as food you need to be careful not to give anything with preservatives in it or seasonings on it. For fruits and veggies try to get most of it organic you can also order powdered foods from websites like hermit crab patch or hermit crab addiction store links to those are in the links section.

Sally · Post by **Sally** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:33 pm

Since I put the crabs in the glass tank and added the substrate, they all been very inactive. The smallest of them has hidden himself completely in the substrate under the coco hut. I must say they seemed happier in the wire cage. Could it be that they got used to that kind of environment? I am so afraid I am going to kill them!

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Thu Aug 07, 2014 1:55 pm

I am 100% sure they were not happy in a wire cage. Maybe frantic to get out, feeling like they were suffocating. Okay, have you got at temperature and humidity gauge? Are those both in the upper 70's for ranges? If that is all good, they are likely destressing. They need enough substrate to bury well, 6 inches would be ideal even though they are small. It needs to be playsand (not calcium sand from the petstore) and maybe some ecoearth (EE) all of which need to be sandcastle consistency so they can tunnel and make molting pockets. Feed them well, there is a safe food list in the Zoea section, give them a lot of variety to choose from. Do not handle them more than absolutely necessary for the next month or so. If the humidity and temp are not good and you need help figuring out how to remedy that, let us know, tons of good ideas and information here. Read everything pinned to the top of each section, especially Zoea.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 5:37 am

I agree with Geranium, your hermitcrabs were in dire need of being in an enclosure like you have put them in as the wire cage is literally a death sentence unless you live in Miami Fl or the Caribbean where you can put the wire cage outside so that their temp and humidity requirements can be met.The sudden lack of activity in newly purchased hermitcrabs is actually a good thing because a stressed crab will move frantically like its trying to escape and will be in overdrive but a calm or de-stressing hermitcrab will be very laid back and will typically disappear under the substrate to either further de-stress or even molt which is also very common with new purchases.I know its hard not to worry we've all been there at some point but the best thing to do is to let the crabs to do what they need to do, look at it this way they have been taking care of themselves out in the wild for thousands of years and have done pretty well as a species as they have continued to be here on this planet instead of succumbing to the elements and going extinct like so many other animals and beings.Hermitcrabs really don't like being handled in general so I don't ever recommend them to parents looking to buy a smaller pet for their child or children, we've known for a few years now that regular handling actually tends to stress hermitcrabs out and with the more delicate species like the Strawberry it can outright kill them because they seem to be the least capable of handling the stress that comes along with being picked up and handled much if at all.This is why the majority of us here at LHC.com have adopted a completely hands off approach to our personal crab care because we've seen a dramatic increase in survival rates since stopping most if not all handling of our hermitcrabs, there is a group of our members who still do regular handling of their hermitcrabs because they like the hands on approach better so its a bit of a personal decision as to which method you want to adopt.Personally my group has become pretty feral they wont run from me but they do not like to be picked up or handled at all and thats because its been six plus years for most of them since the last time they were regularly taken out of the tank.I have nine hermitcrabs being a mix of Purple Pincher and Ecuadorian and most of them are in the extra large to jumbo category now so handling them is a bit more of a challenge anyway so I prefer not to stress them and have pretty much left them to themselves in their new 121 gallon tank that I got last year. Their molt success rates have gone up and they are molting regularly now like clock work so I know which weeks of a particular month any one of my crabs will be down for a molt and the jumbos are even easier to know because they only molt once every other year now and thats always in November and lasts till January.One of the best ways to know how well your caring for your crabs is how often they molt for you if they molt with regularity that means you've got the right climate conditions and diet going in the tank and the crabs are responding positively to it.

crazycrabber · Post by **crazycrabber** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 9:15 am

like saying you don't need substrate? Really ridiculous! And putting them in a cage with wire? Metal is harmful to hermit crabs! Hello! Pet store person! Do some research before you bring a pet to your store! Obviously lying about 25 years! I doubt that she isn't lying about how old they are!

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 12:21 pm

@crazycrabber, actually not all metals are harmful to hermitcrabs just a handful which are in the heavy metal class and are Cadmium, Nickel, Chromium and Arsenic these are the only harmful metals that we know of and its not surprising that its these dissolved metals which good tap water conditioners are designed to remove as they are present in tap water in every state in America and probably in the tap of several Countries as well.The reason why they are found in such high levels in tap water is that these metals are easily dissolved into water and so get added along the way from the metal piping that is used to deliver the water to your house.Lead and Mercury are also toxic to well all forms of life including invertebrates like hermitcrabs but they are not typical in tap water and so do not represent the bulk of heavy metal ions found in the water.Iron and Steel have not been found to pose a risk to hermitcrabs unless they are coated with something like Chromium which would make the metal chromed like the chrome work on your car.Stainless steel which is widely used for cooking like pots and pans is coated with a layer of Chromium which both off gases into the air and leeches into the food being prepared when it is subjected to high temperatures and this is because Chromium becomes unstable at temps over 300 degrees which is the temp range most of us cook our food at.After a period of a few months to couple of years depending on frequency of use you may start to notice the non-stick Chromium coating wearing or flaking off this is very common and has prompted the FDA and EPA to force a ban on standard non-stick pots and pans because they just are not safe so most non-stick pots and pans use a ceramic base which is non-stick by nature as the actual cooking surface because its so much safer.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Fri Aug 08, 2014 6:45 pm

Poor crabs! They will be distressing now and hiding and digging for sometime. Prob molt real soon as soon their conditions right. They might dig come up , go down, come up, repeat several times before staying down. You willing to get some big protein foods in the tank like organic peanut butter, hard boiled eggs & I just crack the shell and all and put in the tank, unsalted nuts like walnuts and peanuts. Check the food list on here, check or put a sign up for a larger tank on store bulletin boards. Check the papers and garage sales. That lady is not to smart and was only trying to makes fast sale.. crabby paddy i have had since 2009 and he's only the size of a baseball. My others are about ping pong size. I am to one of those non handlers. They are used to me being in the tank though.They just sit and hang out while I mess in it. If you do find a bigger y am keep this smaller one for a iso tank. For new crabs or molting crabs that's coming up and they are weak, otherness will sometimes pick at them and want to eat them.

Sally · Post by **Sally** » Sat Aug 09, 2014 4:22 am

When I first got them -(2 wks ago) and had them in the wire cage, they were all eating and drinking and climbing the cage (which was much smaller than the 5 gal that I currently have). Since I put them in the glass terrarium with the substrate and the hiding coconut they are under the coco hut all the time, and one is still completely under the substrate. I lifted the coco hut and the two moved around, one seemed to have eaten, but this am both were back undercover in the hut. I am worried.

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Sat Aug 09, 2014 4:47 am

I understand, I would be worried too. I am not sure why they would eat and drink in the wire cage and not in the glass aquarium unless they did this in an attempt to hydrate, to mitigate some of the effects of the lack of substrate, humidity, etc. And now that their conditions are good, they are adjusting and need some time to heal from all the stress they endured up to that point. I am worried, given the conditions they came from, that they won't survive no matter how good you make their environment but one still must try. The losses are so difficult. All we can do is provide the best we can and hope they are strong enough, resilient enough to survive and eventually thrive.Do you have temperature and humidity gauges? What are your readings?