Hermit Crabs...Any advice?

[MadamPoofyBrow]

I'm pretty sure Hermit Crabs count as other pets, so here it goes!
I recently bought a hermit crab. After further research, I learned that he needed a friend. So, I went back to get him ONE friend, and came home with four. So now I have five hermit crabs.
I know about how they need heat, humidity, extra shells etc. I have a twenty gallon aquarium ready for them at home, but currently have them in a large Rubbermaid bin (I'm on vacation at the Beach)
They have a bowl of salt water, and a large rock to climb on, which they like. In the rock is a hollow, where I put their food. Regular hermit crab pellets, and dried shrimp. They currently have a stalk of lettuce as well, and seem to happy as they are crawling all around and eating/soaking in the water.
So here's my questions:
I have extra shells for them that look a little bigger than what they have, but how do you tell what size they will be needing?
I ended up with four males and a female...they won't fight, will they?
and this is more out of curiosity than a need to know: Why is their left claw bigger? I've read it's for the males to attract a mate, but why do the females have it too?
If you have any other advice or anything, feel free to ad it! I'm attempting to help these guys live, as every other past attempt has failed...turns out I was doing a lot wrong. I've researched this time, but I'm sure there's more to learn
Any help is appreciated!

 

[Pyxis]

Yep, they sure are harder to care for than they would have you believe! So it sounds like you know humidity should be at 70% or higher already to keep their gills from drying out. The best substrate for them is sand wetted to sandcastle consistency. Put at least six inches or so in the bottom - they like to burrow and will burrow into it when they need to molt. They need both fresh and salt water, so a dish of each that they can climb into and completely submerge themselves in is a good idea. Also, the food they sell for them in the stores actually contains stuff that is harmful to them, so you'll want to make your own or the food could kill them. They need hiding places, so getting some hides for them is good. If you can make them a salt water bubble pool they will love it - it will keep the humidity up and give the air in their aquarium a salty tang so it'll be more like home to them. They also like climbing, so giving them something like a branch to climb they enjoy. Get one from a pet store though and not one just pulled from outside because it could have pesticides on it.

As for the shells, a variety of sizes is good, from a little bigger than their current one to bigger than you think they'll need. Keep at least five per crab so they have some choice and there's no fighting over shells. They hate the painted ones so just go with the natural shells.

Do you know what species you have? There are different species and you should have at least two of each species you have. They all communicate differently just like different species of birds so one of each species is important.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Right now they just have salt water as their current tub is not big enough for two, but will deffinately get them some fresh water too once I have them in their large tank.
I knew about the painted shells and picked active crabs with natural shells, and got them 24 extra shells of a variety of sizes.
I had read that about their food which is why I got the shrimp kind which I had read a lot of good things about. They wouldn't eat it, so I got the other to switch them over since that's what they had been eating, and when mixed they tried the shrimp.
I will also try to get them some fresh fish today
They are all the common purple pincher kind.
Right now they have a rock and large shells to climb on which they seem to enjoy and I will deffinayely look in to some wood.
I will deffinately do that with the deep sand as well. The thing they are in now doesn't have room for that much sand, and none of them are acting close to molting anyway. They have about two inches which they like digging in.
Thanks for your response!
Here's some really poor quality pics lol. What they're in in the pics is NOT what they are living in. It's just what I brought them home in they have a lot more room and stuff to do in their actual house

[/IMG]

 

[Pyxis]

All this talking about them has almost made me want to get some again, lol! I forgot how much fun they are. I had purple pinchers and ecuadorians, and they were awesome to watch.

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

They are so fun! They aren't even skittish and they're very entertaining! I only got pinched once, cause one was about to fall off his rock (on two inches high but I panicked anyway) and i reached out to catch him and he grabbed my finger. It wasn't that painful though ;-)
We were at another store today and I found another one I just had to have, so now there's six...
My dog has been sitting by their tub for HOURS watching them crawl around! She is very fascinated by stuff like this and hasn't tried putting her nose close to them yet, so I just let her be
And you should deffinately get some again, they're super fun!
But I have a feeling I'm about to learn that they're a lot more trouble than I thought...oh well, they're awesome!

 

[Pyxis]

Lol, definitely more trouble than people think! My first one was a gift from a boyfriend - some gift that turned out to be when I had to spend $100 to get them set up, then I bought it a friend, then it was the wrong species so I had to go out and buy BOTH of them friends...lol, they multiply faster than chickens! But I really did enjoy them. Seeing them when they were changing shells was interesting - they look so weird naked!

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Lol I've already spent a good bit getting them set up!
And there's my other question...how do you encourage them to change shells?
I know you shouldn't and I NEVER would pull him out; but I have one that is HUGE and lives in a tiny little shell. He can't even pull in up to his furthest to the back walking legs. Where he came from had no extra shells in the pen, let alone big ones.
I got him several to choose from, and I know I should just wait it out, but is there a way to encourage him? He just seems very uncomfortable in that tiny shell :-/

 

[MadamPoofyBrow]

Oh, and also...how big can they get, and how long does it take them to get that big? Where I come from has no stores with shells for them and I don't wanna leave without a shell big enough for them.

 

[junebuggena]

My brother had a few when he was a kid. I remember the biggest one being at least 6 inches leg tip to leg tip, he was a pretty old crab. They were fed crickets almost exclusively. The oldest one lived for about 5 years. My mom was able to find shells in various sizes at craft stores.

 

[Pyxis]

They can get really big - in the wild purple pinchers can get to the size of a grapefruit. I'd just give him lots of different bigger shells of different styles since they do have their favorites, and once he's feeling settled and safe he'll change. It's fun when they start 'trying on' new shells - they'll be in a new shell each time you check on them, and if none are to their liking they'll go back to their original shell for awhile, and then repeat until they decide on a new shell. There are some good websites that you can buy shells at and have them shipped to you. I had a favorite when I had mine, let me see if I can dig it up for you.

Edit: Found it! http://www.seashellcity.com/crabs/crabshells_1.html

Also, here's a page with tons of good links that got me started when I got my crabs: http://www.hermit-crabs.com/links.html

The name of the wood they really like to climb has come back to me: Cholla wood. Oh heck, I've talked myself into it, I'm gonna break out my extra ten gallon tank and get a few again. I'm gonna find some Ecuadorians as I have a soft spot for them.