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Bryangoh11 · Post by **Bryangoh11** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:28 pm

I'm new to owning hermit crabs and have just begun 3 days ago. When I bought them home they were all running around and exploring. The next day 5 of them burrowed in the sand and hasn't come out yet. There isn't any holes in the sand. So I don't know where they are. I stayed up last night and only saw one of them coming back out for awhile and then burrowing back in again. I did some research and saw that I shouldn't dig them up because they might be molting. What am I suppose to do? Will they die in there? Also I didn't put in any drift woods inside as I couldn't find any and I finally found one today. Am I suppose to put it in? What if I accidentally put it on top of a crab will the crab be able to find their way back out?

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 2:07 am

As difficult as it is, do not dig them up. They could be molting or destressing. I would not add anything that goes into the sand but the driftwood on top of it should be fine unless it covers a huge portion of the tank, even then it would probably be fine. They dig all over the place and do not leave openings except when retuning to the surface. They are rarely near where they went down. If they are molting they will often go all the way to the bottom of the tank and if you can get under and see they will be there. It is important to keep food and water in case they come up while you're not looking.When you put the wood in, soak it in dechlorinated aquarium salt water then bake 250-300*F for 30-60 minutes depending on thickness until dry. This will prevent mold and pests from entering your tank via the wood.A couple of important points here. How much sand and/or EcoEarth do you have? A minimum of 6 inches of sand castle consistency substrate is recommended. What are your temperature and humidity levels? They should both be around 80, minimum of 75 for PPs (purple pinchers) others require higher. Do you have both dechlorinated fresh and aquarium salt waters? What are you feeding them? How many do you have and what size tank?There is a ton of really good information on the Zoea section of this site. If you have questions you will usually get really good information quickly.

Bryangoh11 · Post by **Bryangoh11** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 3:03 am

I have 5 inches of sand and Eco earth mix. When I bought these guys from my local pet store they said that I didn't need the temperature and humidity thermometer because I live in a tropical country. I have both salt and de chlorinated water in my tank I feed them commercial hermit crab food. But I do give the crabs that aren't hiding a treat every night. I have 6 tiny ones in a 10 gallon tank

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Mon Mar 09, 2015 4:39 am

Skip the commercial food unless it's blood worms, meal worms crickets , shrimp all freeze dried you find in fish section. You can go to crab sites hermit crab patch and buy food. There is a safe food list on here. You can feed them lots of human foods w no SEASON and your crabs will love it, even organic baby food , beech nut is a good one. Just make sure what you see on the front is what is on the ingredients. Squash, water. NOTHING else. You can freeze the what is left. I put the rest in snack size Baggies and squish the air out then break off what you need. Every humidity thing I bought has broke in 6 months. I use the hand method..if it feels humid and warm then my crabs are o.k. but I have been doing this since 2009 and have the same crabs now since 2009 & 2011 crab a will go up and down a lot for awile til they get done molting or stressing. You will want to leave out fresh water and food for those that do come up. I decorated my tank , crabs just dig around til they find away to get up. Just don't over crowd the floor area. They are wild creatures and have to adapt in the wild