r/hermitcrabs

Could it be dust or bugs? I have a blanket over his tank at night rn

I still need to get a few things (those mainly being a lid and a larger heat mat, but also maybe a climbing wall), but I wanted to get them settled into the larger space

This is Tony climbing upside down and saying hello ❤️

These pics are of my new Pp in an Eccie preferred shell. Second pic is him/.her coming out of its shell for the first time to see me, listening to my voice and getting ready to explore. The first pic is of him/her resting on a stick in my tank. It never went to hide or bury itself after I brought it home, becauseI spent 1 hour talking to it. I have a unique way to introduce crabs to my Crabitat and none of my crabs HIDE !!

Not many would agree with what I do when introducing a new Hermie to my group of Eccies & PP. when I adopt or rescue a new crab, I place my crab in a container along with popcorn or other interesting food. Then I sit with the container on my lap or beside me on the couch. I sit with my new crabs (s) and talk to it for 1 hour. Sure it Will be frightened and tucked securely in its shell. As I talk to it and mmmmake some of my strange sounds, the crab will come out, very slowly. It’s adorable and amazing to watch as you will see the claws one by one slowly come out. It’s not until you can see its eyes and it can see you, is the a connection made. There is nothing like it. Such a fascinating little creature coming out to the sound of you speaking gently to it. There is lots for me to say. I tell it about its new home and that it is safe with be, that I’m going to look after it. My new crab found the the food, often popcorn because they love it and would start eating . Then it would go about trying . climb out of the container where I would put my hand to block it. Sometimes it would turn around and explore more and sometimes it wlll crawl on my hand and arm. II would let it do that for a bit then back into th container. That hour goes by so fast my little guy now it’s time to put you into your new home. Because of spending 1 hour with new crab, it has gotten to know me a bit. It will still be frightened but it wont hide hie from myself or other
Crabs. Here is a picture of my most recent little guy who I spent time with and handled only long enough to place in my tank. Then hands-off !!!

My new hermit crabs I rescued from a travel container from a person on Craigslist yesterday. They were in the travel container for a month before I got them. They did not have proper access to food or water. Anyways day 2 at my house and they aren’t eating, just literally skipping over snout and shell fruity buffet, dried mealworms, dried shrimp, and fresh banana and cucumber. I look over after hearing chirping coming from the tank and see two crabs brawling at night. I had to separate them from fighting. I’m not sure if I should go ahead and setup the 40 gallon tank for the even though post purchase death syndrome is a real risk. I really don’t know what to do. Please help! First time hermit crab owner here.

I ordered them some new shells as well, 6 shells that should fit them all, not sure what I should do at this point. Shells don’t come for like a week though. Seems like they are all liking to fight with each other just had to break up another fight for the second time.

All three of my hermit crabs LOVE the wheel ! They all wait around it and take turns (or walk over each other). Its so funny to watch them

None of them are currently molting so I get to see all of them everyday and it makes me so happy

My strawberry hermit crab, Raspberry, just came back up after finishing his 8th molt.

And yes, he molted in the same Harlan Aspen bedding that caused so much controversy in my last post.

Since that post, two more of my hermit crabs have successfully finished their molts, including Raspberry. That brings my record to 39 successful molts out of 40 molting burrows in this setup.

The one loss was a hermit crab that was attacked by another hermit crab while molting. It wasn’t caused by the substrate. After that happened, I changed the enclosure to give them more separated molting areas.

I’ve been keeping hermit crabs since June 25, 2024, and I’ve used Harlan Aspen bedding from the beginning. I also keep records of every molt.

I also want to clear up one misunderstanding about the aspen bedding.
In the Korean hermit crab community, when aspen bedding is used for hermit crabs, Harlan Aspen bedding is the type commonly recommended, rather than ordinary aspen bedding made for hamsters or other rodents. This isn’t something I personally decided to use on my own.
The usual method is to thoroughly soak the Harlan Aspen with water and then squeeze out the excess moisture before using it. When prepared this way, it packs together well, holds humidity, and provides a substrate where hermit crabs can form molting burrows.
So when I say that Korean keepers use “aspen bedding,” I don’t mean that we simply use any kind of wood bedding without thinking about it.

