To Understand Why There Is No Right Or Wrong To Crab Care

[JediMasterThrash]

This is a repost of an old article of mine I think someone was asking about, but I couldn't find it in the searches.Just felt like posting an explaination for why there is no simple right or wrong to crab care. Why it's not a case of "do it this way or your crabs will die".The reason is simply because environment is different for everyone. So what might be acceptable for one person might not work for another.In general, the care I've laid out in the Care Sheet is the simplest, easiest-to-implement complete basic care that statistically will give you the best chance of success. But it by no means is always the best way for any one person or any one crabitat.Temp & Humidity: If you live near the ocean in a middle latitude (i.e., florida, etc), the natural air conditions are already perfect for crabs. If you don't have de-humidifying air conditioning, you could let your crabs live in an open-air wire cage. If you maintain moist sand, the humidity at second level height may not need to be close to the perfect 75. If you maintain higher heat, it might make crabs more tolerant to lower humidity ranges. And FYI, the perfect 75/75 is just a reference average, not a perfect stable condition. In real life, temp and humidity vary as much as 25%/15o each day.Substrate & Molting: You only need a digable substrate if you want your crabs to molt in the main tank. Once your crabs and stable and destressed, you could "micro-manage" your crabs. You could let them live in shallow (safe) bark or gravel. You could bathe them every week, and always keep up to date on every crabs molting stage. Once you notice them become premolt, they could be moved to a special molting chamber. The more common method these days, self-bathing and main-tank molting, was something I pioneered 4 years ago because I was lazy, not because it was the only way ^_^ They could have other shelters or beds of moss/leaves to hide in, rather than bury in sand.Water & Food: If you have well water, it probably isn't treated with chloramines, and a regular dechlorinator (or letting it sit) would work. While city water needs chloramines and heavy metals removed. There is no evidence at all (search for my previous posts) that aloe, stress coat, or slime coat is bad for hermits. Commercial foods are forumlated to contain the correct complete diet. Some work went into them, and won't kill your crabs. The only issue is that some add preservatives, and certain metal compounds that, while OK for mammal foods, aren't for crabs. But as long as a commercial food doesn't contain those, it should be alright. And there's no concrete evidence to say that the minute quantities of the chemicals in commercial foods are actually harmful. And it also might depend on species too. For instance, I have evidence from my own experiments that copper sulfate may affect Ecuadorian molts, but PPs might be unaffected. So if you only have PPs, they may be hardier to some ingredients than more fragile crabs. Also, inland species of crabs like PPs and Brevimanus may not require saltwater, even if they still like.Painted Shells: Dyed shells pose no risk of flaking. And there's never been any evidence than flaked paint has harmed crabs. Crabs will tend not to like them for natural reasons, but there's never been any evidence of a painted shell doing harm to a crab (except if the crab is placed into the shell before the paint/dye has cured, in which case there has been evidence). Some paint may contain harmful ingredients, but that doesn't mean the crab eats it. Crabs encounter countless harmful substances everyday in the wild. They have natural instincts on what to eat, and what not to, and vary their diet purposfully to prevent overdosing on anything bad.The point of this post is just to remind everything that there's still very little we know for absolute certain about crabs. Most of it is just best practices. And the best practices tend to turn upside down every few years anyway. I still of course only "recommend" what's in the care sheet. But doing something else doesn't mean you're going to kill your crabs. In fact, you might find a better way!(*) fyi, to understand why I suggested bathing is OK in my other thread, it was part of the whole "micro-managing" process. By maintaining full control over their molting stages, it seems to mitigate the effects, if not synergize. And I supposed if you bathed them in water that was the same salinity and pH as their preferred shell water, would they know the difference? I don't know. Straws probably keep a higher salinity, while PPs keep it very low. So maybe saltwater baths help keep their shellwater salinity higher, which ends up beneficial to them? Who knows.All I know is that some crabbers are able to do the micro-managing very successfully. And for the rest of us (too many crabs, or too lazy like me), we tend to have better success with a more hands-off approach. But I'm always supportive of new research and experiments.

