HERMIT CRAB EXPERTS UNITE!!! I have questions.

[appps]

It has taken me a little while to get back here because I've been chasing a bigger tank.

Just being given those words "Don't panic too much" made me feel better. Oscar the second crab to go down has resurfaced and changed his shell so he must be feeling ok. I still haven't seen Felix. If he is moulting how long may that take. When do I go into panic mode again. I really don't want to buy another crab at any time to support the trade. If I knew they were wild caught when I got them I wouldn't have. Also pets shops who sell them despite where they come from should know how to care for them. I don't like supporting them either.

Good point about Australian crabs having different requirements to those elsewhere. Of course they must.

No I don't have air con on in their room. The temperature has been reasonable. I was thinking a heat mat would increase evaporation and therefore humidity.
Have you tried a reptile heat rock for temperature?

I replace their food and water daily. I must have gotten the humidity up a bit to get the mould happening. I hadn't heard about feeding them cockatiel seed. Mine seem to be mainly eating fish flakes. They steer clear of hermit crab food. I gave them fresh fruit when I first brought them home but they didn't go near it. I figured they needed time to settle in.

I need a bigger tank for bigger dishes. I only have a sponge in the fresh water and they climb on it so I think they like it.

Interesting yours go completely under water. Mine can't do that with my current set up.

Funny how you can warm to a crustation. It didn't take me very long to fall for them. Immediately I thought I'd upgrade them to a terrarium in a main living area when practical so we could all enjoy them. Your set up seems great and very interesting. Thanks for sharing your blog. It was very helpful. Please correct me where I am wrong. From what I could tell you seem to have put a divider in a large tank about a third way along. You must have a filter in that. You mentioned a water fall. Very cool. Is that part of the filter? Then is it another third you have filled with sand and habitat and a final third with coconut fibre. Where do you get the fibre from? One of the pet shops told me they couldn't get it. Is it the same as the compressed fibre you can get in gardening sections? Is sphagnum moss ok? I have living plants to put in as well.

Any tips on a set up would be appreciated.

Thanks for everything.
Cheers

Nope, dont use a heat rock. They dont work with hermit crabs.

The cockatiel food is my own thing so thats why you wouldnt have heard of it lol They eat the seeds and just leave husks. I figure in the wild that would be the sort of thing they would eat seeds etc. I tried frozen corn the other day and one ate the inside and just left a corn kernal skin so thats another thing you could try.

Yeah they really love to spend hours submerged in the water, I was a bit worried to start with but nobody has drowned in the last 3 years Its funny because the guy that imported them into the states has in his instructions that the crabs will die from gorging on salt water if you let them get totally in the water. But really common sense tells me that in the wild they spend a lot of time hanging out in little rock pools, and they spawn in the ocean, so how dangerous is salt water going to be to them. If getting wet in salt water was dangerous none would survive spawning

They would also need to be able to hold their breaths for a fair while to get out to spawn and then make their way back in. I cant see how they clean their shells out either otherwise. We had one shell one changed out of when we got it and it had all this black gunk inside it. Ive never seen that since with the shells they change when they play in the pool.

The pool divider, we bought some aquarium grade silicone from bunnings and I got the guy at our local shower screen store to cut me a piece of glass, sand the edges so they arent sharp and we just siliconed it in place. The filter in there is a mini aquarium filter off ebay, cost less than $10 If I remember rightly.

The sand came from the beach but dont tell anyone, prior to that though for about 9 months I had the sandpit sand that comes in a bag from bunnings. They really do prefer sand over the coconut fibre, and spend lots of time digging round in that but not as much in the cocconut. The coconut fibre is just the fine Kritters Crumble http://www.kritterscrumble.com.au/ and your petstore probably keeps it for guinea pigs and such but if they dont the kritterscrumble site has a list of stockists I believe and I know I was surprised to find one of our feed stores on their supplier list as well. Just make sure its the fine one. Ive had no problems with it.

I tried living plants but not with great success. The most success was with a bromeliad but it too eventually got a bit ratty looking. Ive got daylight bulbs instead of just regular ones so there is UV as well but its still not been ideal for plant life. Biggest problem is I was never real sure if I should put regular dirt in not knowing whats in it in a pot so the plants had to go in the coconut fibre and its just got no goodness for them.

The waterfall was a copy of a good one I bought off ebay as it was about $50 cheaper than the one at the pet store but I should have bought the good pet store version off ebay instead and saved a little but not so much LOL I am going to have to replace it because everytime I think Ive fixed it it starts to leak. Ive finally decided there must be a fault on the base. So its on my todo list for when I know everyone is up topside and Im not going to kill anyone pulling it out of the tank.

As for the harvested from the wild thing Im sort of in two minds. While I dont agree with the large quantities that are taken to simply live for a month or two in a badly looked after tank, I dont see it as a bad thing if you get some to add to a well set up tank where they have a good life expectancy. In the right set up they can probably live longer than they would in the wild being eaten by things. Far too many are bought as disposable pets though and I personally think they should require a licence to keep just like reptiles and other native animals.

