As a pet store employee, thank you so much for making these videos! They are so much easier to learn from and great to show to new crab owners! I'm learning a lot already!
@@CrabCentralStation I really need help with my hermit crabs I’m scared they won’t make it my tank heat is at 75 and the hum is at 80 or above - I notice they were more active in the beginning ( 4 days ago) but now they just most sit in the same spot for hours and moving slowly- do you have a forum or way I can send pics or videos so I can get advice - I’m watching all the videos but I don’t know what is the actual cause, I don’t know if they are eating the food but I’ve seen them eat the moss I’m terrified my little buddies are going to die 😢
OMG. thank you for making these videos! I am about to acquire 2 hermit crabs that someone couldn't take care of anymore and I really want to make sure they lived a long life! Your videos are extremely helpful!
This explains so much. My sister's hermit crabs (we were kids) didn't last a year, and my godson's crab didn't survive the trip home from the pet store. Imagine my surprise when I learned that these crabs can live for a century. Turns out they need more than canned dust to eat and a damp sponge. I always wondered about that.
Also, may I say this video is great. YOu are straight and to the point. You don't dilly dally around because you like to hear your own voice and waste our time. tyvm for that.
Note: the 10 gallon tank in this video is only used temporarily. For a permanent enclosure, you need at least a 20 gallon tank or larger with at least 2 crabs following the 10 gallon per crab rule!
Hi! Unfortunately, It is hurting your crabs! The main reason is molting space. When your crabs go under to molt, they need to have space. When crabs molt, they give off a scent that attracts other crabs to them. If there isn’t a big enough tank, the non molting crabs will find your molting one and possibly eat it. Also, if you have more than one crab molting at one time, they may not have enough space to do that and can cause deformities.
Where did you hear sand isn’t good for them? Most hermit crab species live in beach areas where there is sand. Hermit crabs need sand to molt. If the people are recommending just eco earth, there are a few reasons we don’t agree with that. The first one is that eco earth becomes very acidic over time which isn’t good for hermit crabs in high concentrations. It also retains moisture a bit too well, which can cause too much humidity in the tank. Food molds quickly, bacteria grows, and bugs are attracted to this kind of environment. Also, eco earth doesn’t hold molt caves well. We started with just eco earth and had several deaths while molting. This is eco earth alone. When mixed with sand in the 5:1 ratio, it works wonderfully! Sand is definitely safe for hermit crabs
It's actually sad to see them in stores because those shells are not what they are supposed to be and they're supposed to be in their natural shells not ones with toxic paint on it and all those pallets they give you that is not the food for them it's really really sad
So grateful for this channel and for watching this video before buying my first two hermits thank you so much for all your knowledge and for what you do for the hermit crab hobby 🦀🤗
Tysm for doing this video. I just got my hermit crabs 3 weeks ago from a beach souvenir shop and I didn’t know that’s how they got them. Me and my older sis got one and I want to make sure they live such a long life and this video is gonna help me a lot so they don’t be stressed that much anymore. Your videos helped me a lot to make sure how to care for hermit crabs.
If the coke bottle does not work...I have used the little cheap clear plastic square transport containers they try to sell you at the beach shops to buy the hermit crabs as homes. I have 2 of these. They come with the vented plastic lids that snap on and a door that hinges on. I put a little bit of the substrate in that and put the molting crab in it and snap the lid shut. They still get all the benefits of the temp and humidity of the cage but total isolation from the other crabs fear of eating them. And you can see them as they molt and are ready to come back out. IVE USED THIS METHOD SAFELY FOR YEARS AND YEARS. I had a crab that surface molted for a couple of years for some reason and it worked every time for him. He buries himself now, finally.
Yes! We use these all the time too! It is my preferred iso. I just wanted to show the Tupperware container in the video because it's something everyone has available. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. We are on 15 days and our 2 littles aren’t doing well. One lost a pinched other is still. So glad to have found your channel and will set up the pps tank ( which is basically what we just did to upgrade from the small plastic tank to a 10 gal ).
The abuse litterally makes me cry. It's SO TRAMATIZING I can even imagine being taken out of my home by force and relocated. Absolutely heart breaking... lucky my hermits is 3 yrs old now and just changed her shell 5 different time in the past few nights so she growing and do SO GOOD!! I absolutely love you girls SO MUCH!!! I'd love e to foster or even adopt some of the babies you girls have let me know if I can do that!! My girl crab needs a friend she's aa blue claw I know usually you need the same species and around the same size she's the size of a 50 cent piece with her shell. So pretty good size. Lmk. I'd love to help out.
I agree….. makes me cry every time! I can’t believe people do this to these poor crabs! Now they are becoming endangered in some places! I’m so glad you found CCS and that our videos are helping you on your journey! Our captive bred babies will be available to adopt at CrabCon 2023! Josh’s Frogs also has some captive bred babies for sale. Thanks for your kind comment!
Thank you so much for these wonderful videos! I am so sad and horrified to see what they do to these crabs. I'm so happy these people didn't want their hermit crabs so I was able to get them, and now can give them a proper home. I can't believe the condition in which these crabs are kept. The crabs I just "rescued", weren't even being kept at the right temperature. Obviously being fed "hermit crab food". Water wasn't being primed, and they definitely weren't giving them the "instant ocean". No salt water at all. Just a bunch of sponges and that gross food. They already seem to be more active since they are warmer and ate some *real* food. I truly appreciate these videos!
Im really glad I found this channel as I just got my kids 2 hermit crabs and had no clue so much goes into going to keep them happy, healthy, and safe (I know feel guilty for the tank I had as a child for my hermit crabs Rocko and Angelica...it was the mid-late 90s, I was a kid, and I loved Nickoldeon cartoons hence their names. But I also now get when they didnt live longer than a few years. Both died during one of their molting stages I guess they didnt like the shells I had for them and was left heart broken). Anyways, I was so happy I gound an employee who seems to really care about hermit crabs and had a lot of knowledge on them and what I needed to build a happy enviroment for them. Right. Now they are VERY small so we are using a starter tank 10 gal), but I have a 30 gal tank to move them too once they get a bit bigger. I have the floor with thats half sand (3-4 inches deep for them to burrow in) and coconut fiber mulch sorta thing that had to be soaked to decompress (about 5 inches and goes up to a slight slope from the sand for the crabs climb and burrow in (they seem to LOVE this and our one crab Nico burrowed right in it after checking out his new home and eating a bit and out other crab name undecided by my 6 year old seems to be a bit more shy and eventually went right over where his/her brother is laid with him). I didnt know I shouldnt have gotten the half coconut shell right away during the PPS method but did get one cause when I bought the crabs they were hanging out in one with the other 2 crabs that were in the tank so I wanted to give them something that they recognized and felt comfortable in. Besides that we got the heating lamp (20 inche strip pad that fits an 18 inche lamp thats 15 watts). I bought the chemicals to make the salt water and safe drinking water, food dish with hermit crab food and little snacks for our crabs (I was told not to buy freeze dried as much as possible cUse it looses the nutrients. And was shown some type of dried flowers that lizards and crabs like to eat. I was also told they like egg shells? I will be watching your videos to see what else I should be feeding them. But they also got a climbing log and for a netting wall I bought this all natural coconur fiber wall but the adhesive on it sux. So I need to get some more or simpmy might cut it up and make climbing strips for them and then but something else for the netting wall. I also need to get some more plants for them. My partner is visiting our family in Ecuador right noe so I have him on the hunt for coconut shells that have been halved and prepared for decor in the tank so our crabs can have something more natural in their home. Oh I also got 8 shells for the crabs to choose from when molting (all natural no painted ones). I am hoping this will all help them to feel comfortable in their new enviroment and to thrive.
