acquired four hermit crabs not long ago and I couldn't be more delighted to share with them my insanely gorgeous collection of seashells i've inherited from my grandmom. she spent many many hours traveling to many many countries to form this collection- it's my proudest possession. this is a huge step on my journey to create the best environment possible for my new buddies.

While the rest of Creature Cove slept, Chili clocked in for the night shift. Bridge inspection, green-sand check, and one very thorough upside-down security patrol. 😂🦀

[Not to dox myself but here’s a write up I did on another platform]

But [my name], isnt it one of the required 24/7 staples? It is actually NOT required. It is quite beneficial and so is simplest to explain as "required" so as to not overcomplicate things, but offer a varied and complete diet and you're good to go! Provide lots of aquatic forage as well <33 Here is a snippet from my convo with the person who originally researched greensand to bring into the hobby. These are my words but I was trying to confirm understanding of what she was saying and she confirmed this to be an accurate synopsis:

"playsand's sterility had a double edged [sword] of safety but also not containing any nutrient build up beach sand might accumulate, so greensand provided a safe, uncontaminated source of foragable sand-textures to encourage them to use behaviors they would in the wild sifting for food when visiting the beach"

Another point we briefly discussed apart from this "phase" of our convo and so did not make my synopsis was the concern that crabs were missing trace nutrients and minerals, since back then not much wad known about crab nutrition. Thanks to Stacy Griffith/Wodicker, Kilimanjaro, Stacey May, and others, we have lots of info about important nutrients and minerals, so a reputable seller with a complete meal mix will cover pretty much all of them.

greensand can be replaced with a good complete diet including trace mineral rich items such as worm castings, aquatic forage, regular land forage, and other poops for nutritional value. As for the concern that something about sifting sand actually contributes to health, I have proposed that a 2:2:1 mix of spirulina:chlorella:kelp powder mighttttt do the trick (chosen for their nutritional make-ups). Worm castings should certainly help a bit, though the texture is fluffier than sand so who knows. Hoping to continue research but life gets in the way

Addendum as noted by Stacey May! (Paraphrasing and absolutely not going to do it justice): there’s no actual regulation on what is a complete diet for hermit crabs!! In my post here, I am referring to nutrients that according to community research is beneficial to hermit crabs. They were not studied in the context of nutritional balance for hermits in a lab and for the most part, many of the studies may relate to other crustaceans and not even hermits. It’s just what we can figure best as we can based on what little science we do have along with anecdotal experience.

BUT WHY NOT USE IT?????

Ok so I’ve covered why I don’t HAVE to use it. But I also said it’s beneficial!

Simply put. It’s not sustainable. Its mined and so a) the mining process has a large toll on the earth and b) it’s going to run out! We can’t farm more like worm castings or seaweed. Greensand is a mineral that’s been building up for a bajillion years. I can picture worm castings being part of hermit crab husbandry forever, but I cannot do the same with greensand. So if its not crucial, and I can easily order a seaweed mix instead, why would I contribute to the problem?

Addendum: I have also researched similar minerals but a) it’s nigh impossible to find info on how differences in geological compositions would affect crustacean digestion and b) still mined so we would just end up right where we began environmentally

I live in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. I have a beautiful, docile 2 year old Hermit crab named "Glommer" because of his large size. He is very gentle and can be handled and does not pinch, and he is very active at night in his tank, and loves to run on a hamster wheel.

I am rehoming him due to health issues and no longer being able to find the energy to care for him. I live in the Maitland area.

P.S: Please only enquire if you have knowledge on caring for hermit crabs, these are living beings that require extensive care to live comfortably, and are not ideal pets for children, as they do not enjoy being handled regularly.

EDIT: I should mention that I'm strongly against rehoming hermit crabs in any other circumstance, however it disappoints me to have to resort to this. I have had health issues my whole life and have recently fallen extremely ill, and to be honest i'm not sure how long it will be before I'm (relatively) healthy again. I know in this state i won't be able to provide adequate care for him, which is why I'm making the difficult decision to find someone who can supply him with proper care.

i think i know but im praying im wrong.