As for when to panic about Felix, its been a long time since I kept track of my crabs ups and downs as they sort of do it all the time and I know they will be okay now, but 6 weeks rings a bell as the estimated time they can take. We did loose one right at the start in the first few weeks that went down and never came back up. It really had the odds stacked against it though, it was bought when we knew no better in the middle of winter in an unheated tank with no lid. We went back a few days later for something and the others still there had started dropping legs from stress. It was also in a shell with this great long pointy bit and Ive always wondered if maybe that got stuck when it tried to dig out so Ive never bought those shells again.
All you can do though is be patient and cross your fingers. What will be will be but hopefully it will surprise you by popping up again some time soon.

Oh and it you are looking for a bigger tank dont forget sites like gumtree. There is always someone sick of cleaning a fish tank LOL

 

[MyHaven]

Nope, dont use a heat rock.  They dont work with hermit crabs.

The cockatiel food is my own thing so thats why you wouldnt have heard of it lol  They eat the seeds and just leave husks.  I figure in the wild that would be the sort of thing they would eat seeds etc.  I tried frozen corn the other day and one ate the inside and just left a corn kernal skin so thats another thing you could try.

Yeah they really love to spend hours submerged in the water, I was a bit worried to start with but nobody has drowned in the last 3 years   Its funny because the guy that imported them into the states has in his instructions that the crabs will die from gorging on salt water if you let them get totally in the water.  But really common sense tells me that in the wild they spend a lot of time hanging out in little rock pools, and they spawn in the ocean, so how dangerous is salt water going to be to them.  If getting wet in salt water was dangerous none would survive spawning   They would also need to be able to hold their breaths for a fair while to get out to spawn and then make their way back in.  I cant see how they clean their shells out either otherwise.  We had one shell one changed out of when we got it and it had all this black gunk inside it.  Ive never seen that since with the shells they change when they play in the pool.

The pool divider, we bought some aquarium grade silicone from bunnings and I got the guy at our local shower screen store to cut me a piece of glass, sand the edges so they arent sharp and we just siliconed it in place.  The filter in there is a mini aquarium filter off ebay, cost less than $10 If I remember rightly.

The sand came from the beach but dont tell anyone, prior to that though for about 9 months I had the sandpit sand that comes in a bag from bunnings.  They really do prefer sand over the coconut fibre, and spend lots of time digging round in that but not as much in the cocconut.  The coconut fibre is just the fine Kritters Crumble http://www.kritterscrumble.com.au/ and your petstore probably keeps it for guinea pigs and such but if they dont the kritterscrumble site has a list of stockists I believe and I know I was surprised to find one of our feed stores on their supplier list as well.  Just make sure its the fine one.  Ive had no problems with it.

I tried living plants but not with great success.  The most success was with a bromeliad but it too eventually got a bit ratty looking.  Ive got daylight bulbs instead of just regular ones so there is UV as well but its still not been ideal for plant life.  Biggest problem is I was never real sure if I should put regular dirt in not knowing whats in it in a pot so the plants had to go in the coconut fibre and its just got no goodness for them.

The waterfall was a copy of a good one I bought off ebay as it was about $50 cheaper than the one at the pet store but I should have bought the good pet store version off ebay instead and saved a little but not so much LOL  I am going to have to replace it because everytime I think Ive fixed it it starts to leak.  Ive finally decided there must be a fault on the base.   So its on my todo list for when I know everyone is up topside and Im not going to kill anyone pulling it out of the tank.


As for the harvested from the wild thing Im sort of in two minds.  While I dont agree with the large quantities that are taken to simply live for a month or two in a badly looked after tank, I dont see it as a bad thing if you get some to add to a well set up tank where they have a good life expectancy.  In the right set up they can probably live longer than they would in the wild being eaten by things.  Far too many are bought as disposable pets though and I personally think they should require a licence to keep just like reptiles and other native animals.

As for when to panic about Felix, its been a long time since I kept track of my crabs ups and downs as they sort of do it all the time and I know they will be okay now, but 6 weeks rings a bell as the estimated time they can take.  We did loose one right at the start in the first few weeks that went down and never came back up.  It really had the odds stacked against it though, it was bought when we knew no better in the middle of winter in an unheated tank with no lid.  We went back a few days later for something and the others still there had started dropping legs from stress.  It was also in a shell with this great long pointy bit and Ive always wondered if maybe that got stuck when it tried to dig out so Ive never bought those shells again.
All you can do though is be patient and cross your fingers.  What will be will be but hopefully it will surprise you by popping  up again some time soon.

Oh and it you are looking for a bigger tank dont forget sites like gumtree.  There is always someone sick of cleaning a fish tank LOL

Thanks again, the heat rock was another pet shop gem of wisdom that didn't make sense to me. Reptiles need to warm up after getting cold over night in a different way to what I imagine crabs do.

Love the cockatiel food idea, they must eat grass seed on the beach. And I'll give corn a go.

