Got crabs?

[wuvmybetta]

Cuz we do!! As some may know I went down to the Texas gulf last week and hermit crabs are a huge seller in every gift shop My daughter, had,had,had to have one. I saw them selling bitty cages and kritter keepers so I assumed one would be fine in a ten gallon, so we picked up a little cutie in a natural ivory shell. He rode all the way home with us, as active as can be. He moved around from temporary house to house until I set up his ten gallon a couple days ago. He seemed pleased but not toooo happy so I did some substrate research and ran out to get him some coconut fiber. The minute I put it down in his tank he burrowed and we never saw him again

I started to fear he may have either died OR he was molting (which would be ok) OR he was just lonely. So last night we went to Petco and picked up two small hermies to be his friends. They were so, so cute exploring and they ate right away. I noticed later that night that the ivory crab was out and about and now everything seems right with their world I adore them!!

The original crab...
mmmm,raisins!

New crab...
mmm,raisins!!

Other new crab...
mmm,raisins! I'll just take this over here for some privacy..

Making friends

Does anybody else keep them? I'm looking for any hints or tips to keep them happy. Their tank is no where near done with decor, or I'd post a whole tank shot. Right now I'm giving them salt water to drink, and lots of it! They suck that stuff down as soon as I put it in the crabitat. They don't seem to like the Hikari Hermit Crab food I offered them some boiled egg a few minutes ago and so far there are no takers. They really just like the raisins ,but I haven't tried much else.

 

[SRC]

lol Those are really cute. I like the ones with the painted shells...very creative. I had one when I was younger. I use to take it outside and play with it...until the day I left it outside in the creek with my cousin. I told him to watch him (Jake) becasue the phone rang and I had to run inside...I came back 10 minutes later to find my cousin on the swing set and no crab to be found. I found his shell across the street 3 years later (it looked like a cinnamon roll of all things)...with no crab in it .

Hermit Crab Care

Hermit Crab Homes

Hermit Crab Food


These have tons of info and links to even more info in them.

 

[wuvmybetta]

awwww! Maybe he just found a new home. He was probably roaming the creekside wearing a soda can Thanks for the links! I found one site the other night while researching, I believe it was hermit-crabs.com...? Anyway, this lady is as bonkers for her crabs as we are for bettas They have crab conventions and everything B)

I'm going to get them some natural shells because we've decided we like the ivory best. Of course we can't force them to change,but we can try!

 

[SRC]

lol that would have been hilarious...a soda can walking down the creek.


Yes, there are "crazies" for every type animal imaginable I'd imagine...lol. But it's nice to know we aren't alone..aye?

Better watch those crab though....I bet they like fish lol.

Heeey speaking of fish... ...ya dunno when I might have a little "wet" mail do ya hehe.

 

[OohFeeshy]

LOL, at first I thougt 'what the hell??', but then realised te shell isn't attatched (like in snails). Duh... Kewl crabs though

 

[wrs]

oh, I have 6 crabs, they are very boring and never do anything though, lol. They are quite large as well. I think that the smaller ones are more active and 10x more interesting.

 

[wuvmybetta]

...ya dunno when I might have a little "wet" mail do ya

Pm'ed ya.

They are cool, OohF! I like them, they're right by my desk so I can watch them when I'm here.

wrs~ we were thinking of doing a four foot tank with a bunch I like the big ones , but I love the little ones too. That crab-mad lady I mentioned above said she put her biggies in hamster balls and lets them run the house

 

[MAM]

Okay, I have the vision of the crabs in hamster balls rolling around the house...........

Wuv, I believe Cian keeps a couple of these little guys too, might like to pick his brain.

What? You don't like those lovely, painted, oh-so-unnatural shells? Party pooper. You should have picked a hot pink one. I'm just being smart. Like the ivory one though, its perdy. I love these little guys, have yet to get any myself, lack of tank space, as I'm like you, I want a nice sized setup, not just a little critter keeper.

 

[wuvmybetta]

oh you should see the empty shells we bought at the coast I think they'll be dressing gaudy for quite some time
I wish I'd of grabbed more though,they're like 2 for a buck down there, and 3.99 each up here. We bought bigger shells and the crabs are nowhere near large enough to fit in them yet. The ivory crab was sporting one for a while on top of his other shell So cute!

 

[wrs]

do you have salt water for them? One of them seems to be an exotic type, and they need SW.

Is that crab mad lady's name Chriotine or something? If so she owns a forum all about crabs.

 

[wuvmybetta]

do you have salt water for them? One of them seems to be an exotic type, and they need SW.

Is that crab mad lady's name Chriotine or something? If so she owns a forum all about crabs.

Yes, luckily a friend of mine had JUST brought me 5 gallons of pre-made saltwater to try hatching brine with. So I gave some to the crabs and they likey. Ya think I should offer fresh as well? The exotic one is probably from the coast, I believe the others are purple clawed, that's all Petco had. I was worried about fighting but they're cool with each other.

 

[Haiku]

I've never had hermies, but I have always enjoyed looking at them at the pet store and have toyed with the idea. Perhaps someday I'll have to try some out, thanks for the links on their care, will definitely check those out. Always like knowing as much as I can about the care of different pets . Very cute crabs lol

 

[wrs]

yup fresh is good as well, especially for the PP, purple pinchers.

 

[Opcn]

You need to be more careful where you hang out if you picked up crabs on vacation

 

[SarahBravo]

<was waiting for that - knew someone was gonna say it>

Cute crabs - I keep looking at the ones my lfs has, but I can NOT get another tank at the minute..... I can't..... I really can't!


How quickly do they grow - do you have to get them new shells every year?

More pics when the tank's finished please!!