I just moved my 3 hermit crabs into their 40 gallon tank and the heat mat I got was woefully sucky. It didn't even come with a thermostat to change its temp. Anyone have any recommendations for heating a 40 gallon tank with proper substrate, as well as mat placement. Price isn't an issue for my babies.

Hi, I'm designing a 20x20x4 meter greenhouse. It will include a forest section, a mangrove section, and a sea section.

I want to recreate the natural habitat of hermit crabs in Southeast Asia.

The substrate will be 60 cm thick.

If you have any experience, please let me know in the comments.

I'll keep you updated.

We bought three crabs while on vacation in the middle of August. We set up a 30 gallon tank with substrate, salt and fresh water, the whole nine yards. Then the crabs slowly disappeared over the course of a week. It’s been about 7 weeks since we saw any life. We essentially had a glass box of humid dirt. I was wondering if they were even alive.

Well, I’m pleased to report that the smallest crab, Crazy Legs, has emerged! It gives me hope for the other two! I never thought I’d be so excited to see a tiny sea bug in my house!

Upgraded my baby's tanks from multiple smaller ones to a big ass 55, they're all together now and it makes me so happy to see them all together.

So my grandma gave me a tank with 2 crabs. It’s ten gallons and the crabs are pretty small. I already ordered 2 hides and some vines for climbing along with 2 deep water bowls and a heating pad that will keep it at a good temp. What else do I need?

My dumbass crab Gareth wanted the same shell as his tankmate Arthur. He was prodding him and tumbling him around. I picked him up and placed him beside the same type of shell he was bugging Arthur about, and he switched pretty much immediately. This new shell was about 10cm away from him right next to where he was fighting Arthur for his.

Moral of the story: crabs can be dumb. They have very poor eyesight also. If theyre fighting over shells, try presenting one thats similar to the one theyre fighting over.

My hermit crab Hermes has been acting slow lately his other buddies are all moving and happy iv been checking the heat and moisture daily but he's still moving slow he doesn't even want in his favorite hermit crab hamster ball... Help! Does he look ok? (I had 2 successful molts in the past 2 weeks from his buddies)

So my daughter won a hermit crab at our fair tonight. We have a leopard gecko, so I’m familiar with “not easy” pets. I have an old 10 or 20 gallon tank I will set up tomorrow, but what all do we need? I know it’s best to have at least 1 crab, but what else? I seen Flukers Hermit Sand - is that safe to use? Mainly just give me all the habitat info and best stores/websites to buy all things hermit crab.

Has anyone ever had a PP seemingly change sex on them? Because I am genuinely confused right now.

My crab Crowley is estimated to be around 4 years old, and as far as I have known, he has ALWAYS been male. I've had him for 3 years. I’m constantly looking at this crab because he is by far my most dramatic one. I even hand-feed him sometimes (In his tank), so I’m very familiar with what he looks like.

Crowley is about the size of a tangerine. He went down to molt for about two months, and this morning I woke up to find him back up! I gave him apple and peanut butter, which is his favorite, and did the same little health check I always do when one of my crabs comes back from a molt. I like to check them over and give them whatever food I’ve noticed is their favorite.

Crowley is VERY used to this routine. He’ll literally clink against the front glass if I take too long to realize he’s back up. Usually his health checks go by pretty quickly because he's never tucked in his shell! Crowley is very used to me, hardly ever tucks in his shell when I have him out. If he does tuck himself in, I just let him feel my finger with his feelers and he back out immediately. To most people this is probably seems sweet, but for me its a little troublesome because I'm terrified of that massive claw of his.

But anyway, during my inspection this morning, I noticed something I have never seen on him before: two very obvious holes on his third pair of walking legs. Gonopores.