Just started a bioactive hermit crab terrarium, I love your videos. So many good topics and information. AND you're an activist for the crabs! So cute. (: More hermit crab sanctuaries!!❤
OMG!!! First off I cried when shown what they do to these hermit crabs I had no idea! How horrible!! Second just got my hermmies and will be setting them up for PPS!! Thank you so much for your help!
@@CrabCentralStation I actually told a cashier at wal mart who said she had an exotic snake what the industry does to hermit crabs! She was so shocked!
@@CrabCentralStation right now I’m struggling with pools & water setup. Are two sponges wet daily ok for 3 medium crabs or do they need a water dish? Also should I set them up a saltwater pool or just take them out once a week and let them submerge? My pet store is giving me different info than what I’m reading online ?
@@brittward5705 You will get a lot of conflicting and misinformation when it comes to hermit crabs. Hermit crabs have a soft abdomen, which is why they must carry a shell. They have an abdominal lung that must remain moist at all times. Hermit crabs also have modified gills, which is how they are able to live on land as well as breathe for long periods of time under water. Therefore they must have high humidity in order to breathe. Most pet stores don't know about hermit crab anatomy or what they actually need to live. They only know the poor care that they are told to provide within their pet store. In order to keep this lung and gills moist, hermit crabs carry their own personally mixed brackish water in their shell. This is why hermit crabs must have both fresh water and salt water pools (deep enough for your largest hermit crab to fully submerge in). Just make sure you provide a safe way in and out of the pools. You never have to "bathe" your hermit crabs or dunk them in water. This actually messes up their brackish water mix in their shells. Providing the resources to the crabs allows them to drink/dunk themselves as they need to without the added stress of humans intervening. We have a video on basic hermit crab pools and advanced water pools. Check those out for some good ideas! I hope this explanation was helpful.
I woke up this evening to my mom bringing me back a surprise hermit crab from a beach shop. He came in a cardboard box and not a mini tank for some reason?? I'm watching him until the pet store opens to get him a proper big tank and set up, but I'm super thankful for you guys, I'm binging yall's videos to make sure he has a good transition and happy life.
The four people who disliked this must treat there crabs bad and can’t expect that this is the proper care for them Edit: wow this is more likes than I ever get on a comment also my channel for crabs is Viabean11 and my lps one is via bean tv they both have a lps toy for a icon btw lol
This video is super helpful thank you. I just got some hermit crabs for my classroom. We will definitely be doing this method as we get them used to their new environment. I put Fresh food in there tonight and within minutes. One of them was on top of the food and eating. I have not seen him the four days i've had him. Before tonight I just have the pellets.
I just bought my lil guy about 4 days now and we are currently doing the PPS method. He was super active during the first 2 days - Exploring his enclosure, eating, drinking, etc. But the last 2 days he seems lethargic and just stares into space in the middle of the tank. At night I do see more activity but not like those first 2 days. I'm not sure if he's preparing for a surface molt or if I'm doing anything wrong! I did have some white fuzzy mold on the food but it was due to my lil man burring the piece of egg and it got lost.. 🤦♀ Set-Up: ~ 10-Gallon Tank ~ UTH on the back side of the glass ~ 5:1 play sand to coco fiber (Only 1" deep) ~ 2 water pools (Fresh/Salt) ~ Temp stays around 75 day/night ~ Humidity stays around 80% (May be too high right now?) ~ Food: fried egg(nothing added; not even butter/oil), egg shell, bell peppers, cabbage, apple, strawberries, black berries *Food is taken away after 24hrs & replaced
I’ve seen so many videos about what to do when you get a hermit crab and I’m just now seeing this. I feel defeated! My daughter got one as a gift and now I’m trying to make it happy and feel like I failed.
Hi - we just purchased four crabs and I think they are all doing pretty good so far. 🤞🏻 All of them have changed their shells and a couple of them tend to dig. How do we handle a molt if we are still in the transition PPSD tank? I watched your video on what to do for a naked crab but don’t want to disturb if they’re molting and not sure how to tell the difference. And thank you SO much! We were uneducated impulse buyers but now working so hard to give these little guys the best home. 🥰
Great question amber! Thank you so much for educating to give these guys the best life possible! It is people like you who are overturning the industry! If a crab is molting in the PPDS tank above the surface, that is called a surface molt. The crab should be isolated (you can do this by placing a cut in half 2 liter soda bottle around the crab (including a few extra shells)) from other crabs. You will know it is surface molting because it will have left it’s shell, and show little to no movement for days/weeks at a time. It will slowly remove its exoskeleton and then proceed to consume it. You will know the molt is over once the exoskeleton is fully eaten and the crab is in a new shell, walking, eating, and the new exo is vibrant and hardened. If you have anymore questions feel free to DM us on instagram!
Great video! What brand of salt would you recommend to countries like Australia where there isn't access to instant ocean? I use red sea salt- do you think that's okay?
Do you know what brand it is? We just want to make sure it is safe! Otherwise we may be able to help you find some alternatives in your area. Also I missed that you said there wasn’t instant ocean in my original response! So sorry about that!
Red Sea blue bucket is a great salt for saltwater aquariums. Red Sea black bucket has higher magnesium/calcium/alkalinity for stony coral reefs. For land hermits, blue bucket should be fine.
I got mine in Virginia Beach and they were sold with the wrong things like most hermit crabs but surprisingly they did not come in a painted shell they were in really good shells
Oh wow! That's really good to hear that they didn't have painted shells! I'm so glad you found our video on PPS. Let us know if you have any questions. Welcome aboard Crab Central Station.
after watching these videos, i feel so overwhelmed about buying my son a hermit crab from the beach. i am stressing out so bad about all the stuff i need to buy now. they should not be selling these in those stores! This poor little hermie. i feel so bad. i have nothing right now other than the box i brought him home in and the kit that came with it.
Also, it’s been hard for me to regulate the humidity. It started out at 65 so I closed the lid and it got up to 85. If I keep the lid open, it drops so I tried just propping the lid open today while I was at work. We will see how that worked. I’m so nervous!
Be careful with propping the lid... crabs can climb the silicone corner of thebtank and escape. It's better to add dry moss, take bubblers out of pools, move pools away from the heater ect.
So what if I’ve had my crabs for a few days and I didn’t do this? They have been buried for two days and I’m worried.. all I heard was how important it was that they had enough sand and places to hide. I really wish I had seen this before. 🤦🏻♀️
Hi Charlotte Edwards 👋! Welcome aboard Crab Central Station. We're so glad you're here. First of all, you are not alone, most beach/pet stores do not give good, accurate, or complete care to customers. The good news is that you are looking for better care and we can help! Since your crabs already buried, don't dig them up. That will cause more stress which can lead to dropping limbs, injury, or death. Hermit crabs are mostly nocturnal, so try adding some stinky foods to the tank in the evening. This may lure them out of their hiding spots. If you see them on the surface, go ahead and put them in a separate isolation container while you remove all but 1 inch of the substrate. Also remove all the hides during this 30 day period. Then replace your hermit crabs and continue with the PPDS method in this video. At the end of the 30 days you can set up their forever tank with deep sub, hiding, climbing, ect. Some stinky foods to try (never use any seasonings, salt, pepper): fish, cooked shrimp, scrambled eggs, sardines. Some tank favorites: fresh apple, grapes cut in half, pecans, popcorn (no butter, salt), mango, bell peppers. Foraging foods: worm castings, green sand, bark, leaves, flowers I hope this helps!
