r/hermitcrabs

On a beach vacation in Alabama and found this hermit crab last night while out swimming in the waves. He was released an hour or less later, but I wanna know what he was!

I am finally done setting up my new hermit crab tank. I am in love with how it turned out! I made the background myself and it has lots of platforms for them to climb on. And of course I’m gonna add some bubblers to their fresh and saltwater pools

The hermit crab in the foreground seems much darker than the other behind him. I have 4 crabs and the other 3 are this brighter color of the crab in the background. Did I inadvertently mix species? (I have no idea of gender, I label all my crabs male for simplicity)

Tank is plenty bigger than this small corner I've photographed, dont worry. Temps and humidity are in the green, food is disappearing, water gets dirty quick, and crabs are all active.

Hi. I have a 20 long tank. Is this too much or should I take some out? I’m new to this and want to do it correctly. Also, when I close the lid the humidity stays at 99%. I have to open the lid to bring the levels down. Or should I just leave it open? The play sand I bought from Home Depot was a bit wet. Please help.

Lemme see your collections 😂

I moved my two crabbies from a 10 gallon to a 40. I sealed the top with Plexiglas and waterproof tape and a strip of foam on the side with the 1/4” vent so it’s sealed. There’s a large freshwater pool in there and a smaller saltwater and a wet moss pit. The substrate is over 6” and the coco coir wasn’t squeezed out as much as recommended. Despite all that I can’t get the humidity above 60% and it’s so frustrating. I don’t want to have traded a too small home for a too dry one. There are two hygrometers in there and they show duplicate readings. There’s always condensation in there and I just misted all of the wood, plants, shells in hopes of bringing it up. I don’t want to cause flooding but I’m wondering if I should pour a couple cups of water into the substrate (neither are down right now). Thanks for your help!

Pattern is from here. More info in the comments!

Hey! Just set up my newer enclosure for 3 rescues I got, I was wondering if there’s any live plants that are safe for the hermit crabs? Something I could possibly put in a pot & obviously not directly into the sand

I did the poke pooling test, no water. There's no excess condensation. The sand is like slightly under sandcastle consistency, I'd say, and i dont mist neither have i ever spilled water or put too much in when MAKING the substrate. Im aware the algae is there - although ive been told its harmless, and it pops up in small sprouts like that sometimes before I get rid of it. Ive had the tank set up the same way for about a year now.

I dont *think* my substrate is too wet, however im extremely paranoid about it 😓

I also haven't had a guy come up since about December and im a little worried he may be no longer with me, fueling the worry of my substrate being wrong 😓

Can someone please confirm yes or no?

Going to make an Amazon wishlist for my 21st this year and going to add some things for the guys, Any suggestions? (Even if it’s not on Amazon if your crabs really love it tell me anyways plzz)

I have seen some conflicting discussion about how long it takes crabs to molt, especially when they are smaller. The last of my three crabs, Dmitri, just emerged after burying himself on 3/14/26 - 65 days later, just over 9 weeks underground in the tank.

I was almost sure he had passed since the other crabs who stress-molted with him came up after about a month, and then six weeks later. Then, I came home from work today, a boom - he’s just casually sitting in the corner of the tank.

Don’t give up hope if you’re waiting for your new crabs to emerge, and trust the habitat you have taken such care to set up. I’m looking forward to meeting this new lil dude who I last saw in March.

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So the other crab (Coconut) went under to molt on the 13th (I can hear it scratching around at times), and Limey has been slowly coming out more everyday since around the 15th. She’s still in the container with her exoskeleton and damp moss for extra humidity. She has a way to get out (the cholla wood), but nothing else. I’m not sure if she’s even eating the exoskeleton. I’m worried she needs food and water, should I take her out of the container or just let her figure it out?

I got them from a beach shop and as soon as i put their substrate in the next day one disappeared i assumed it was molting a day later the one dug this hole and hasn’t moved either wondering why i can still see the crab and I thought they full cover themselves (i have two btw and i have no idea the genders)

Just found my little guy *peeky* out of his shell :( i have moved him into a separate tank (not manually, I put down a container and let him walk into it) I have put some Shells in there and some water and food but hes just not even the slightest bit interested in the Shells or anything :( what do I do? Will he be okay?