Hermit crabs

[Luvmyzoocrew]

yeah i assumed that they carried it like turtles and lizards and such and read that somewhere and thought wow, ha ha ha ha

thanks for the site that is one of the ones that i book marked to have to reference and look at it. I think they are neat, and i have to admit that i had my son say he wanted it but i really wanted it,lol, i am doing the tank and feeding it and all that needs to be done for it,lol

 

[slavetoabunny]

If there are any particular shells you want, let me know and I'll see what I can find locally.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Thanks Patti, I dont know if he has a preference on shells,lol. I have been calling them medium sized shells. i would say that the opening is about 3/4 of an inch wide.

 

[MyLOVEABLES!!]

Luvmyzoocrew wrote:

i do like to eat crabs, but no worries he is too small for me to eat,lol!!!!

I love crab meat lol.


Do you have ot have special sand or just sand from the beach?

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

well there are different things that you can use, some use sand, repti-bark, moss. The sand has to be able to be moist without molding. I dont see why you couldnt beach sand, i mean they are from beachy locations

 

[FlickeringHope]

Make sure you have shells of various sizes; larger(even larger than you'd expect for the hermit crab to need) and shells the same size as the crab.

Also, you're going to need to bathe them(actually, more like rinsing them off) run a crab under cool water, then let the water drain out of the shell. You'll, of course, want to look this up online. You'll find it, I'm sure.

Hermit crabs aren't the easiest of pets to take care of - there's care books that come out for them like every 5 years or so, and they're always different from each other. But do as much research as possible.

 

[Manda8190]

Aww In 4th grade I used to have 15 of them. Had them in a 50 gallon tuberware. And recently I had two a HUGE one named mac Daddy. You can tell their sexes, Did you know that?

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

thanks guys. I have dipped him a couple times already. Manda i just found out that you can sex them but i havent tried to look yet,lol

he is neat i was watching him eat tonight, and everynight around the same time he comes out to the shell that i put his food in,lol, like a little dog

 

[Manda8190]

haha Yeah I did it with my two right away I had a male and a female. I think the females are always more shy. But I hardly remember the hermit crabs I had in 4th grade. It was a project for school I had 3 to start off with, and my friend didn't want her's anymore after she took in someone else so I took them. ended up with 15 it was crazy haha Smelt was so bad! haha

 

[Jess4921]

Here are my crabbies! I have 11 in my 40 gallon tank... these pics are a little old though. I re-arranged my tank, but no new pics.

*EDIT*

Sorry, Just realized those are super blurry! These are even older, but a little more clear...

Haha, enough pics for ya?

 

[Jess4921]

Oh, and some care info...
Hermies need at least 70% humidity to breathe. 70-85*F is a good temperature for them (under tank heater reccomended... Lamps dry out the air), and they need fresh and SALT water. Most people dont know this, but all hermit species other than purple pinchers will die with out it. PPs love salt water, but they can survive with out it. Make sure they can completely burry themselves in the substrate for when they molt, and give them plenty or extra shells. They also love being in large groups! Good luck with your crabbies!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

wow Jess what a great set up, i am jealous now. lol. What subtrate are you using for your tank? the light is that a uvb bulb, a repti sun type bulb? Do your hermies eat fresh food like veggies and ffruit? i have put veggies in and mine doesnt seem to eager to eat them

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

i have to get a thing to read the humidity, but what are some ways to put humidity in your tank. i have been spraying the sides of the tank. I do have an under the tank heater on my bearides tank i could maybe change over, i dont know if it will come off

 

[Jess4921]

Thanks!
I use Eco Earth for the substrate. Its pretty much just compressed coconut fibers, so its natural and it works better than sand IMO. And the light is just a regualer lightbuld. Its and extra fish tank hood light that i had on hand, and I just use it for viewing them. I heat them with a UTH. I feed them a mixture of crushed cuttle bone, oats, rice and some other stuff that I made, and 2 commercial foods. I dont give them other foods very often (bad me...), but they LOVE peanut butter and over ripe fruit... They arent big on veggies. Other than apraying the tank, the only other thing you can really do for humidity is get a UTH because it makes the moisture from your substrate evaporate into the air, and make it more humid. You can soak some large sponges and put them in your tank too.

Oh, and dont take the UTH of your beardies tank- Since theyre so sticky, peeling them off ruins them, and it can be dangerous to try to put them on another tank.

 

[Bebop]

i used to have hermit crabs! www.hermit-crabs.com is a great place to learn more about them (I think it's still there. If you need a heat pad, I actually have a heat cable I'm selling for pretty cheap, but PM me if you would like it. Instead of a sticky heat pad, you put it on with electrical tape and you can put it any way you want it and take it off if you need to.
For humidity, I didn't see a lid on your tank, so you should get a glass lid in the aquarium section, or a piece of plexiglass cut to your specifications, or get a screen lid and put saran wrap over 3/4 of it (this is the best option in my opinion.) Get a coconut substrate brick and use it for half of your tank or mix it with the sand, but I had mostly coconut bedding on one side and sand on the other.
Hope this helps!

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

thanks bebop i do have a lid it was just off for the photos , it is on of the screen lids. Jess i was thinking of that with the uth too, i will have to see how much they are.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

[ I'm very sorry... just had to tell you Fran, I get a kick out of the request to see my crabs every single time... I'm sitting here giggling now]

"Ahem"... Back on topic...

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

lol Autumn

 

[Jess4921]

You have a 10 gal, right? A heater shouldnt be more than $15-$20.

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

Well i have added 2 more Hermies to the tank, they are too neat to watch them together. The one has already changed shells two times,lol. I have changed the tank around a little again.

As far as heat i have a heat ommiter that i used for my beardie on winter nights could that be used for the hermies?