Hermit landcrabs- coenobita clypeatus

AlexSakke

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
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6
Hi everybody!

I would be glad to hear from you, who have those fantastic animals- hermit crabs! It would be great to exchange some experiences and stuff. I have 5 and want to have more of them.
So, if you have someting to say to this, then don't hisitate- write :D
 

Wade

Arachnoking
Old Timer
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Aug 16, 2002
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2,929
I currently have 3 hemit crabs. I keep them in a 20 gallon "high" aquarium with about five inches of moist sand as a substrate. Periodically, the burrow to the bottom of this to molt, but most of the time they are on the surface. They are very active at night. I think a deep moist substrate is important for maintaining them long term, although you might be able to get away with shallower substrate if you can manage to keep the humidity up inside the cage.

I offer two bowls of water, on fresh and on brackish. Having water available at all times is absolutely critical, as crustaceans they breath with gills that must be kept wet. They carry water inside the shell. The wate bowls need to be deep enough that the hermit crab is at least halfway submerged. I feed them freeze-dried shrimp, flaked fish food, diced veggies and fruit, and some canned cat food. I have food available all the time, as they eat often. They don't eat much food at a time, however, so the food must be changed often or it will rot.

Have fun!

Wade
 

AlexSakke

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
6
Hi Wade!

I keep mine in a terrarium, which is 60 cm long, 60 bright and 50 cm high. I don't know if you have bark inside on all the sides beside the frontside. They LOVE them.

I have about from 5 to 10 cm. sand as a substrat. I made it this way that sand infront is lawer then in the back of the terr. I could make some pics to show you.

Well, about the dish for water. How much salt do you put in it?

Some of mine are very active even in the daytime. They like to sit infront and watch out. Wonder why :?

I give mine kiwi, banans, ables and other sweet fruit, bur also from time to time gras and hermit crab food (pellets). Is it ok?
I never tried with fish though....

You don't keep only crabs, right? What else do you keep? I have also some insects...
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Aug 16, 2002
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Finding things they won't eat is the tough part. They are omnivoous scavengers, and will eat just about any plant or animal matter. Your diet might be a little fruit heavy if I'm reading it correctly, but it's probably fine. It's good to offer them some calcium, I usually just powder the food with reptile calcium suplement. They love peanut butter and raw coconut as well.

I use a salt sold for aquarim use called "brackish and livebearer salt" and I mix 3 tablespoons to one gallon of water. I don't know if this is really necessary, but I offer it just in case.

I have a lot of other animals. Mostly invertebrates, but a few reptiles as well.

Welcome to the boards, btw :)


Wade
 

luther

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 8, 2003
Messages
679
I have five of them and they're very cute. My kids love them.

One important tip is that they cannot tollerate chlorine in tap water. Always use water conditioner. Chlorine burns their gills over time.

I bought some nice hand-painted shells for them from Easy Exotics in the UK. You could easily paint your own though.

Play pit sand is particularly good for their substrate. Provide plenty of climbing coral or driftwood. Rearrange the tank regularly because they need variety.
 

AlexSakke

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
6
Hej Wade and Luther!

Thanx for the answers. I was kind afraid that there weren't that many people, who kept crabs, but there are some {D Nice!

Well, about the feeding. I try to mix the fruit with the pellets and it works. I also tried to give them a snail (there are planty of them in our garden), but they were not interested in it. Peanat butter? I heard that it wasn't a good idea...
By the way- calcium. Do you know Sepia? I don't know an English word for this. It's something from a sea-animal. Have you heard about it?

Do your crabs talk to each other? Mine do ;P

Besides crabs I also have a rabbit (he is like our child), some snails, fish, turtles (testudo hermanni hermanni) and Medauroidea extradentata (it can also be Carausius morosus. I couldn't find out about it yet... :mad: ).

To Luther- I checked Easy Exotics out and to be hounest I don't like those panted houses... Sorry... ;) But the page is pretty good. I have to read, what they write about crabs. Maybe I can find something new there. By the way- reading. I have a article from Germany about the crabs, but if you know some good books ONLY about crabs, it would be nice to hear, which are good!

And one more thing- do you know where I can get that snailhouse. You can see it under Easy Exotics (again {D ), hermit crabs and the article about "Bathing Hermit Crabs", where she (I guess so) is holdning a crab. THOSE houses I want to have. Maybe you even know the name of the snail???? PLIZ!

By the way- I don't like the idea they show it on their site, how to keep crabs. They have to have a chance to clime up... your opinions?!

And Wade- by the way- thanx :D
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Aug 16, 2002
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Hermit crabs are popular here, but they usually die from inadequate care.There are a few decent books on keeping them, although I'm not sure how easy it will be for you to get them. "The Care of Land Hermit Crabs" by Philipe de Vosjoli covers the basics quite well. It's published by Advanced Vivarium Systems.

Wade
 

AlexSakke

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
6
Hi Wade!

I use a spotlamp (Dayglo) and an ordinary UV lamp (Leuchtstoffröhre), which is 15 W. But the spotlamp is about 50 w. It is hanging in the terr. and the tempreture around it is about 28-30 C. Under the lamp it is 27C. And in the corners it is 24-25C. I red, that one has to use a lamp, which is 15 W, but I think, it won't worm at all, cuz the terr is at my office, where is not warm (about 20C).

What do you say???

Does the substrat have to bee wet or?

Sepia- shall I just give it to them like it is or need I to do something with it before?

Humidity is about 50-60% I spray the background twice a day. Is it enough?
 

Wade

Arachnoking
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Aug 16, 2002
Messages
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Your temps sound right, I usually shoot for the mid 80's F, which is around 27 to 30 C.

Not sure what sepia is, is it a white, chalky oblong thing? It might be what we call "cuttlebone" here, it comes from a squid-like animal called a cuttlefish and is sold mostly for birds to chew on. If so, it makes a good calcium supplement for hermit crabs. They can probably handle it whole, but you may want to break it up into more manageable chunks.

On the humidity issue, you may be dealing with much drier conditions than I am, so you may have to work harder to keep it at an acceptable level. Vosjoli (the author of the book I mentioned above) recomends a RA of 79-90%. I have never measured the humidity in my animal room, but it tends to be pretty high without any effort on my part. I think humidity is most important when it comes time to molt. They will build an underground chamber and when they seal it up, the inside is probably close to 100% humidity. They have the best chance of molting sucessfully in there. By keeping a deep substrate that is slightly moist (doesn't need to be soaked, just wet enough that it holds together and supports burrowing), I don't really need to worry about measuring the humidity. I mist ocassionally when the surface starts to dry out, but that's about it. Most of the time, access to a water dish will allow them to meet their humidity needs. A slightly moist substrate will ensure a fairly high humidity. If you notice them spending most of their time in the water, you may need to raise the humidity. One way to do this is to cut a piece of clear plastic and cover half the cage lid. Remove it if you sart having mold problems, however.

Wade
 

AlexSakke

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
6
I spray terr. twice a day, spec. in one of ther orners. I never saw them sitting in the waterdish. Some of them I saw hanging around the lampp (well, hard to explane, but they climbe up to the spot. They CANNOT touch it or so).

The hygrometer is placed right beside the spotlamp, maybe that's why :? I can't see the right humidity.

Right, it was what I meant- cuttlebone! {D
 
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