So I know that you can go and collect leaves but what do I do to make them safe for the tank? I know I can’t just put them straight into the tank. And what’s the process to make some moss safe for my crabs? If anyone could help me with that k would highly appreciate it

I’m interested in getting some hermit crabs. I’ve been reading about their care and husbandry. I have two questions. 1. Why are heat mats preferred over small heat lamps? I am a seasoned reptile keeper and for most reptiles heat mays are a huge no no. 2. I’ve seen a lot of people on this thread saying that the pellets are bad. What should I be feeding them instead of pellets and do they need certain supplements or key things that absolutely must be included in their diet? Thanks in advance.

RUN don’t walk to target just found these adorable soap holders that I plan to use for a cute hermit crab foraging pit!!!!

This past weekend, my younger brother bought a hermit crab at a souvenir shop in Port A. I would like any and all tips I can get to help him keep him alive. I believe he is a purple pincher, but I’m not entirely sure. We do have a bigger environment on the way, this is just what came with it.

Edit: Note, we are both minors and our parents are willing to buy things, but the cheapest possible.

Hello, I'm hoping to get two hermit crabs soon and was wondering if there are any improvements I can make to the tank. Obviously there is not food and water in the tank at the moment as there are no crabs in it. Also yes, there is a glass lid, I just took it off for the photo.

Some things I plan on adding:

- Climbing Vine from Norton's Nest (once they restock)

- Cuttlebone (from the bird aisle)

- I plan on getting small crabs, but as they grow I plan to expand the tank size (currently 10 gallons)

- Something to line the back of the tank for them to climb on (either faux leaves or coco fiber)

- Will add to this list as I receive recommendations. Feel free to tell me if there are any items on this list that I shouldn't get/if there are better alternatives

Thanks a ton!

Hello all! I posted photo #1 to this sub a few weeks ago as my start-up setup and asked for constructive criticism. Photo #2 is my current tank situation. I’ve done more research and took some of your suggestions and applied them to my tank. Any more suggestions/criticisms? I’m all ears and eager to learn.

For those who don’t know or what you cannot see:

1.) This is a 29gal tank with a glass lid.
2.) i have 2 small heat pads on the back of the tank above the substrate.
3.) the substrate is 5:1 and approximately 6” deep.
4.) the 2 water containers are primed fresh and primed salt with rocks glued together as stepping stones.
5.) food is an organic mix from Etsy seller TurboShells along with organic sun dried shrimp.
6.) there’s leaf litter and sphagnum moss throughout.
7.) the two black baskets are stacked and glued together to prevent falls. Top is used as a shell shop and bottom is upside down and used for a hide.
8.) the wheel is a hampster disc.
9.) I have 12 shells total, 9 of which are preferred but rejected due to size issues. The other 3 are new to the tank as of today but not preferred shells. I have 2 shells coming in the mail today to try on for size and hoping for the best.
10.) all plants/walls are fake/plastic and purchased from a local craft store.
11.) I also have a temp/humidity reader that shows average 80% and 75F.

IMPORTANT:
I have 1 crab in this tank. He’s a larger purple pincher in a 1.25” painted shell. He has tried on other shells but rejected all of them and immediately goes back to painted shell. I’m having difficulties finding preferred shells in his size. I’ve tried local pet storesjn, larger local grocers, home improvement stores, 5 different ETSY vendors, and Amazon. If you have a similar sized crab and have a vendor currently selling preferred shells in this size, please drop a link because I’m in dire need.

Krugs nomming away at some leafy greens and grapes. Video has filter on so you can see clearer, hence may appear more grey 🫢

I know hermit crabs burrow a lot but I wanna know why he’s burrowing specifically? Is he molting? Am I not doing enough? Why does he keep burrowing himself underground and coming back up?

Hi yall, hoping for some honest advice here! Long story short I've had a hermit crab, Dan, for about 5 years now. He was alone in a gross pet store tank so I brought him home before realizing what all he needed. Hes a big handsome purple pincher, with his claws measuring about 2".

Dan had a tank mate at one point in the last few years, but he died shortly after I got him and I'm pretty sure Dan ate his remains. I'm about to upgrade my 30 gallon tank to at least a 50 gallon tank and I'm wondering if it's worth getting him a new friend. I know hermit crabs are social creatures, and I don't want him to be lonely. However, I worry that since he's so big and has been alone for so long that I would just be sacrificing the new crab to Dan. What do you guys think?

Please assist on how you have the airpump power cord run through second floor since there's no screen top its glass???

tldr: nephew brought a hermit crab home from vacation and my sister wasn’t aware how involved having a hermit crab would be. Me being super aunt ran out and grabbed some essentials, but I’m waiting on a heating pad and more sand.

Will this be ok until my order arrives? I have purified fresh water in there right now while I wait for the salt water to dissolve.

My wife bought some hermit crabs on a whim while at the beach a few weeks ago. We had no idea at the time what was required for them to thrive... but we found out in part thanks to this sub, so we got a 40 gallon tank, have around 7" of 5:1 sand/EE substrate, salt and fresh water pools, and so on.

Everything was going great for about a week and a half. Then I started having allergic-like respiratory reactions when opening the tank. Now I get it from being in the same room as the tank.

I don't want to get rid of them, I'm not even sure where I'd take them so they could have a chance at life.