I impulsively bought three hermit crabs, not knowing anything about their toxic shells, bad food, or literally anything about them. I thought they would be easy to take care of, and that supporting the beach shop I bought them from would be a good thing- I was so, SO wrong and I desperately need help. So far, they are all relatively healthy, but there are small bugs in my cage, and two of my crabs are constantly burrowing in the sand and hiding in the house I gave them in their tank. Once I found out they don't eat the cakes as much, I started giving them dried cranberries and coconut. However, I still kept feeding them the cakes as I want them to have a reliable, kind of back-up source of food. I've been giving them salt as well as fresh/spring water and have been trying my best to keep their tank humid and moist, but it stinks really bad most of the time, there are bugs, and they are typically tired all the time and like to hide... ...Any advice....??
HI aster! Welcome to the hermit journey! Check out the vids on our channel about base crab care, and this website www.lhcos.com for TONS of info! I recommend to get rid of the crab cakes asap and start offering a balanced diet (see our food video) and be sure that your heat and humidity is stable! Then follow this website from there.
@@CrabCentralStation Thanks for replying! It's been a while since I posted this and my situation is completely different and I feel like I'm taking care of them much better! I've been feeding them a balanced diet of fruit, seeds, and veggies and am keeping them in a larger tank with correct temp and moisture. Thank you so much for your help along the way!
I started the post purchase stress method with new my crab about three weeks ago. I got up to the optimum heat and humidity but during that monitoring period I thought the crab was dying because it stopped moving around and eating, but it actually just surface molted today (was sure it was hanging out of its shell dead but nope). Once it starts moving around and eating again is it ok to move it to the deep substrate? Should I still wait?
great vid!!!!! finally a vid on acclimation of land hermits🤣💕. for some reason, it also make my babies more active. quick question: iyou said that we want to prevent burrowing or hiding;. I have three crabs I just got yesterday, and even in one inch of substrate, they still managed to burrow, what to do?🤔 thx!!!
Are they completely under the sand? We want to prevent burrowing so that they don’t end up molting before we get their nutrients back to where they are supposed to be. That way they don’t die in molt.
I assume your crabs are small? As long as they aren’t molting, they should be fine. You can reduce to 1/2 inch if need be. We have never tried with paper towels or bare bottom. I would think with the increasing humidity the paper towels will rip apart and the crab may eat them. We can’t recommend anything other than sand. Keep an eye on them and if they aren’t moving around and eating, you may want to reduce the amount of sand.
@Dani M I have this question too. What do we do about our substrate if we already have 8 inches in there and the store isn't that far off? The Petco has them at 60-65% humidity and 75-77 degrees. Both readings are the cruddy analog dial thermometers. The substrate is about 3/4" of sand which looks pretty damp. The issue is their food is just a plate of pellets. 60-65% is about normal room humidity here, and 77 degrees can easily be our tank heat with the thermostat, which I agree is awesome, I tested it and we can keep it up to about 83 if needed, 75-77 is no problem at all. I'm not sure how to reduce the tank humidity though, because our tank with the water tanks in there keeps it around 85%. I can try cracking the lid a bit, and if the heat gets too low just turn up the thermostat. We also have about 8" of substrate in there. I was thinking about maybe taking only a teeny amount out, like an inch or so, and then covering it snugly with plasticcore or plexiglass and then adding back 1/2" and ecoearth on top of the plastic sheeting to prevent digging. We do have another 10 gal tank, but we have our current crabs down for a molt. They've been down since around 4th of July weekend. So we figure another week or so. The thing is, we can't see the point of letting the crabs at Petco stay there another week or two... or three... in the pet store before we buy them just to wait on the two guys molting to clear out the old tank to use it for PPS... It seems like it would be better to buy them and bring them home now where we can feed and acclimate them properly and them move our two molters into the new Crabitat with the new guys we plan on getting already in there. The way I see it, waiting to buy them just makes them weaker. There are no adoptions here in Juneau Alaska, I did already try to find some. The closest are in Seattle, and we aren't travelling now, obviously. Thanks for your so helpful videos. We have watched them all multiple times because of such good info.
As far as the heat and humidity acclimation goes, you are doing great! Since the pet store wasn't far off for temperature I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you could possibly regulate the humidity for your new friends that would be good. 45%-65% humidity from the pet store is pretty low and I wouldn't recommend throwing the new guys into 85% humidity right away. As far as the PPDS for the new crabs, that is a tough position (especially since you have other crabs molting.) Normally I would suggest you take all but an inch of sand out of your current tank, take out all the hides, and focus on getting good nutrition in your new crabs so they can survive their first molt. Your current molting crabs do pose an issue though. If I understand your situation correctly, it seems you have crabs molting in both your extra 10 gallon tank and your current larger tank? What I would do in this situation is create a temporary ppds tank out of a tote or bucket (the challenge is that you would need to purchase a heat mat for it) This way you can focus on your new carbs nutrition and you won't disturb your currently molting crabs environment.
@@CrabCentralStation Thanks! nope- the molters are by themselves in the small 10 gal tank. the large tank had no crabs. we ended up getting two jumbo females and I covered the substrate with plexiglass, there's no way the big crabs can dig down, but this way they can still reach the water tanks easily, which are about 8 inches deep and walled off with plexiglass, which is one reason I didn't want to remove all the substrate. I have an exoterra topper that has glass doors on the front, and I can crack them open to a certain degree that is smaller than the crab shells (their shells are 2.5" so in a 3/8" crack there's no way they are escaping) and that is keeping their tank about 66-73%. we got a TEENY guy (6mm claw!) and some others who are in about 1-1.5" shells. I was able to find another 10 gallon tank on craigslist and I used a heat mat that was too small for the other tank. I used that reflextix silver bubble wrap stuff on the short end and the two LONG sides. we can watch them thru the short end. and on top of the screen top, which was damaged. I cut the damaged portion out of the half near the window end, and taped everything over carefully. There is seriously less than an inch of substrate in there but these guys are so small they can still pile it up and hide underneath, so I may remove even more. I used craft mesh on the open end of the top and can cover that with plexiglass if it goes too low. I used gaffer tape to make sure they cant escape, but i can peel it up to get in for their food and water. the temp is good around 73-77. the humidity is VERY high though, in the 80% still, so I'm just going to avoid misting it and leave the top open. I don't want to lose heat with the underpowered heat mat. thanks for your response. I rewatched the video again a few times and I think this is going to be pretty close enough for them and that separating them by size is going to prevent the escapes of small guys getting arond the barrier and digging down in the big tank. I figure we can use one of the 10 gallons as the other as an iso tank or as a PPDS tank in the future. thanks so much again for the help. I appreciate having someone to ask questions of with good experience and advice!
Wow! This all sounds really great! The temporary plexiglass bottom is really smart! Do you have a thin layer of sand over top of it? Craft mesh for slowly increased humidity is genius as well... I love these solutions! Your crabby friends seem to be in really great hands :)
@@CrabCentralStation it's all your fault!!😉😉 I've been watching your videos. Yes I put about a half inch substrate evenly over the top of the plastic because the lower substrate was already properly... Humidified? From dryish. I did put a nice chunk of moss in there above the sand but the jumbos in there have 2 1/2" shells so they aren't hiding anyplace even with the moss! I took a few more things out of the bank for the little guys and they are all hunching together now toward the back. We took a photo of their food to make sure we can tell if they are eating at night. Thanks again for all your great videos. They are well thought out and concise with great info. We are in Juneau so we sometimes have to rig things that aren't available.