[Crabby Abby]

Thanks for the repost, JMT. We'll be sure to archive it.

[motley crew]

I think this is a great thing to repost from time to time anyway for new members and old to refresh things that may have been over looked.Thank you

[Guest]

yes -that was it - thankyou! A reminder that things are not strictly black or white and that a bit of tolerance goes a long way! cheers Jennie

[Nicole]

Thanks for reposting this JMT.

[Laurie LeAnn]

agree, agree, I want help with my crabs in trying to riase them the right way, but also I might find something that works better for me. Although it may not be the norm for crab care I might want share my experience and not feel like I'm going to punished for it. Ex: some people may change their water daily, I don't, I work 2 jobs, come home & it's whats for supper, going to wash clothes? ect.. so I may change water once every 2 or 3 days depending if it is really soiled. On the other hand if some one does something that I think is harmful I will stae it but I don't do it in a brass, mean hateful way either Ex; I don't agree on misting a crab head on in the face, to me that is like taking a fire hose and turning it on full force on your face, ouch! If I mist I mist from above making a rain forrest. But I don't come out and just be mean nasty and rude to the person, I just explain my thought and therory in a nice way. We try and help each other out to make life for these critters as best as we can by sharing information and stories. I don't think I have seen any post that have been nasty as far as this is the way is has to be or your crab will die only helpful tips, and right now I am taking everything I can get to try and get my sicky crab through his bad post molt stage, I know everyone is trying to help & not one person is saying do this or he will die and if he does I know it is not anyones fault, it is just something that happens with the crabs at times. We are taking them from their natural habitats, forcing them into captivity, and trying to mimic their living conditions. If it wasn't for my son, I wouldn't even haven't these crabs.

[Crabber85]

I agree whole heartedly with JMT on this there is a base group of care recommendations that apply to all but those recommendations are just the base to build upon then you the individual go from there and tweek it to the specific needs of your hermit crab/crabs to give them the best care possible.It dosent bother me to read and listen to what someone else has modifide in order to keep their crabs alive who knows it may hlep me or others one day.

[Guest]

This is a great thread!! When I started crabbing I worried so much about doing EVERYTHING correct, even though it wasn't necessary. I'm sure this will help tons of new crabbers!!! Thanks!!!

[Guest]

Great Post JMT !!Well put and long over due...You make it sound much easier to have and enjoy Hermit Crabs w/o being paranoid & OCD about how to take care of them..I think new comers should read this (after the Care Sheet) and realize there is no exact science on how to have these Great Guys as Pets..I remember when I first started I was Frantic at anything that was not exactly as stated. But now after Many Years of caring for my little Friends I have my own regiment I go by that keeps them happy & Healthy...TY for this..

[Pink]

Thank you for this. I agree with everyone, it's nice to hear that even though my tank is not perfect, the imprtant thing is to remember that as long as my crabs are healthy and happy,I can always improve my tank as time goes. Just last night I added honey and peanut butter to my tank, and was amazed to see everyone (including my stressed out digger who's been hiding for three days) going absolutely CRAZY for the new food in their tank. This is the most I've seen of some of my newer additions (about a month old now), and I can actually see the peanut butter level has gone down. I actually got woken up a couple times because everyone was running around the tank so happily at 5am. :PI know there are a lot of things to be improved in my tank, but thanks to helpful advice (not nasty "do this or your a bad crabber" advice), I am learning so much that will help my crabs live healthy, happy lives.

[Laurie LeAnn]

I still learn new stuff all the time, it's a trial and error thing. Even the people that have owned crabs for yrs have things that happen that leave them scratching their heads. Like the crab who maybe stuck in a shell by a broke part of shell and can't get out to change, everyone is trying to think of ways to help this crab and it's owners out. You just have to take the best advice that is for you and work with it.