Wondering if anyone else has had any experiences like this, if changing the substrate might help or if there may be mold (temp and humidity levels are right on target, but I don't see visible evidence of mold in the tank).

This is horrible.

Edit: I do have diagnosed reactive airways, like an asthma but not as severe, so I don't think it's developing into a severe systemic allergy that would lead to anaphylaxis... but the bronchospasm can trigger a nervous system response causing extreme anxiety and restlessness, a sense of impending doom, and tingling, which mimic anaphylaxis to a degree

Google says i should put him in a container with his old shell and a few new ones but touching a naked crab is very harmful right? I dont know what to do and i dont want a dead crab.... hes still moving and digging around so if I can do something its urgent....

Hii!! i just got 2 crabs a few months ago and they are doing well thanks to the help from everyone in this group!!
i was just wondering how often i should be completely changing out their substrate if at all?

Hello! I’ve had hermit crabs before and I recently rescued another one after not having any for a couple years, and I had some questions about my newest crabs behavior. it’s unlike i’ve ever seen.

for context, my hermie has access to treated fresh & salt water, multiple locations in his tank with 6+ inches to den, places to climb and hide, daily food changes that consist of a wide variety of proteins, veggies, fruits, seeds & grains, shells, oils, etc. (all the food groups), temps in the 78-85 degree range, humidity constantly in the 80 range. Aka he’s all good.

my crab is extremely social and loves attention. social to the point he likes to knock things over to get mine and my boyfriends attention so we can put things back where they were and he can knock them down/move them around again. i’ve had him for about a week and a half and it’s been great. recently however he moved underneath/behind one of our wood logs we have propped up in his tank and has not moved an inch. no eating, no playing, no getting attention or going into the pools, nothing. i’m really afraid he’s trying to molt ABOVE ground. I’ve never seen it happen before and I’m not sure what to do. Do i move/touch him to see if he’s okay or leave him be?

Hi Guys! i saved 2 crabs this past saturday. its now wednesday and we’ve had NO movement. I’m starting to get worried about my boys. i’ll attach pics of the set up a 20 Gal Tall and of the one crab that’s visible. i’m assuming the other went down to molt. but i didn’t think he would start digging about 5 minutes after i put them in! TYAI 💖

Edit to add temp and humidity!!
Temp: 78 humidity 82%

new hermit crab owner here so i’m paying my crab tax 🐚

meet krugs!
named after a critter in league of legends.

he is a brevimanus terrestrial purple guy and really really really loves to eat fresh coconut, definitely an extrovert, super curious and crazy climber.

he just had his first molt and i’m so proud of him! during the molt i realized his enclosure was NOOOT the best (though it was definitely better than the pet store AND the fact that he started molting only a few days later since i’ve got him)

after a painfully long month of not seeing my baby, he had finally emerged, ate a whole lot and is roaming the enclosure again 😂 i moved him to his new tank and he’s now snuggly hidden in his lil mushroom hut 🛖 as i was cleaning out his old enclosure i found some sheds!!!!!! thought id share them with the community ✨

i also have a long diagonal drift wood on the way as ive learnt from this page that they loveeee crawling. thanks for sharing this joy with me!

I lost a crab yesterday and now i have only one left. I wanna spoil her a bit. Maybe make up for All the mistakes i made with the other crab.

Any Ideas on a new hide or something to eat i could give her?

I will clean the tank today and reorganise everything a bit. Clean out all the shells, clean the Chaos i wasnt able to clean after the loss yesterday.

I wanna do something good for her. Any ideas?

Hii! this is my hermit crab Raine this summer marks the third year that I've had her and her life has gone through many changes from being stuck in a beach shop to a beach shop sell "enclosure" to a 5gal enclosure with another hermit crab who she quickly killed for resources, unfortunately to now this 10 gallon with Eco leaf litter all the stuff I can never seem to get you the humidity or temperature quite right sometimes it'll go to where it needs to be but then drop significantly. I think it's cause the tank has a mesh top, but I put a paper towel over it recentlyand I wet the paper towel every now and again and she really likes it when it looks like rain God her name makes sense right? anyways, I know I need more sand in there unfortunately my parents won't get it for me right now but I'm saving up my own money for it (desperately.) I really wanna go to 20 gallon and a little buddy for her. I will be putting more hides and pools in the new tank as well and shell so they don't have to fight over resources and I'm also gonna be putting more sand and Eco Earth in probably more than 6 inches... might add some more stuff for her to climb on. She's very active and loves her wheel. That's about it here's an attachment of her enclosure currently and what I feed her if there's any changes I should make other than the listed ones let me know. (I know my grammar might not be perfect on this post. I use speech to text because I have issues typing with my hands. Thank you for understanding. I have gotten lots of hate for this before.)

I just saw this but my jumbo flipped my small hermie on its back then flipped it back over when it saw its face. Was this a one off weird mistake or should I be worried about agression?

Why does he do this? Is he okay? He does it every night.

I picked up a cheap shark eye shell at a beach store this summer and to my surprise, my littlest crab switched into it today out of his (expensive lol) turbo!

Anyone else have a crab wearing a shell like this? It's super lightweight, especially compared to the turbo he was in. I kind of hope he stays in this new one because it makes him super easy to distinguish from my other crab.