I have been searching gumtree and there had been heaps on the other side of town and they won't fit in my car so I have to find one local enough that friends won't mind helping me pick it up. I can't wait to make them a pool. I have two local aquarium stores that make tanks so I'll be able to get the cut glass etc from them. These are actually my three year olds'. He's an Octonaughts (ABC Cartoon about the ocean) fan. And we spend hours wading through salt water rock pools.

The guy where I bought the crabs from told me to put them in the salt water once a week but I don't do that. They can get in themselves.

I have another question. When it comes to salinity - how do I know how much salt to add to their bath. I was told a pinch but that all depends on the size of the bath. This is what makes me mad. They don't have a clue or the care to find out.

I've got bromeliads and they will grow in the sand. I got them from someone who grows a lot of them and she said that will be fine. Then I found a couple of grass plants in BigW that say grow along the edge of pools in well drained moist conditions. They're not in the tank yet for lack of space. I let them dry out already and they're not looking good anyway now. I've been told they eat them so I expect to be changing them.

I was told hermit crabs don't live long, and that makes me mad because it seems to be true but only because of bad care as a result of bad advice. I agree that licences (and compulsory training) should be required, but I've said that for a long time about dogs, cats, birds etc.

I'll be holding my breath for up to six weeks then. Hopefully I'll have the new abode established ready for Felix by the time he decides to rejoin us top side.

Thanks again.

 

[appps]

Thanks again, the heat rock was another pet shop gem of wisdom that didn't make sense to me. Reptiles need to warm up after getting cold over night in a different way to what I imagine crabs do.

Love the cockatiel food idea, they must eat grass seed on the beach. And I'll give corn a go.

I have been searching gumtree and there had been heaps on the other side of town and they won't fit in my car so I have to find one local enough that friends won't mind helping me pick it up. I can't wait to make them a pool. I have two local aquarium stores that make tanks so I'll be able to get the cut glass etc from them. These are actually my three year olds'. He's an Octonaughts (ABC Cartoon about the ocean) fan. And we spend hours wading through salt water rock pools.

The guy where I bought the crabs from told me to put them in the salt water once a week but I don't do that. They can get in themselves.

I have another question. When it comes to salinity - how do I know how much salt to add to their bath. I was told a pinch but that all depends on the size of the bath. This is what makes me mad. They don't have a clue or the care to find out.

I've got bromeliads and they will grow in the sand. I got them from someone who grows a lot of them and she said that will be fine. Then I found a couple of grass plants in BigW that say grow along the edge of pools in well drained moist conditions. They're not in the tank yet for lack of space. I let them dry out already and they're not looking good anyway now. I've been told they eat them so I expect to be changing them.

I was told hermit crabs don't live long, and that makes me mad because it seems to be true but only because of bad care as a result of bad advice. I agree that licences (and compulsory training) should be required, but I've said that for a long time about dogs, cats, birds etc.

I'll be holding my breath for up to six weeks then. Hopefully I'll have the new abode established ready for Felix by the time he decides to rejoin us top side.

Thanks again.

Woah!! A pinch of salt?? Please tell me they didnt tell you to use table salt?? That will kill em.

You need to buy aquarium salt like you would use for salt water fish. Then mix it up as per the instructions. I used to mix it up in a 1L container so it was easier to work out and then keep it in the fridge so I wasnt mixing it up all the time. I could just grab the mixed water out to do a change. It warmed up again pretty quick in the warm tank.
I live half an hours drive from the beach so I used that for a while but now I have the filter set up etc and dont have to change it everyday I just go to the beach now and then and get soaked grabbing a container of real salt water when I clean the pool out.

 

[MyHaven]

Woah!!  A pinch of salt??  Please tell me they didnt tell you to use table salt??  That will kill em.

You need to buy aquarium salt like you would use for salt water fish.  Then mix it up as per the instructions. I used to mix it up in a 1L container so it was easier to work out and then keep it in the fridge so I wasnt mixing it up all the time.  I could just grab the mixed water out to do a change.  It warmed up again pretty quick in the warm tank.
I live half an hours drive from the beach so I used that for a while but now I have the filter set up etc and dont have to change it everyday I just go to the beach now and then and get soaked grabbing a container of real salt water when I clean the pool out.

Relax. It is aquarium salt but it must be repackaged. It has the pet shop label on it and no instructions. But I have asked three pet shops and they all say a pinch. But typing this now I realise I haven't asked the boys at the aquarium shop. They'll be able to help.

Thanks.

 

[appps]

PHew LOL Maybe even take a look at some other salt packages to get a bit of an idea how much if they cant help you. Its funny but since the hermet crabs Ive come to realise that pet shop folk know didly squat about most things they sell. I now research before going in there for anything for any pet and man I get some bad advice If Im silly enough to ask.
Sad really.

 

[MyHaven]

Yay. Felix surfaced. He came up swapped shells and burrowed again. They both now have the same type of shell so I no longer know who is who. While I haven't seen them together I'm sure they are both ok. Thanks for your help. I can now relax enough to sit back and enjoy their antics.

Cheers

 

[appps]

Great news!
I've lost track of who is who as well