Hi! So we purchased our 2 crabs a week ago while on vacation before realizing what all was needed 🤦🏻♀️. I did as much research as I could and quickly set up a 10g tank with sand/eco earth, heat pad, food, and water bowls. Both crabs started digging but one would come out and play in the water (our bowls are not deep enough i’m realizing), eat a little, etc…it was fairly active! The other dug in the corner and stayed there for days. i’m not sure i’ve seen him eat or play in the water at all but he did move occasionally. We got them 2 hiding huts and he’s relocated there but hasn’t come out (but isn’t digging). The other one that was active dug again and I haven’t seen him/her in 3 days. I know not to dig them up but should I try and coax her out and do this method? We have already had their head/humidity in ideal ranges since we got them…would it hurt more than help at this point?
Welcome to CCS! We are so glad you are here with us on your hermit crab journey! Definitely don't dig up your new crabs, that will cause more stress. If they are on the surface, you could take them out for a short time while you remove some substrate and hides. Leave the heat/humidity as it is since they have already been in those conditions. The big thing is to remove the hides and deep substrate so that they can concentrate on eating and drinking (as the video describes). I hope this helps!
So I got three hermit crabs last month and sadly about a week later it passed. I did a TON of research and I thought that may have been all I needed to do but sure enough I have been learning new things everyday like what else to use! I want to adopt another and get it a little more comfortable then my ones now are! My crab sebastian always comes out but pickle is always hiding from me. I did not do the pps method but if you have any tips to get them more comfortable as well as what to do for the new baby I will be adopting soon please let me know! Thanks!
P.P.S. method will definitely help with that! Also, some crabs are just more shy than others. We have a crab who walk to the glass to greet us every time we walk into the room, and another that still startles easily and hides in her shell when we move our hand. We have had both of these crabs for the same amount of time. Sometimes a crab is just shy, and will take a while to warm up to you!
Omgosh, I went to look at hermit crabs at Petco, they were all painted - with paint. I never saw that before, I would think an actual pet store would know better than to paint an animals shell!
It helps the crabs slowly acclimate back to the correct conditions. It also gives them time to rehydrate and gain back the nutrients they lost during capture-transit-sale.
Hi, I was hoping you could help me. Just got my first two crabs about a week and a half ago and I set up the tank just like you said to in this video (except I skipped the gradual temperature change because the pet store I got them from already had the tank at 85). However, one of the crabs (Cheeto) is acting oddly and I’m not sure what it means. A few days ago he stopped moving around the tank any. He just kind of picked a spot and has been chilling there ever since. He hasn’t moved to eat or drink in days. I know that he’s still alive because I have seen him move a little bit, sometimes he’s hiding in his shell, sometimes his face is poked out, and he’s turned to face the opposite direction a couple of times. But no movement beyond that. Is he about to molt? Should I put the soda bottle around him? I don’t want to cut him off from the rest of the tank if that’s not the case, but I also don’t want my other crab to harm him if he IS molting. What should I do?
This is exactly why it is so good to have a PPDS tank. It makes it so much easier to monitor them. The best thing to do is continue the process. Offer different foods every night. Change the water every other day to keep it fresh. Keep an eye on him. You will definitely know if he is surface molting, he will be shedding his exoskeleton. If that happens, then add the soda bottle. Let us know if you need anything else.
wish i knew about all this back when i was a kid... my crabs kept dying on me one after the other, the worst being a big one I got as a birthday gift that passed the next day, with one crab being here from the start and being the last to pass, making me think they all could have lived longer :(
Hmm well I found this video about 3 weeks after I got my crab. I set it up based on the OTHER tank setup video. So at this point, do I start over or stick with 80 degrees and high humidity deep substrate?
Hello ladies, I have a bit of an emergency. My crab Bruce has yet to molt in the time we’ve had him. He was in a tiny cage without sand for 3 months and he’s been in my care for 3 months. I’ve not really seen him eat or drink much, he wouldn’t eat real food when I tried to get him to, so I always kept moss in his tank, and when he buries himself, he leaves the top half of his shell above sand. He did change his shell a month ago but he hadn’t molted. I left him alone for about 2 weeks and when I came back home last night I saw he wasn’t half buried anymore. I opened his tank and smelled a faint crabby smell mixed with the smell of the moss, and it made me nervous. I gently lifted him up to see if he was ok, he didn’t droop out of his shell but he was frozen in one position, and his eyes were out and up but they didn’t move. I still can’t tell if he moved on his own or not, but I do remember him flinching his legs ever so gently. I have no idea if this is some unusual way of molting as I know it can take months to do that, I also read sometimes they smell when they molt. I haven’t touched him since last night because I don’t want to disturb him if he is molting but I’m also scared of the possibility that he is dying.
Hi! I’m sorry to hear that you’re experiencing this! You will know if a crab is molting because they shed the upper half of their body off. Their exoskeleton will have legs, head ect. If there is no exoskeleton, the crab isn’t molting.
This may be a bit of a silly question! But after the 30 day period, how would you transition them and get them use to the deeper substrate? Do they naturally figure it out (like the depth of the substrate). And also another silly question! Where would you put the hermies when redecorating their tank, like giving them the proper inchs of substrate they need after the 30 days?
They will adjust to the new environment pretty quickly. While you redecorate, just get a tupperware container. Put some substrate and a little hide, maybe some damp moss, and a lid, and they can stay in that while you decorate their tank and add more substrate. You want to have a good plan in place so that they don't have to be in that little container for very long.
Wow thank you so much for alllll your videos! I’ve been obsessed with them and following the suggestions to the T. I do have concerns about my crabbies. I’ve had them about a month. Unfortunately they are very inactive and not eating or drinking. Can you help me?
Awesome! We are so glad our videos are helping you on your journey! We do have a video called, “How to have an active hermit crab” that might be helpful for you. Thanks for watching!
I have a cadge with a fake plant and two types of sand, I also have shells scattered around the cadge and a mini house along with two water pools and a little bridge the humidity in our house is the right amount they need, my mom is not a big shopper and she dose not want to spend to much money I’ve had one crab for over a year now and just got another one do you think that’s just enough for a while until I get an upgrade?
I really need advice. My sister and her kids recently went to South Padre Island and my nephew convinced my sister to get a hermit crab. They went to the little shop, picked out a big one and a small on and then got another small one for free. They of course were given the small little plastic container, painted shells, etc. I am an experienced Turtle owner, so I knew to do my research as soon as I found out she got them and came across a bunch of information, including this channel, that they had nothing they needed. However, I did not come across this video in time. When they got home, they filled the tank up with moistened play sand to the 6 inches, water bowls, etc. a few days ago, the bigger crab died. Now there are the two little ones. My sister has been caring for them to the best of her ability but the kids aren’t helping like they were supposed to so now she wants me to take the crabs. I got them today, and now I’m coming across this video and I have no clue what to do since they’re already in this set up tank directly after being purchased, and one has already passed. The small ones are alive, we’ve been looking in to see new movement and new burrow holes. Today since I got the tank, the past couple hours, I have only seen one of the crabs moving around. I don’t know if the other one is trying to molt but it is definitely in the sand. I really need help..
