land hermit crab

[Pointy_kitty]

well, as some people know its my birthday this saturday
and my best friend (who is well known for buying on impulse) asked me what i wanted
i told her i had been researching land crabs, as i was looking to house something different
they intregue me
i am infatuated by their temperment
for those of you that don't know, they are full of personality and are quite intelligent
they get to know your "scent" and once they get use to you they can be VERY hand tame and playful

but now i'm getting ahead of myself )

she, without a second thought purchased a 1.5" baby for me and showed up at my place with his own little crabitat (habitat)
i named him pinchy and at the moment he is in a 2 gallon critter keeper with sand, food and water dish, and a few shells to climb on or even try on for size

as he get bigger i will purchase a 10gallon with some vines to climb on and a nice shallow pool
but while he is still small, i will give him a weekly salt bath

so to make a long story short, my father would kill me if he knew i had purchased yet another animal
he does not care that i am grown and he does not care that i take better care in all aspects then anyone i know
he only cares that he thinks its pathetic that i have to "hire" a babysitter when i go on vaccation more then a day
he says i have tied myself down with my animals
but this is what i love in life so i see no problem
they all around live better then i do (they all have balanced and full diets, plent of exercise/attention as required and are always clean)

but i have decided to keep pinchy
is there anyone out there with crabs that would like to share any techniques, stories or information with me on land hermits?

also, i am feeding him fresh fruits and veggis (oranges, grapes, carrots and lettuce) for now
does he "require" a store bought pellet to cover his "meat" diet or are there any other types of foods i can substitute the pellet for

 

[Pointy_kitty]

nobody knows anything about hermit crabs?

 

[Cian McLiam]

Hi PK,

I have two crabs, and am getting more when the importer can get his hands on some. One thing about Hermies, they like company! Mine act like they hate each other but always make up, its cool to watch them have 'feeler' fights They wont act their best when kept alone.

I feed them apples and plums and Hikari pellets for Corydoras, soaking them first. All their water must be dechlorinated first, and if you have Ecuadorian crabs, they need a supply of brackish water too. I keep a natural sea sponge for each crab, when they are soaked with water the crabs tunnel under and chill out. You need to keep the crabitat humid as well, if its too warm and dry, they will burrow and wont come out.

They need a supply of larger shells to swap around, even if they are happy with their own, another crab might fancy a piece of the action and try to rip them out of their shell. The look like aliens when they leave the shell, but they do it extremely quickly.

I take my crabs out for a 'walk' on the carpet, they love to poke around. You can also buy the small play balls that they go inside and move around in.

They need at least 4" of sand/coral sand to burrow into and a couple of water dishes, no deeper than 1" so they can climb out easily. I have a 'night light' in my crabitat too, they are most active at night and they love to climb, so put in plenty of driftwood pieces leaning against the sides of the crabitat.

If I think of anything else, I'll keep you posted, or just ask

Ken

 

[Pointy_kitty]

Hi PK,

I have two crabs, and am getting more when the importer can get his hands on some. One thing about Hermies, they like company! Mine act like they hate each other but always make up, its cool to watch them have 'feeler' fights They wont act their best when kept alone.

I feed them apples and plums and Hikari pellets for Corydoras, soaking them first. All their water must be dechlorinated first, and if you have Ecuadorian crabs, they need a supply of brackish water too. I keep a natural sea sponge for each crab, when they are soaked with water the crabs tunnel under and chill out. You need to keep the crabitat humid as well, if its too warm and dry, they will burrow and wont come out.

They need a supply of larger shells to swap around, even if they are happy with their own, another crab might fancy a piece of the action and try to rip them out of their shell. The look like aliens when they leave the shell, but they do it extremely quickly.

I take my crabs out for a 'walk' on the carpet, they love to poke around. You can also buy the small play balls that they go inside and move around in.

They need at least 4" of sand/coral sand to burrow into and a couple of water dishes, no deeper than 1" so they can climb out easily. I have a 'night light' in my crabitat too, they are most active at night and they love to climb, so put in plenty of driftwood pieces leaning against the sides of the crabitat.