I understand that people here are very serious about substrate and hermit crab welfare. I am too.

But I was honestly shocked by how aggressive some of the responses to my last post were. My substrate was compared to poison. Someone said a molt in it looked like torture. My actual hermit crabs and enclosures were even called AI-generated. There were also comments making it sound like Korean keepers use aspen simply because we don’t have enough proper husbandry information.

That was hard to read.

After 39 successful molts, I don’t think it’s fair to say that hermit crabs simply cannot burrow or molt properly in this substrate.

AdaptiveFauna, you were especially critical of my setup in the last post. If Harlan Aspen itself is known to harm hermit crabs, I genuinely want to see the evidence.

I also said before that I would switch to sand the next time I rebuilt my enclosure. I want to take that back. At the time, I was overwhelmed by how hostile the discussion had become and just wanted the argument to stop.
I plan to continue using Harlan Aspen bedding.

I’m not saying everyone should use it, and I’m not saying my 39 molts scientifically prove that it is the best substrate.

But if there is actual scientific research, veterinary evidence, or other reliable data showing that properly prepared Harlan Aspen bedding harms land hermit crabs, please share it with me. I will read it seriously, and if the evidence shows that what I’m doing is harming my hermit crabs, I will reconsider my setup.

I just don’t think my husbandry should be compared to poisoning or torturing my animals without evidence.

just in june i introduced a new crab (taco) to my tank for my single crab (chalupa). there was a bit of pecking order that went on as chalupa is a bit larger, then they both went down to molt at the same time and both came back up around the same time. chalupa (pictured) had been up and moving around and chilling on the surface while taco has been coming up and down. i found this on her claw after a week long trip. i put a mountain of food in there and a dish of coconut oil. could this be the result of aggression or some missed skin from her molt? (apologies if i used the wrong flair)

He loved

New hermit crab owner here! We have two hermit crabs, and I know more is needed here, but what first? Any suggestions are helpful!

Seller wasn’t sure of the species. Wanted to confirm it.

It looks like an Ecuadorian to me; but I’m new to this and know nothing.

Pictures are of my new crab Hugo from when he was first introduced, and of my 40 gallon tank setup (wherein you can see my turbo crab Houdini). Since this photo was taken I have added more leaf litter and larger water pools (you cannot see the old ones clearly in the picture, they were hidden under/behind the hanging coconut).

I bought a new crab from the local pet store, and I will add that this crab came from less-than-stellar conditions. I specifically picked him because he seemed the most likely to survive out of the 2 available crabs. Hugo was rather small, I would guess less than a 1 inch opening on his shell. He buried himself almost immediately upon being placed in my home tank. It has been over 40 days now, and he still has not emerged. I initially suspected that he decided to molt, however, 40 days is a long molt time compared to the molting time of my current crab when he was the same size. The tank does not smell fishy, but does smell rather strong. I don't know, I may be overthinking the smell. It could just be the food.

Overall, I am looking for advice. How will I know if he is deceased? When would you go digging to remove a potentially deceased crab? Any other thoughts on the matter? Thanks, y'all.

EDIT:: Y'all, this isn't my first rodeo. This crab is small. I agree that 40 days MIGHT be a normal amount of time for a molt, but this crab is so small that 3-6 months sounds absolutely ridiculous. If you are going to reply that your crab has molted for 2-3 months or more, please also include the SIZE of your crabs, that would be more helpful. My turbo crab in a 2 inch opening shell takes less than 60 days to molt. Have y'all genuinely had crabs in ~1inch opening shells take 3 months to molt?

Is this size pieces okay for them or are they too big/too small? Dont worry I’ll get all the seeds out of the bell pepper pieces before I give it to them.

does this look okay? (he has a bigger food dish in the back with fresh food i change daily he likes eggs)