Hello 👋 Welcome to Crab Central Station! Your story sounds like how most of us got started. The great news is that you want to learn and do better and we can help you with that! We have a bunch of videos on our channel about all the different aspects of hermit crab care. Watch as many as you can, they will help a lot. We have links on our website and in the description of our videos to great products and stores. If the crabs are already buried in the substrate you can not do the PPS method. Digging up the crab will cause more stress, it's best to leave them. I'm not sure if the tank your sister gave you has a lid and a heat mat, but that is a great place to start. Hermit crabs have modified gills and breathe the humidity in the air. A cemetery sealed tank along with heat and water pools will create the correct environment (we have a video on heat/humidity and water pools). It can be overwhelming at first, but once everything is set up, hermit crabs are pretty easy to maintain and a lot of fun to own.
Try some stinky foods like scrambled eggs, tuna fish, cooked shrimp, plain popcorn. Ours also love apple slices, grapes, carrots, corn on the cob. Hermit crabs have a hard time turning down worm castings as well.
im going to adopt 3 purple pinchers when summer comes, because i will be moving soon after school ends. i heard that these animals can stress easily, and stressing is never good and leads to bad things. im watching this video to make sure that the purple pinchers will become comfortable in their new tanks normally. *i have a few questions though, if anyone could answer!* 1.can i do this method using a 30-gallon tank and have the outcome be similar and steps be similar? if not, what would change and should change? 2.how will i add more substrate after this period is finished without stressing them? where should i keep them in the meantime? 3. can i do this method with multiple crabs at once (in my case, itll be three)? if not, what should i do differently? 4. how do i properly clean the things that ill be adding into the tank? (i dont know exactly what ill add as of right now, but if i add fake plants or other climbing things, how should i clean them?) 5. is it okay to have an air plant in the tank during this process? ive heard that they can get the water they need from the humidity in the air, but im not sure if the little levels of substrate and lower humidity levels at the start would be the right environment for the plant. if anybody who can accurately answer these questions could share their thoughts in the replies to my comment, it would help me and other people greatly. *ALSO,* if you're not 100% sure that what you're claiming is correct, tell me in your comment so i can look into it more. thank you!
If I start a pet shop the same process happens at least first they are gonna just be shipped to the place with normal shells but before getting shipped they have good food and water and a lot other normal shells and are gonna have giant cages and hides and stuff they climb in and are together because they are social creatures
I want to thank you for your great, informative videos! I have a question...I'm about to get some hermit crabs from someone on Craigslist (I couldn't buy from the store after hearing the horror stories about how they're treated). The crabs are coming with a 20 gallon tank. I already have all the supplies needed based on your videos. The crabs have been in a tank with no lid or heater and have a small layer of coconut substrate. It looks like they've been fed dry fruit/vegetables and pellets. They do have two shallow water bowls. Should I complete the whole P.P.S. process? Or since they're not from the store should I modify it?
Check with you local governing ordinances, it is usually illegal to remove those items from beach areas. Sand can contain harmful parasites, so you want to use play sand and eco earth (5:1 ratio) instead. Driftwood, assuming it's legal, can be washed and then baked on the lowest setting your oven can go, for a few hours. Shells..... let's leave those for the wild hermit crabs, they have so few as it is that many hermit crabs are having to wear trash as shells. You can order shells at www.theshellstore.com
Hi! I just adopted two crabs 2 days ago from a buy & sell group as an impulse buy and am now learning a LOT about them quickly. They have been housed in a tank with pet store sand and only one pool of water since their original owner bought them about 10 weeks ago. I knew enough to make two shallow pools of water when we got them in our care, but my instant ocean isn’t due to arrive for another week so all I have is sea salt to mix with water or that crab step 2 water mix. Which option is best for a temporary measure? Also, I just got play sand today but I’m afraid to disturb the crabs, as one seems to be up on some fake grass in a top corner of the tank and isn’t moving a lot, or eating that I can tell. What do I do? Disturb the little guy to set up the tank properly? Or wait a week for him to relax a bit and THEN add in proper water baths and sand?
Hi! So sorry we missed your comment. Add in the new substrate (5:1 ratio of play sand to eco earth) when you can, as long as your hermit crabs aren't molting. I assume you have the proper salt by now. Let me know if there is anything I can help with!
I am so stressed out 😞 I have tried so hard to make sure these crabs have everything they need. All the videos I watch seems to be different in their own ways. It’s like I just came across this video and had no idea I had to do this before changing things for the better for these crabs. No wonder they aren’t moving around like they were before I got them. The humidity has been too high, the temp has gone from 70 to high 80s and the sand is about 3 inches deep, they have caves and a log to hide in. I’m just so incredibly sad bc I’ve been obsessing to make sure they stay alive. They seem unhealthy to me. Not active at all. One goes into the sand to rest and the other stays in this log I have.. like a hollow stick, inside of it that’s leaning against the tank. They are in a 10 gallon currently and I just got everything ready for them to go into their 29gal. Can I change anything right this minute to fix this or is it too late? 💔🐚🐚
I got a hermit crab recently in outbanks North Carolina at a beach shop. I found a hermit crab with a shell the was not painted. I named him crab cake. I got the largest tank at the beach shop but it is still very small. I put some zoo med mulch mixed with sand stuff ment for tarantulas, hermit crabs and etc for a temporary use I also put two litte containers of saltwater and fresh water that would fit in the very small tank. I found some good hermit crab food the had dryed shrimp and it has calcium in it. The food helps with its exoskeleton. Let me no if this food is good for him " A world thrive of wonders hermit crab variety diet". On the side I have been giving crab cake fruits and vegetables. I went to my grandmothers house yesterday and she had a ten gallon tank the she used for fish i got a zoo med 10- 20 gallon heating pad for the tank and a few other stuff. I have not put him in the tank yet because I need to get a few more things. Can you tell me which side to put the heating pad on? I heard from other people to put the heating pad on the opposite side from your water bows but I want to here that from you so that I no what to do. Your channel is the most informational channel on hermit crabs I ever seen thank you for all of the info your channel is alsome keep up the work. Thank you again 💓 subscribed and have the bell turned on.🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐌🐌🐌🐌 🦀 🦀
Hi Noah McHenry! Welcome to Crab Central Station! Thank you for joining us on your journey and we are so excited that you have decided to join our #CrabCrew Congratulations on your new hermit crabs. Hang in there, the beginning of owning hermit crabs can seem very overwhelming. Just keep working on the things as you can and feel free to ask any questions here. We are happy to help! I would start by watching our video on PPS. This is a great method to help your hermit crabs slowly acclimate back to correct conditions. The heat mat goes on the back of the fish tank, above the substrate. So if you put 6 inches of substrate, the heat mat would go 6 inches up from the bottom of the tank. A 10 gallon is a great starter tank for your little guys. As they grow, you can upgrade the tank size. I would only feed foods that have whole ingredients on them, usually anything that says hermit crabs is generally unsafe. Fruits and vegetables are great! They need protein too, you can feed them chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, tuna, scrambled eggs... most things you eat (just don't put any seasoning on it). The best substrate is play sand (you can get this at home depot for 5 bucks a bag. You'll only need one bag for your tank) and then put in a half a brick of eco earth. Mix that up really well (we have a video on this called substrate). I don't want to talk you ear off... check out all of the care videos and they will help you out!
Thank you so much you are the best most other TH-camrs take months or even years to respond back to me thank you for all of your help. I would like to show you a picture of my tank in the further. I not finished with the new tank yet but till then take care and thank you. 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚
So I got a hermit crab, I did everything I’m supposed to, but I put 6 inches of substrate into its tank, it has burrowed all the way to the bottom under its coconut and has been there for about 6 days, I’m scared it’s going to die. What should I do?
