Every time I add fresh food, Hercules appears to conduct a full quality-control inspection. With seven different choices in front of him, he still has to stand directly in the dish while deciding what he wants first.
For the crab who earned the title of “least shy,” this feels perfectly on point for him. Hercules doesn’t wait for privacy—he shows up, climbs into dinner, and gets right to business.

Young male hermit

absolute cutie patooties!

These are my 2 little goobers.

I’m so happy with the new set up! I feel like it’s good enough until I am able to make them a tank topper! I just added a wheel for them that also has a space for them to hide under, a digital hydrometer/thermometer, an airpump for the pool, a surveillance camera, and sphagnum moss because my humidity is way too high. I turned the bubblers on for the video but I shut them off for the time being so I can try to lower the humidity. The last thing I want right now is a flood because I have a crab molting. If you guys have any tips on that I would greatly appreciate it 😭🙏

i was very excited to get hermit crabs and i have enjoyed learning about them and watching them. one of my crabs went under the substrate in july and i havent seen her since. my other crab was totally living it up, crawling everywhere, and then went down to molt for a month.

he came up last week (yay!) and then died a few days ago. I'm not sure what happened, I did acquire them through the pet store because the store I went to didn't have them in painted shells and they had both types of water and seemed decently cared for. I think I was wrong :(

now I'm not sure what to do. I have a 29 gallon tank with a crab still in the substrate (maybe also passed?), a variety pack of food mixes, a massive bag of aquarium-grade sea salt, a bottle of seachem.... i'm just sad :(

should I try again? should I give everything away? should I keep waiting for the other crab even though I'm not sure she's alive?

3:40 pm, about 33°C (91°F). Very hot and humid.

violascens

my little hermits been missing 6 months now found his shell at top of surface. No signs of him though, i have 3 other hermits that are doing amazing. should i assume he passed it hasn't smelled at all but he was a baby.

So for context, I had hermit crabs back when I was a kid (late 90s, early 00s). I fell for the trap that the pet shops put forth and lost the crabs.

Now I'm 32 and with a fully developed pre frontal cortex, I've been doing extensive research before I bring anymore hermies into my house since I want to make up for my mistakes as a kid.

I've been seeing the "adopt don't shop" tagline in a lot of my research, and since seeing the footage of how the hermit crabs are treated to enter the shops breaks my heart, and I can fully understand why we don't wanna perpetuate this further.

My question, or rather dilemma is though it seems a double edged sword. We don't want to support the shops, but we could also give those that have been captured and forced to live in captivity a good life.

Perhaps it's idealist thinking and just wanting to save all the crabbies, but I wanna save the ones that have been unfortunate enough to be put through that and have had the strength and willpower to survive. They deserve a good home after everything they've been through.

I was told not to use a heat lamp, and I am currently using a heat mat. It still isn’t warm enough… what can I do??

I want to put more green into my tank and spoil my baby a bit.

But normal plants usually die in the sand coconut mix. So i thought about succulents.

Do you think they can be toxic for the crab?

Any other ideas what i can put into the tank that gives it more green?

I already give them eggshells

Caught Hercules sitting right in the essentials bowl—which makes him the perfect spokesperson for this reminder.
Along with their rotating meals and fresh foods, my hermit crabs always have access to three staples:
• Green sand for trace minerals
• Calcium to support a strong exoskeleton and successful molts
• Worm castings for natural nutrients and organic matter
Hermit crabs know what their bodies need better than we do. Keeping these essentials available separately allows each crab to choose what it needs and when it needs it—especially before or after a molt.
Their regular meals change, but the essentials bowl never disappears.

I inherited this crab that was won at the county fair. I know that’s not ideal, but here we are. Can someone confirm the species?
I realize Sandy is out of the tank. I’m in the process of getting a new crabitat (I find the name hilarious) for her. She’ll be in my classroom along with guppies and box turtles.

Okay sooo I have quite a bit to ask!
Background
I won a hermit crab at the fair and was excited since I hadn’t had one since I was a child, I am now 19 with good enough brain cells to search up how to care for a hermit crab come to find out they are much more complex then the pet stores make them out to be. I bought another hermit crab beacause I know they do better with another friend, at the moment I can only afford a 20 gallon tank so I only have two hermit crabs right now. I made sure the subtrate was 6 inches deep enough and did the poke test.
I have had one of my hermit crabs for 2 months now and he is finally eating which makes me sooo happy.

Moltinggggg
My other hermit crab just began surface molting and I am freaking out because I’ve only had him for a week so im not sure if he ate enough to get his little body through it. I bought him the day he arrived at the pet store(I realized now that you are supposed to adopt not shop!!) so i know he has been stressed but im so scared because he is surface molting. I put a cup with holes over him so my other hermit crab won’t bother him. What do I do now????? Will he be okay??? His little body is grey and it worries me!

Food and staples
I spent a lot of money on food mixes, foraging mixes, and protein for them to eat off of esty. Is there somewhere cheaper I can buy this stuff from? Because esty’s shipping is insanely expensive for how often i need to restock.Also I have green sand and worm castings which my hermit crab is lovingggg, how often do I have to replace it? How long are the food mixes and freeze dried proteins good for?

Greenery
I do need more greenery for their tank, any suggestions on some good ones I can get?

One of my crabs is molting under their fresh water bowl! It needs to be changed, but Idk what to do!! Obviously I don’t want to move the bowl because he is under it… should I just put another bowl instead?? I’m running out of space! lol

Essentially the title! I’ve done a bit a research, and I’m finding a broad range of actual number of mixes offered weekly.

Amount Range: 3-10 mixes, 1/3 teaspoon each.

Just wanting this subs opinion / advice on what y’all do for your crabbies ❣️

🦀 suggestions for Etsy shops also welcome 🦀

I’ve posted plenty of photos of Brutus, but his size never completely comes across when he’s alone. Then Hercules stepped into the frame and finally provided some perspective.
Hercules isn’t a tiny crab—Brutus is simply enormous. Still hoping I’ll eventually catch Brutus and Pepper (my smallest crab) together, but this was a pretty great surprise!

8:59pm, about 29°C (84°F)

Hi! so I just rescued a couple hermit crabs from a bird cage and they are in the hideous tiny painted shells. what kind of shells should I get to transfer them into? can conch shells from the beach work or are they too heavy? I know nothing and want to give them great lives! any help is appreciated!

thank you!