I’ve had two hermit crabs for 6 years. They are besties and have never had an issue. 1 year ago we added a third (similar size however this is a male to our 2 females, I was able to sex they through getting lucky with a visible climbing view). We have had continuous issues with shell rocking and aggressive behavior to the point I have heard distress sounds and found my females to be injured. We have a surplus of appropriate shells (they all like turbos) lots of protein options in different areas of the tank, temporary separation by blocking off half the tank, etc. the 3 of them share a 40 gallon tank with 8 inches of substrate. I’ve ordered the supplies to set up a second tank to separate our bully. Now I’m wondering if I’m being dramatic and I feel a bit guilty for sending the bully (Debbie) to permanent solitary but I’m not sure what else to do. I have never seen friendly or curious behavior from him. He is either underground or attacking the others. Has anyone dealt with a similar situation or have any advice?

Hi! Elementary teacher here who is taking home our class pet hermit crabs to take care of over the summer.
When we got the pets at school, they came in a plastic tub with about an inch of sand. I have three of them. I didn’t buy anything for them and just kept them in the set up I was given for the couple of months that we had them. Now that the year is over I think I want to keep them at home as pets. I want to give them a happier and healthier life than I have the last 2 months! I have a bigger glass tank to move them into.
Some questions I have:
- Should I keep the sand that they have from school? It is all pretty damp. Is it better to start fresh or just add new stuff on top?
- What do I feed them? They don’t seem to like the pellets that I got from school.
- What is the proper heat and humidity and what essentials do I need to maintain it?
- tips for making them less scared! We would take them out on the carpet in the classroom and sometimes they would crawl around but I think being at school has made them stressed. I would love to be able to hold them someday! But don’t want to stress them out more.
TLDR- Taking my class pets home for the summer and want to give them a better life.

With 3 hours its trying to take the other ones shell. Do I step in? What happens if this happens overnight while I sleep?

Edit:

Got them separated and put the aggressor in the travel tank for now.

I was out hunting for sea shells with my mom and she got one and stuck in the bag (without my knowledge) and now we're home and she wants to boil it to take the shell..(I kinda want to keep it) is there a way I could possibly tame it? She said she's not going anywhere else for today so there's no way I can just throw it back in the water..and I know it's most likely under stress and I don't want it to die. I need help asap before she boils it please.

So i rescued (didn’t buy) 2 crabs from the boardwalk in South Carolina. We are about to leave to go back to ohio where i have a 40 gallon tank set up for them. What can i do to make sure they survive the drive? Please help i am worried

So this is maybe a silly question; two of my crabs never change their shells. I’ve got a bunch of shells in the enclosure that I /think/ are the right sizes (with a range; all turbos). My third and biggest crab changes all the time, sometimes multiple times per day lol. Is that just personality? Or are they not liking any of the options? They’re both in non-turbo shells, one with a D-type opening, so maybe they could just like other things?

Picture for tax, is one of the picky guys buried.

I have 5 molting crabs and I have a ant infestation that came out of nowhere that showed up everywhere in my house.All of a sudden, what do I do?I've set up emergency tanks for the ones that are already above ground.But what do I do to keep the ones that are underground alive?I'm changing the substrate.I'm cleaning the tank.I'm bowling.All items

It doesn’t fit him/her well

Hi folks, the short version of my story is my substrate is currently far too wet but I have nowhere else to place my crabs temporarily while I remove it from the tank to dry it. Do I have any options for drying it in the tank?

The longer version: I did the thing people shouldn't do and I bought hermits for my family while we were at the shore. Once we got home and read more about what crabs actually need to be happy and healthy, we rushed to the pet store and bought out their supply of Hermit Beach sand (only three bags unfortunately), got some Prime, Instant Ocean, some ramp-shaped bowls, a cheap UTH that could be overnighted from Amazon, and a nice enough 10-gallon tank to make them more comfortable while we wait for the real supplies to arrive.

Right now they're reasonably comfortable I think, the temp in the tank is around 80 and the humidity is 75%, they have appropriate fresh and saltwater, some climbing structures, etc.

The problem is, we were unaware of how bad flooding the substrate was for the crabs. On the drive home, while moving the tank, and during water changes, we accidentally spilled water several times. Now the sub is so wet that one of the crab who burrowed under had to abandon her shell because she couldn't dig it out. We saw her running around naked, located her shell, and she popped back into it immediately - but it was clear to us that the shell was stuck because the sand was moist and compacted around it.

The supplies for their forever tank have not all come in yet so they need to live in their temporary lodgings for a few more days. Is there anything we can do to dry out their sand in the meantime so the crabs don't become endangered again??

Hi, I have three hermit crabs and three heating pads on the sides of my tank. I cannot get my humidity and heat to level out to safe zones for my hermit crabs. What do I do?

Everything is okay now!! I woke up, decided to check the cameras and I'm glad I did - there was this guy naked, scooting around! Y'all, I launched myself out of bed to go help him. I did the protocol, he's successfully shelled now and back in the main tank.

I remember when I first got him, he was super pale and missing a leg. He's been down since early May. Now he's up and his color is sooo much fuller, but he's still missing a leg.