If I think of anything else, I'll keep you posted, or just ask

Ken

thanks so much for the information
i think i got most of that down, except i only have one crab until he gets a larger crabitat and i don't have a sponge
what would be considered a "natural" sponge?
like a loufa sponge?
where would i find a correct sponge?
and do i soak it in declorinated water?
also, i've had him for 2 days now without a sponge... am i killing him ?

 

[Cian McLiam]

No, the sponges are just an extra I got mine at a pharmacy, they are more expensive than normal synthetic sponges (bad for crabs!), any health store should have them too, just ask for natural sea sponges. I cut them into pieces and soak them in de-chlorinated water.

Oh and get a cuttlefish bone, the kind you feed to pet birds, they take chunks off to get some calcium.

I find mine like to root around in the beech tree leaves I give to all my crabs, not sure if they eat them though. Make sure there are no green bits on the leaves though, just brown.

Do you know if yours are Ecuadorian crabs?

 

[Pointy_kitty]

No, the sponges are just an extra I got mine at a pharmacy, they are more expensive than normal synthetic sponges (bad for crabs!), any health store should have them too, just ask for natural sea sponges. I cut them into pieces and soak them in de-chlorinated water.

Oh and get a cuttlefish bone, the kind you feed to pet birds, they take chunks off to get some calcium.

I find mine like to root around in the beech tree leaves I give to all my crabs, not sure if they eat them though. Make sure there are no green bits on the leaves though, just brown.

Do you know if yours are Ecuadorian crabs?

ummm... he's a carribien land hermit crab

oh yeah and i gave him a paper towel soaked in dechlorinated water for now so that he won't dry out in the hot wheather
is that ok?

 

[Pointy_kitty]

ok, i got a sponge from a crab store
it cost 1,99 with tax

 

[Link]

If he's a Carribean he won't need salt. I'd get him a mate though asap. They'll be ok in a smallish tank. They prefer company. The sponge help more with humidity which should stay at around 70%. Don't let it drop below 50% or the Crabs could suffocate. Get some Stress Coat from your lfs. Add 5 drops to one litre of water. Use this water to bath the crabs in once each week. Dont bath them any more than that and dont bath them in salt water, it may harm them.
Like Cian said they could do with some Cuttlefish for the calcium. You can get some special Calci-sand from you local reptile shop. You'll find its better and they wont need cuttlefish. And whatever you do if your Crabs dig into the sand do not dig them up. They may stay under there for ages. They dig when they are moulting and if you dig them up then you could kill them.
Give them plenty of places to clim and hide and only use de-chlorinated water fo them to bathe in. They must have a bowl of water. They can and will eat most foods, just be sensible in what you offer them. I wouldn't let them on the carpet though. The fibres in the carpet can get inside their shells and irrate their soft bodies.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

ok,
so i've been doing a TON of research and i know my way around hermies pretty well (although i couldn't POSSIBLY know everything )
it is in fact an equadorian hermit crab male
he is in the kritterkeeper by himself
i cannot find crab food anywhere so i have ordered some to arrive next friday
i have been feeding him carrots, cucumber, lettuce, peanutbutter, cuttlefish (cuttlebone), grapes, apple, shrimp pellets, chicken, newt food, cherrios, and banana

he has salt water to drink and freshwater to bathe in
and i believe he is ready to molt
his shell is too small and he is missing a leg
last night he made a mess of his crabitat
he flooded his kk and dug huge holes, leaving a billion footprints behind

EDIT: BTW i don't know if i told you guys his full name and didn't see it when skimming my posts but his full name is ~Sir Hubert Pinchington the 3rd~

 

[MAM]

sorry to dredge up an old topic, but someone in another thread asked about them, and i've been wondering a bit lately myself. this seemed like a good thread.

any of you three have pics of your "crabitats"?? i'd love to see some set ups....... i may look into getting a pair or so after the holidays.