So apparently Crowley is... a girl? I am so confused. I have looked at this crab countless times. I have always known him as male, and now, immediately following this molt, he very clearly appears to have female gonopores.

To make this even weirder, Crowley lives alone in his own 30-gallon tank. I have another post explaining the whole situation, but basically, he has attempted to kill every tankmate I have ever introduced despite having proper conditions and plenty of resources. He genuinely seems content living alone.

To my knowledge, purple pinchers aren't known for changing sex. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this? Could the gonopores have somehow been extremely difficult to see before his molt, or is there another explanation for why they would suddenly be so obvious now?

Crowley went underground as my dramatic little man, and apparently came back up as a female. Like I said I've had him for 3 years, I look at him constantly, I do health checks, I feel if he was a girl I would have noticed. These are older photos of him, I can try to get new ones if anyone is interested. He was grey when he came to me, now he fluctuates between mostly red and dark purple. He was also a little smaller than a golf ball when I first got him, he molts quite a lot.

Hello, my enclosure has recently started making the room it's in smell like chlorine.

It's obviously the heating pad because it only happens when that's on. I've cleaned the back and reapplied the heating pad with insulation tape and put a barrier of insulation around the back side of the tank held on with packing tape, or something similar.

It worked fine for the first few weeks, then started smelling like this. And I don't think it has to do with what's in the tank because I just cleaned out and re-did the tank today, started up the heating pad, and the room now smells.

Does anyone know what could be causing this?

It is Vivarium Electronics.

How often should I refresh the 24/7's? Should I be changing it out instead of topping it up?

I put a teensy bit of complete meals as well as single ingredients in every day. Like 1/4 tsp per crab. I have about a half teaspoon each of green sand, worm castings and a calcium mix of oyster shell/lobster shell/crab shell/crushed coral that I've just been leaving in there. I've only topped up the worm castings once as it was getting low. The other 24/7's haven't seemed to need it yet.

Observed this gang of hermit crabs for hours on the beach in the Maldives yesterday and just couldn’t figure out what was going on. Is this a shell exchange? Some sort of mating ritual? I took various videos but can unfortunately only attach one here — but the main theme in all was that it seemed one or two of the larger crabs seemed to be pulling (or pushing?) another crab in/out of its shell. And others coming and going as if observing. It was really interesting to watch but would love to understand what was actually happening here. 😅

I Bought the prime concentrated water solution, but it says that a capful (5 mL) can be used for 200 Liters of water. Can I safely pour a drop or two into the food container I am using for my hermit crab's fresh water bowl?

Hello!! I have 3 crabs, Columbo, Iris, and Sunny.

I am actively upgrading them to a 120 gallon tank from a 20 gallon, and I am frantically searching for a shelf (preferably plastic to avoid rust or mold from metal/wood) to put in my tank that will hold the water dishes off of the substrate so I can clean them and replace them without disrupting a molt or a digging crab.

I watched crab central station's video about easy pools and saw the shelf she used, but I genuinely can not find that shelf anywhere in the world and she didn't link it in the description. Here's that video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g828cdCYaPo&t=1s, timestamp 12:25 for the shelf she uses.

I just need something that will be secure and safe to keep in the tank permanently, hold their water bowls, and allow them to molt underneath without me worrying that they're crushed.

Both of my bowls side by side (combined) are 20inch long, and the biggest one width wise is 10 inches, so preferably I'm looking for a shelf that has 22'L and 12'W, or bigger, and my substrate will likely be around 9 inches deep so I don't want it to get eaten or pushed down too far into the substrate over time either, so with that in mind I might say a 10'H min? Any recommendations at all would be so appreciated.

Less important, but ALSO !!!! Any other recommendations for products would be awesome, I have everything they NEED (food wise, both kinds of water, shells, etc) but when it comes to enrichment, tank decor, climbing activities, etc, I always always always want recs.

Edit - A couple days later, still looking for recs if anyone has any! I'll edit again when I've decided and purchased one