Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

[shadow]

My DD#2 won a hermit crab and I was reading old posts about the hermit crabs here but thought I would throw this thread out to see if anyone had good simple info for me. I did google but sometimes when someone responds here, it makes more sense to me.


His shell is painted Spongebob (she loves Spongebob) and looks pretty cool! I do have him/her in a 10 gallon tank with rocks, water, and food. Anything else I should know?

TAI to anyone that has info. We have had critters before but not a hermit crab.

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

i am so excited for you!!

the new little friend needs sand, and ground coconut. 3/4 and 1/4 1/4 sand and the end all ground coconut. you can get that at petco. or pet smart the coconut looks like a round brick, you add water to it and it puffs up. you need to make it deep enough so the crab can bury in it. this is what they do. they bury espcially when they are new.
as much as you want to play with him, he's in shock from transition, and wants to bury. he'll do this for maybe 3 weeks. just leave him alone. it's ok.

while you are in petso/smart which ever you have, pick up a moisture control dial it's a round sticky dial. humidity temp! that's it. get the kit that says salt water for him too. or fake ocean, it's a powder looks like fine ground salt. get a small spray bottle.

check your humidity control. it needs to be in the green. if not if it's low use your spray bottle with spring water in it, and mist around the crabitat.

you need fresh water AND salt water in the tank. he needs both. you can use a mayo lid for a dish if you want.

your crab once he's not buried anymore, will need a bath twice a month.
just take yoru spray bottle with the spring water in it, and spray into the shell turn and dump the water out. the crab will poop into his shell, he'll dump it out when it's full. you may not even notice the poop.

food. you can give him pieces of bell pepper, celery, apple. totally fresh, nothing on it.

you will need extra shells for him so he cn change shells, about the same size as he is in, different shapes, and some a little bigger.
I feed mine hermit crab food, comes in a little jar at the pet store. there is also hermit crab treat this is coconut, papaya, and some other sort of tropical stuff.

he needs something to climb on. drift wood if you have it, bakeit first at 200 in the oven for an hour to kill any mites on the wood.

he needs a light, do you have a light on the crabitat? turn it off at night, on in the day time.

crabs are not boring, not all the time, i enjoy mine very much.

i don't know where you live, but if you don't have access to the things you need PM me anytime. i have a ton of extra shells.

there was an article in the paper not too long ago, a woman got a hermit crab at a festival, when she was little, she still has him, she said in the artical the crab is 30 now.
wow.

congrats on your new pet, I am really excited for you !!

[shadow]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

OMG Stella....you are full of info!! I am in Pittsburgh PA and will print this out and take to the pet store tomorrow. I did take a few pic and will either post or can PM you them.

I think I am more excited than my kids. My DD# 2 (4 years old) played a game at a local fair and ended up getting to ping pong ball into a "special" fishbowl....LOL

We had a choice of 10 goldfish or this hermit crab. Well DD#1 had already won gold fish so we opted for the crab.....

TY so much for the info. I hope it will be ok until I get to the store.

I have food and water for it but I think the food may not be what it wants. I will put in salt water tonight for it. Actually, it is really cute. It was very active when we won it.

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

wait wait wait.

not table salt water. treated special salt water.

you can buy a bag of play sand. dump it in a 9x13 pan and bake it too. kills any mites, bugs or larve that may be in it. stir it around cool and put in tank.

he needs sand really really quick, i am sure right now, he's stressed, trying to bury and he can't. you can get play sand at lowe's like four dollars a bag. one bag is plenty for a 10 gallon tank.

you have a few days to wait on the coconut shavings. but he really needs sand quick.
i see you sent a pm. headed there now...

[TexAnn]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

You folks are amazing! I really have enjoyed reading all of this and was very surprised to hear that hermit crabs could live for 30 years..I never knew that ...wow! Stella? What is your hermit Crab's name and is it male or female? Shadow? What did you all name yours? I am looking forward to hearing more about them. Wishing you good luck with your new friend, Shadow!

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

What is your hermit Crab's name and is it male or female? !

you didn't say it did you? lol i have 11.

I have them named at one time, and they change shells so often i cannot keep up on who is who. they will not change a shell for a long time, put a new one in there and they all change, they are all about the same size, there's a few that i can reconize, but when they molt, they change looks. (like a soft shell blue crab, they shed their body shell... not the housing shell.... molting is very stressful. i've lost several to a molt)

i had a crab squeeze his butt into a shell he didn't fit in, had to chip away the shell to get him out. ya'll remember that. that was stressful for me!

i do still have Nuisance.

[TexAnn]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

I guess that is a little hard to keep up with. LOL! I bet they are very interesting to watch.

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

most of them i can pick who they are because they like to be at a certian place in the crabitat.

one likes to sit at the top of the driftwood, another likes the corner where the heater is, nuisance likes to sit under the driftwood, i think she's gonna molt soon.
another likes to bury in the other corner. they'll move around and end up back in their spots.

[TexAnn]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

That is cute..Nuisance, just like our Nu...Lol! Is she the fun one in the group? HeHeHe!

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

That is cute..Nuisance, just like our Nu...Lol! Is she the fun one in the group? HeHeHe!

actually nuisance the crab has changed, nuisance is the one who got stuck in a shell.
she use to be a little bad a$$ shell fights, and pushing othe crabs off her turff, but lately she's hiding, this is why i think she's getting ready to molt.

[TexAnn]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

Aww! poor thing! She is probably scared to molt after that experience, huh? I'm glad she made it out though. It must have been an humbling experience for her. What a character..LOL!

[Cindy]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

Stella, why do they have such a tough time molting??? I remember when you first got them> I read every post back then. I don't have any, but you make it sound so interesting that I am enjoying your stories.

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

Stella, why do they have such a tough time molting??? I remember when you first got them> I read every post back then. I don't have any, but you make it sound so interesting that I am enjoying your stories.

i really don't know. ??

they shed their body, they have to come out of their housing shell and get back in either another or the same one. the body is soft for a day or so, best to just leave them alone. i do have a hospital to put them in, a smaller crabitat so they are left alone to do their thing.... but it seems like a natural thing for them, so i really dont know why they are so stressed in a molt. usually they molt and stay in he shell, waaaaay down in the shell like you don't know if they are in there...

if 'you' ever think they are dead, because they haven't moved smell them. it'll smell like dead fish, then you know they are gone. and then put in the front yard under the RIP little friends cemetary...

[Stella]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

oh i have learned that once they shed their body shell, after the molt, leave it in there.
the crabs will eat it, makes them more healthy, espiclly the one who shed it.
sounds gros i know, but it looks like a white shell, all crumpled up. just leave it in the crabitat.

[Sabine]

Re: Stella/anyone with hermit crab info

Interesting thread. I have never had a hermit crab, I didn't realize that they required such special care.