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Robotic Exhibitionist

It's a bit of a long story, but I recently became the owner of two purple pincher hermit crabs. I've never had pets outside of dogs and cats and this is all very new to me. Any tips or info that newb owners often don't know? What kind of tank set up is ideal. What kind of diet is ideal (right now I just have pet store pellets, so yeah).

Also, one crab will not change into a decent sized shell. I have large shells, but he only seems to want to change into the medium ones. He can't even retract all the way. Is that normal? Should I be worried about him.

Dangerous Lunatic

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Tank or tub of some kind is best for your crabbies, since it will hold in the moisture. I personally liked a mixture of sand and eco-earth for my substrate, which should be at least 1.5 times as deep as your largest crabbie is tall. More is better, as long as they still have room to climb as well, cause they do like climbing up fake vines and the like as much as they like digging through the sand.

Do yourself and your crabbies a favor and get rid of the pellets. Your crabbies will want tiny bits of fresh fruit and veggies, as well as shrimp [the dried kind you get for fish work perfectly] and occasional bits of protein like fish or chicken. Clean out old food and replace with fresh at least 1 time every day. Try different things, like flowers [not store bought or covered in pesticides] but try to avoid things like bread, because they like to store food in their shells, and that can clog up their gills. But be certain they're getting that shrimp, because it helps keep them from trying to eat each other.

You should also have two water bowls, one with fresh water, the other salt, both deep enough that they can submerge at least most of the way, but with something like vines in there to help them get back out. If the salt one is a little too salty don't worry, they regulate the salt level in their shells anyway. Do not give them baths. Some people suggest it, but it's really not good for them.

Don't be surprised if one or both dig under for more than a month at a time. Crabs molt underground, and they also love digging and tunneling, so make sure you keep the substrate moist enough that it won't fall in on them.

Heat and humidity of your tank should both be around 75-85 if I remember correctly, which shouldn't be too hard as long as you have a solid lid and under tank heater.

Don't worry if your crab likes slightly smaller shells, some do. Just make sure you've got a wide variety in many different sizes so that they have plenty of options to choose from. If there is a kind they seem to like [with purple pinchers it's normally the turbo shells they favor] get more of that kind than the others.

You might want to see if you can adopt another crab or 2, since they like buddies, and might miss their friend if their friend decides to burrow down for a while. Don't introduce them right away though, cause new crabs can have diseases. You'll want a small second tank for sick and new crabs to settle in for a few weeks so you can make sure they're healthy and not loosing legs. And yes, if they are sick or stressed they will drop legs.Don't worry too much if that happens though, they do grow back!

And in case I forgot anything in the 5+ years it's been since I had crabbies, Forum linky!

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only thing i can think to add is do not use painted shells.

Robotic Exhibitionist

Thank you! I'm going to buy some sand to mix with my eco-earth today, as well as pick up decent food, a bowl for salt water, and some more shells. I had a bad feeling about the pellets, but I didn't know what else to get at the time. I did some more research on them and they're full of crappy stuff and preservatives. Can't wait to get rid of them.

Would you suggest getting another crab with my current tank (10 gallon), or should I get a larger tank before I add another crab?

And don't worry, no painted shells for these guys.

Now that I'm feeling a little more confident and I know I'm not going to kill them, they're pretty fun to watch and care for. They spend their days chilling together under a hiding hut and they usually become active in the evening. I worry about the smaller one because he's really timid and will not come out when we're in the room or when the light is on. Will that improve all the time or will he always be like that? Really would hate for him to be so stressed.

Dangerous Lunatic

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He'll get over it in time most likely. Depending on the size of your crabbies you may be able to fit a third in, but sooner or later you'll want to upgrade your tank. Some ways to increase your usable room now are things like corner nets [make them from hemp if you're going to make them] and shower shelving [great for holding shells]. Fake vines from the dollar store with suction cups can make a fun background, and the crabbies can climb up into them. Mine would occasionally sleep up high just clinging to the vines.

When you buy sand get play sand, not the calcium kind. that stuff just rots. Bake it at 200 for an hour or so to kill anything in it.

It's times like this that I start missing my crabbies. They're pretty awesome pets, but I refuse to get them from the pet store anymore. They're all wild caught, since we don't know how to breed them in captivity.

Robotic Exhibitionist

Payton Leeroy
He'll get over it in time most likely. Depending on the size of your crabbies you may be able to fit a third in, but sooner or later you'll want to upgrade your tank. Some ways to increase your usable room now are things like corner nets [make them from hemp if you're going to make them] and shower shelving [great for holding shells]. Fake vines from the dollar store with suction cups can make a fun background, and the crabbies can climb up into them. Mine would occasionally sleep up high just clinging to the vines.

When you buy sand get play sand, not the calcium kind. that stuff just rots. Bake it at 200 for an hour or so to kill anything in it.

It's times like this that I start missing my crabbies. They're pretty awesome pets, but I refuse to get them from the pet store anymore. They're all wild caught, since we don't know how to breed them in captivity.


Yeah, I think I would want to get a bigger tank first. The crabs I have now are on the larger side. And making nets sounds like fun! I'm going to look into that.

Thanks for the tip!

Yeah, I read that and it's just really depressing. I actually have them because I work at a pet store. We used to not carry live pets, but corporate wants us to now. I just felt really badly for the crabs and the store set up that they gave is is not good at all. Those crabs are going to die. I'm trying to make things as good as they can be for the store crabs, but there's only so much I can do. 34 crabs in one 10 gallon tank. They shipped them to us in a bag in a box. We have betas too now, in those awful little cups. One of the reasons I really enjoyed working there was because they didn't have pets like that. I glad I have the crabs though. I've learn a lot in the last couple days and I can at least make sure that I can educate others who come in to buy them.

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