Okay so I have never ever owned or cared for anything that needs a tank. I am terrified of suffocating the new crabs I adopted with a glass lid. I have a 10 gallon aquarium that I set them up in (2 crabs, planning on a bigger tank once I move), and I currently have a screen lid but I'm having issues with humidity so I've been keeping a towel on it. You guys recommend a glass lid but is there anyway to get air flow through it? I don't want to risk not giving them enough air for the small amount of time I open the lid for maintenance.
Hi! Hermit crabs don’t breathe the same way that a mammal or reptile may. They don’t have lungs like other land animals. It’s similar to that of an amphibian that can be on land and water. These modified gills breathe through the humidity in the air. Don’t worry they will be able to breathe 😊
Will they die if I was inexperienced and put them in a forever tank already? (The one I got from a beach shop seems very active so idk if he’ll be okay.)
Here is a quote from this article on PPDS (formerly called PPS) on the CRABSTREETJOURNAL Website: crabstreetjournal.org/blog/2013/02/21/pps-post-purchase-stress-minimizing-the-impact/ “The most important principal is GRADUATION of environmental conditions. Based on an average, calculated by scientists while they studied components of a hermit crab’s anatomical processes, they noted that it can take up to 96 hours for a crab collected and sampled directly from his native habitat to adjust to a change in environment. This is once the crab reaches his physiological threshold whereby hormonal triggers begin to occur. The hormonal regulation is fueled mostly by the crab’s food resources, but it also can include other regulatory systems. This means that a crab requires time to reduce physical stress by being able to adjust to his immediate circumstance.” This basically means that hermit crabs need a gradual change to their environment during this time so they can acclimate to it. Think about if you stayed in a nice air conditioned home around 72 degrees and then were forced to live outside in the 85 degree heat. We are made to withstand both temperatures, and while 72 is low for a hermit crab; they can survive that temperature (not thrive) and so if we just up the heat by 13 degrees it can shock the regulation system in their body. This is why we gradually increase the temperature over time. We want them to get used to the heat. It would be much easier for us to acclimate to a warm environment if we gradually increased 2 degrees at a time. From 72 to 74 isn’t a huge jump, so we do the same for our hermit crabs! I hope that makes sense and helps you out.
I was wondering, I just got my hermit crabs a few months ago and I didn't realize this was a thing until now. I did a lot of research (10 gallons per crab, 6 inches of soil/sand so they can molt, what they can eat, humidity, etc.) and it did take a while for the humidity to go up, and the heater took a while to arrive at my house. Will my hermies survive the first year? or should I do this right now? I've also read through some of your responses and Im dealing with another issue that someone else described but dont know what to do about it. One of my hermies have been very active, digging and walking around at night to get food and to bathe, etc. But my other one has been not as active, I don't usually see him, and he's gone under for periods of a few weeks, but then I dont see him eat. I hope hes ok and nothing is happening, but I dont know if hermit crabs molt very often?
I didn't know about PPS when setting up my crabs. I stuck huts into their tanks. I am offering foods and bought everything needed, I didn't add any external heating factors because it's summertime where I live and I have them in my garage, so the temperature has already naturally been hot. I imagine it was the same temperature where they came from ocean city New Jersey. Now I am at a cross roads should I remove the hermy huts????? 2 of them have been staying under there a lot
We didn't know that in the beginning either. Once we learned... we just had to tell everyone! That's why we started our channel. Thanks for joining us here at CCS!
Thank you so much! Which I saw this last week! Our subtrate is too deep. Both crabs have dug and disappeared 😕. They came out and ate day 1. I have changed food daily... it has been at least 5 days since food or water havw been touched... Suggestions? I know we aren't supposed to dig them up. I am worried about them. Not sure where one is. One I can see the shell in a far corner way under the subtrate. Ideas? They are in a 10 gallon tank. I have a 20 gallon for them with heating pads on side of tank.
Thanks for joining us on your hermie journey! Welcome to the CCS crab crew! Unfortunately, once the crabs bury down, you just have to wait it out. Digging them up can harm them even more. Keep up the great work of researching and learning!
So what about the leaves? I’m having a hard time figuring out what is ok and what isn’t? I have tons of leaves available where I live. Could I not use what I have instead of buying it? What do I have to do to it, so it’s ready to be eaten by my crabs? I have the right dead leaves available I believe. Thank you for all of your help. You’re the best.
Thank you so much. After I asked this, I was able to look through better and found the link for this. 🤦🏻♀️☺️ Thank you so, so much for everything y’all do. I’ve learned so much and I’m falling in love with the process. 🤍 Grateful for you!
Hello! Gotta question. How does the 30 L Aqueon Top fit a 10 gallon tank?? I just bought the 20 L and the plastic attachment prevented the lid from being completely sealed. That’s all. Love how you guys are advocating for hermit welfare btw! 😍
Hmmm.. I can't imagine how a 30L top would fit a 10g tank. I know that sometimes the plastic attachment on the Aqueon Tops don't fit enough to create a sealed tank. we just use clear packing tape along the back of the top and attach it to the tank to seal it. If we ever need to completely remove the top, it's as easy as replacing the tape along the back. I hope this helps. I'm so sorry our response is so late. We really try and answer all of the comments/questions. Somehow your's slipped by unanswered. Forgive us!
Leaves - oak leaves, maple leaves, birch leaves, almond leaves, catappa leaves... all safe. Be careful when gathering from your yard though. If you or your neighbors spray any pesticides, you cannot use the leaves from your yard.
@@CrabCentralStation ok now I know what to do but I still don’t know the food.but I will know.look what I did to my stages I rote them down so I can’t forget.and tell me what’s wrong.😀😀 Stage 1 Day 7 - 14 The heat has to be 70 - 72 and humidity is 70%.Make sure that they are eating and drinking.if not repeat stage 1. Stage 2 Day 8 - 14 Chang the heat and humidity.the heat at 71 - 73 and the humidity 72% .and make sure that they are eating and drinking.and if not repeat stage 2. Stage 3 Day 15 - 21 Change the heat and humidity.the heat 73 - 75 and the humidity 74%.make sure they are eating drinking.and if they are not doing those stuff repeat stage 3. Stage 4 Day 23 - 30 If they are eating well drinking well doing things that hermit crabs do.and go visit the basic hermit crab care.
I just saved 3 from the beach shops for my kiddos and had no idea all this was needed :) luckily I already had a 20g tank from my bearded dragons baby days... I got those tablets from your list and realized I need to grind them down what’s the best way?
Hi! When you are doing PPS, does the same rule apply of 1 crab + 1 gallon of space? I want to get two more but I would really rather use my 10 gallon tank. Thank you!
You can have more crabs in a PPS situation, however you still don't want to OVER do it as the purpose of this process is to heal sick crabs. They still need a good amount of space and resources so that they don't feel threatened.
Hi. We just got two small hermits and both buried under the sphagnum in the PPDS tank almost immediately in relatively the same spot. Anything to be concerned about?
Thank you for this really helpful video! I was wondering if our iso-tank is a separate tank to their forever tank, after completing all 4 stages in the iso-tank is it safe to simply move the crabs into their set-up new permanent tank provided the temp & humidity are the same?
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As a pet store employee, thank you so much for making these videos! They are so much easier to learn from and great to show to new crab owners! I'm learning a lot already!
This is such an encouraging message! Thank you for doing your part as an animal advocate!