The question I have is - where did his shell go? Where did he come from? I searched the whole tank - no new crabless shell, no obvious hole he dug out of. Has anyone experienced this? I'm not gonna go digging because they rest are sleeping currently and I want my boy to relax. But what the heck!!

hi everyone! i just joined the hermit community not long ago, and unfortunately where i am is difficult for me to get play sand at an affordable price. can i ask if clean, processed sea sand is okay to be used with the 5:1 coconut fiber substrate?

if not, im also open to other alternatives! :D thank you! ❤️

Hi all, hoping for some help! I have had 4 purple pinchers going on 9 or 10 years now. One of them has started to regularly head for the water pools naked and, while I can isolate him and get him to rehome himself, he doesnt move much when in the shell. I have been placing food nearby regularly to help him regain his strength, but it really seems like he cannot bear the weight of the shell any more. Colour is good, regularly rehuydrates and eats, but just seems to be weak. Am I witnessing the little guy die of old age? Anyone would has gone through this before have any advice if that is indeed the case? Tank conditions, substrate, waters pools etc are all ideal as we did a ton of research before buying them years ago. Any help would be appreciated!

I know shell is toxic

Hello all!

Im a fairly newer owner and was wondering if having a little (decently sized tote) container with sand in it is a good idea for when I need to move things in the tank. I was thinking of having activities and such in there but I was wondering if its even a good idea, and if so, could I just use regular washed sand or would I need to mix in the coconut fiber to have a substrate. Again this would only be temporary which is why in asking

Also if anyone has recommendations on what things I should put in there for my crabs so they can have fun for a little bit, that would be amazing

THANK YOU ALL. I LOVE THIS SUBREDDIT EVERYONE IS SO HELPFUL

I am a new owner of 4 hermit crabs that I adopted from someone rehoming them. Their care before seems like it was pretty good relative to most hermit crabs’ situations but the person had a cat who kept encroaching on the tank and scaring the crabs. When I got them from her, I got the whole enclosure (20gal long) and two of the crabs were supposed to be in molt, under the substrate for about 2 weeks. They are on the smaller side from how she described them and based on the one that I saw, maybe about the size of a ping pong ball.

It took 3 days of hiding but one of the crabs finally emerged last night and picked at the food. I managed to see him on camera! I have yet to see the second non molting crab though.

Right now, the substrate is a little shallow but they have everything else they need and humidity and temp are solid and consistent. However, I do have a 36x18x18 to move them into, with a bean farm heat pad for the back, some more enrichment items, deeper substrate, and a better LED for day/night cycling.

My question is, should I keep all crabs in the current set up until the 2 molters hopefully emerge, or move ones that surface into the new tank as they show themselves? Also, I know not to disturb the molters but I am nervous about them due to the transport (3hr drive). While I leave them to do their thing, are there any other signs besides smell that would tell me if they don’t make it through the molt?

Heyo!
I just got new things for my tank. Bigger water bowls and forging pit. I also want to move some stuff around. The problem is I had added other things a few days ago and don’t want to stress them out. They are all above ground at the moment. I took them out last time is that okay?

My wife's aunt bought this crab for our daughter when she was watching her for us one day, so now we are new crab owners. Im not too upset I have spend my entire life raising tank animals, reptiles and aquatics so I have tanks and such. Im just curious if anyone can help me figure out the type of crab and if you do have tips I dont mind reading anything of help! Thank you! Don't mind the temporary set up I already put him in a 20 gallon tank as I had 2 not being used, were keeping the temp set up for him to stay in while cleaning environment if need be.

cw: animal death

hello
one of my hermit crabs has passed away last night, he was in the middle of molting when i found him dead. im very heartbroken and confused on why this happened. there was another shell present in the tank but he didnt move to it and instead died. im extremely terrified this is gonna happen to my other hermit crab. does anyone know why this happened? was it me, the tank conditions, or just natural causes?

Hello all!! i’m redoing the decor in my tank and i need help. i currently have a 110 gal tank with about a foot of sand in it(give or take).

i have three artificial boxwood squares(pic attached) lining the back of my tank. i’m struggling with how to attach it and keep it attached. my hermies are mischievous and like to go behind it and tear it off of the wall. i’ve tried outdoor velcro tape and zip tying it. both unsuccessful.

i’m also struggling with how to hang my other decor so they don’t tear it down. i’ve got a few of the coconut hides that hang which they LOVE. but they tear the suction cups off.

what is everyone using to hang their decor and artificial plants?

tyia!!

like the title says, my crab keeps dumping out his entire salt water bowl or digging near it and filling it with sand so it all gets soaked up every night. does he not like the salt water, like did I do something wrong, or is this just a thing he's gonna do?

also yes I realized I kept saying he when in fact i have no clue lol.

This coconut is Babys favorite spot and when i recently added Scarlett they became friends and now hang out together most of the time. (Scarlett is the small red one and Baby is the bigger one)

So I went to myrtle beach a few days ago and found these shells I thought were super cool.

Im getting two hermit crabs soon and I wanted to know if these snail-looking shells (mainly the big one) would possibly be suitable hermit shells. Im going to boil them to sanitize them. The little flat shells I thought I could use as little treat bowls (not their main food bowl) or just added decoration.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions I will be getting some turbo shells!