@@CrabCentralStation I really need help with my hermit crabs I’m scared they won’t make it my tank heat is at 75 and the hum is at 80 or above - I notice they were more active in the beginning ( 4 days ago) but now they just most sit in the same spot for hours and moving slowly- do you have a forum or way I can send pics or videos so I can get advice - I’m watching all the videos but I don’t know what is the actual cause, I don’t know if they are eating the food but I’ve seen them eat the moss I’m terrified my little buddies are going to die 😢
@@aqmitchellare they still alive they eat moss
OMG. thank you for making these videos! I am about to acquire 2 hermit crabs that someone couldn't take care of anymore and I really want to make sure they lived a long life! Your videos are extremely helpful!
Thank you so much for watching and being subscribed! I'm so glad our videos are helpful!
Omg, u r a lifesaver. I need that heating pad.
Thank you!
This explains so much. My sister's hermit crabs (we were kids) didn't last a year, and my godson's crab didn't survive the trip home from the pet store. Imagine my surprise when I learned that these crabs can live for a century. Turns out they need more than canned dust to eat and a damp sponge. I always wondered about that.
Also, may I say this video is great. YOu are straight and to the point. You don't dilly dally around because you like to hear your own voice and waste our time. tyvm for that.
Thank you so much!
Note: the 10 gallon tank in this video is only used temporarily. For a permanent enclosure, you need at least a 20 gallon tank or larger with at least 2 crabs following the 10 gallon per crab rule!
Crab Central Station I like using the 2 gallon per a crab rule!
It seems to be working fine for me, but is it hurting my crabs?
Hi! Unfortunately, It is hurting your crabs! The main reason is molting space. When your crabs go under to molt, they need to have space. When crabs molt, they give off a scent that attracts other crabs to them. If there isn’t a big enough tank, the non molting crabs will find your molting one and possibly eat it. Also, if you have more than one crab molting at one time, they may not have enough space to do that and can cause deformities.
Do you have to use sand because i heard that it is not good for them
Where did you hear sand isn’t good for them? Most hermit crab species live in beach areas where there is sand. Hermit crabs need sand to molt. If the people are recommending just eco earth, there are a few reasons we don’t agree with that. The first one is that eco earth becomes very acidic over time which isn’t good for hermit crabs in high concentrations. It also retains moisture a bit too well, which can cause too much humidity in the tank. Food molds quickly, bacteria grows, and bugs are attracted to this kind of environment. Also, eco earth doesn’t hold molt caves well. We started with just eco earth and had several deaths while molting. This is eco earth alone. When mixed with sand in the 5:1 ratio, it works wonderfully! Sand is definitely safe for hermit crabs
I was planning to purchase a 10 gallon tank but it’s not a good idea? I’m only planning to have 1 crab is that not a good idea too?
Wow! Had no clue crabs were treated so badly.
same so sad :(
Me too when i watched this i cry:(
It's actually sad to see them in stores because those shells are not what they are supposed to be and they're supposed to be in their natural shells not ones with toxic paint on it and all those pallets they give you that is not the food for them it's really really sad
It really is! 😪
So grateful for this channel and for watching this video before buying my first two hermits thank you so much for all your knowledge and for what you do for the hermit crab hobby 🦀🤗
Awesome! We're so glad you have joined us on your journey. Welcome to the #CCSCrabCrew! Thank you for watching and supporting our family.
Tysm for doing this video. I just got my hermit crabs 3 weeks ago from a beach souvenir shop and I didn’t know that’s how they got them. Me and my older sis got one and I want to make sure they live such a long life and this video is gonna help me a lot so they don’t be stressed that much anymore. Your videos helped me a lot to make sure how to care for hermit crabs.
You are very welcome! I'm so glad you found our channel and found our videos to be helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting!
If the coke bottle does not work...I have used the little cheap clear plastic square transport containers they try to sell you at the beach shops to buy the hermit crabs as homes. I have 2 of these. They come with the vented plastic lids that snap on and a door that hinges on. I put a little bit of the substrate in that and put the molting crab in it and snap the lid shut. They still get all the benefits of the temp and humidity of the cage but total isolation from the other crabs fear of eating them. And you can see them as they molt and are ready to come back out. IVE USED THIS METHOD SAFELY FOR YEARS AND YEARS. I had a crab that surface molted for a couple of years for some reason and it worked every time for him. He buries himself now, finally.
Yes! We use these all the time too! It is my preferred iso. I just wanted to show the Tupperware container in the video because it's something everyone has available. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you. We are on 15 days and our 2 littles aren’t doing well. One lost a pinched other is still. So glad to have found your channel and will set up the pps tank ( which is basically what we just did to upgrade from the small plastic tank to a 10 gal ).
I hope they are doing well! How did the PPS method end up? Is everyone doing well?
The abuse litterally makes me cry. It's SO TRAMATIZING I can even imagine being taken out of my home by force and relocated. Absolutely heart breaking... lucky my hermits is 3 yrs old now and just changed her shell 5 different time in the past few nights so she growing and do SO GOOD!! I absolutely love you girls SO MUCH!!! I'd love e to foster or even adopt some of the babies you girls have let me know if I can do that!! My girl crab needs a friend she's aa blue claw I know usually you need the same species and around the same size she's the size of a 50 cent piece with her shell. So pretty good size. Lmk. I'd love to help out.
I agree….. makes me cry every time! I can’t believe people do this to these poor crabs! Now they are becoming endangered in some places!
I’m so glad you found CCS and that our videos are helping you on your journey!
Our captive bred babies will be available to adopt at CrabCon 2023! Josh’s Frogs also has some captive bred babies for sale.
Thanks for your kind comment!
Thank you so much for these wonderful videos! I am so sad and horrified to see what they do to these crabs. I'm so happy these people didn't want their hermit crabs so I was able to get them, and now can give them a proper home. I can't believe the condition in which these crabs are kept. The crabs I just "rescued", weren't even being kept at the right temperature. Obviously being fed "hermit crab food". Water wasn't being primed, and they definitely weren't giving them the "instant ocean". No salt water at all. Just a bunch of sponges and that gross food. They already seem to be more active since they are warmer and ate some *real* food. I truly appreciate these videos!
Wow! Thank you for taking these crabs in and saving them! They are lucky to have you!
Im really glad I found this channel as I just got my kids 2 hermit crabs and had no clue so much goes into going to keep them happy, healthy, and safe (I know feel guilty for the tank I had as a child for my hermit crabs Rocko and Angelica...it was the mid-late 90s, I was a kid, and I loved Nickoldeon cartoons hence their names. But I also now get when they didnt live longer than a few years. Both died during one of their molting stages I guess they didnt like the shells I had for them and was left heart broken). Anyways, I was so happy I gound an employee who seems to really care about hermit crabs and had a lot of knowledge on them and what I needed to build a happy enviroment for them. Right. Now they are VERY small so we are using a starter tank 10 gal), but I have a 30 gal tank to move them too once they get a bit bigger. I have the floor with thats half sand (3-4 inches deep for them to burrow in) and coconut fiber mulch sorta thing that had to be soaked to decompress (about 5 inches and goes up to a slight slope from the sand for the crabs climb and burrow in (they seem to LOVE this and our one crab Nico burrowed right in it after checking out his new home and eating a bit and out other crab name undecided by my 6 year old seems to be a bit more shy and eventually went right over where his/her brother is laid with him). I didnt know I shouldnt have gotten the half coconut shell right away during the PPS method but did get one cause when I bought the crabs they were hanging out in one with the other 2 crabs that were in the tank so I wanted to give them something that they recognized and felt comfortable in. Besides that we got the heating lamp (20 inche strip pad that fits an 18 inche lamp thats 15 watts). I bought the chemicals to make the salt water and safe drinking water, food dish with hermit crab food and little snacks for our crabs (I was told not to buy freeze dried as much as possible cUse it looses the nutrients. And was shown some type of dried flowers that lizards and crabs like to eat. I was also told they like egg shells? I will be watching your videos to see what else I should be feeding them. But they also got a climbing log and for a netting wall I bought this all natural coconur fiber wall but the adhesive on it sux. So I need to get some more or simpmy might cut it up and make climbing strips for them and then but something else for the netting wall. I also need to get some more plants for them. My partner is visiting our family in Ecuador right noe so I have him on the hunt for coconut shells that have been halved and prepared for decor in the tank so our crabs can have something more natural in their home. Oh I also got 8 shells for the crabs to choose from when molting (all natural no painted ones). I am hoping this will all help them to feel comfortable in their new enviroment and to thrive.
Thanks for adding this video because I am just getting brand new hermit crabs and I am so sorry for all of hermit crabs that passed away 😪😪
Just started a bioactive hermit crab terrarium, I love your videos. So many good topics and information. AND you're an activist for the crabs! So cute. (: More hermit crab sanctuaries!!❤
OMG!!! First off I cried when shown what they do to these hermit crabs I had no idea! How horrible!! Second just got my hermmies and will be setting them up for PPS!! Thank you so much for your help!
Isn’t it so sad 😞 the industry is horrible
@@CrabCentralStation I actually told a cashier at wal mart who said she had an exotic snake what the industry does to hermit crabs! She was so shocked!
Thank you for all the advice! I have partly set up my P.P.S tank!
I’m 8 and me and my brother are trying to learn how to keep our hermit crabs alive. Thank you 😊 ❤
I was a little upset when my sister bought my daughter crabs at the beach without asking- but I am going to do everything I can to help them thrive!
Please feel free to ask us any questions. We're glad you are here at CCS!
@@CrabCentralStation right now I’m struggling with pools & water setup. Are two sponges wet daily ok for 3 medium crabs or do they need a water dish? Also should I set them up a saltwater pool or just take them out once a week and let them submerge? My pet store is giving me different info than what I’m reading online ?
@@brittward5705 You will get a lot of conflicting and misinformation when it comes to hermit crabs. Hermit crabs have a soft abdomen, which is why they must carry a shell. They have an abdominal lung that must remain moist at all times. Hermit crabs also have modified gills, which is how they are able to live on land as well as breathe for long periods of time under water. Therefore they must have high humidity in order to breathe. Most pet stores don't know about hermit crab anatomy or what they actually need to live. They only know the poor care that they are told to provide within their pet store. In order to keep this lung and gills moist, hermit crabs carry their own personally mixed brackish water in their shell. This is why hermit crabs must have both fresh water and salt water pools (deep enough for your largest hermit crab to fully submerge in). Just make sure you provide a safe way in and out of the pools. You never have to "bathe" your hermit crabs or dunk them in water. This actually messes up their brackish water mix in their shells. Providing the resources to the crabs allows them to drink/dunk themselves as they need to without the added stress of humans intervening. We have a video on basic hermit crab pools and advanced water pools. Check those out for some good ideas! I hope this explanation was helpful.
@@CrabCentralStation I’m going to check that out now!!!
I woke up this evening to my mom bringing me back a surprise hermit crab from a beach shop. He came in a cardboard box and not a mini tank for some reason?? I'm watching him until the pet store opens to get him a proper big tank and set up, but I'm super thankful for you guys, I'm binging yall's videos to make sure he has a good transition and happy life.
Hi 👋! Welcome to the “Crabby life”! We are so glad you found CCS and that our videos are helping you on your hermie journey!
Day 1, Week 1 of PPS method. Anything to help because loss of a family pet/member is always hard. Thank you for sharing 💕
Trust the process... that's my best advice 🥰
aww i feel so bad, i only have ever gave my crabbies 3-4 inches of sand. Now they get around 7.
Yay! So glad you are giving them more 😊
The four people who disliked this must treat there crabs bad and can’t expect that this is the proper care for them
Edit: wow this is more likes than I ever get on a comment also my channel for crabs is Viabean11 and my lps one is via bean tv they both have a lps toy for a icon btw lol
My owner treats me very nice.
Thank you so much for all of your support and for loving hermit crabs enough to comment here!
This video is super helpful thank you. I just got some hermit crabs for my classroom. We will definitely be doing this method as we get them used to their new environment. I put Fresh food in there tonight and within minutes. One of them was on top of the food and eating. I have not seen him the four days i've had him. Before tonight I just have the pellets.
I just bought my lil guy about 4 days now and we are currently doing the PPS method. He was super active during the first 2 days - Exploring his enclosure, eating, drinking, etc. But the last 2 days he seems lethargic and just stares into space in the middle of the tank. At night I do see more activity but not like those first 2 days. I'm not sure if he's preparing for a surface molt or if I'm doing anything wrong!
I did have some white fuzzy mold on the food but it was due to my lil man burring the piece of egg and it got lost.. 🤦♀
Set-Up:
~ 10-Gallon Tank
~ UTH on the back side of the glass
~ 5:1 play sand to coco fiber (Only 1" deep)
~ 2 water pools (Fresh/Salt)
~ Temp stays around 75 day/night
~ Humidity stays around 80% (May be too high right now?)
~ Food: fried egg(nothing added; not even butter/oil), egg shell, bell peppers, cabbage, apple, strawberries, black berries
*Food is taken away after 24hrs & replaced
I’ve seen so many videos about what to do when you get a hermit crab and I’m just now seeing this. I feel defeated! My daughter got one as a gift and now I’m trying to make it happy and feel like I failed.
Dont feel like you have failed! You are leaps ahead just because you are resarching proper care!
Omg Tysm!!! I’m getting 2 Hermit crabs from a beach store and I never realized they went through all of this! Now I know how to help them! Thx
Awesome! Thanks for watching. We are so glad our channel was able to help you on your hermie journey!
Watching for the 4th time! So good, thanks!
Hi - we just purchased four crabs and I think they are all doing pretty good so far. 🤞🏻 All of them have changed their shells and a couple of them tend to dig. How do we handle a molt if we are still in the transition PPSD tank? I watched your video on what to do for a naked crab but don’t want to disturb if they’re molting and not sure how to tell the difference.
And thank you SO much! We were uneducated impulse buyers but now working so hard to give these little guys the best home. 🥰
Great question amber! Thank you so much for educating to give these guys the best life possible! It is people like you who are overturning the industry!
If a crab is molting in the PPDS tank above the surface, that is called a surface molt. The crab should be isolated (you can do this by placing a cut in half 2 liter soda bottle around the crab (including a few extra shells)) from other crabs. You will know it is surface molting because it will have left it’s shell, and show little to no movement for days/weeks at a time. It will slowly remove its exoskeleton and then proceed to consume it. You will know the molt is over once the exoskeleton is fully eaten and the crab is in a new shell, walking, eating, and the new exo is vibrant and hardened.
If you have anymore questions feel free to DM us on instagram!
Thank you so much!! My crabs are now partying so much and I put in a hamster saucer and they have been loving it!!
YAY! So glad you are seeing some happy and active crabs!
Super helpful, Thankyou!!!!
You're welcome!
Thank you guys for all of this information it's truly been helpful
You are very welcome! Thank you for supporting us and loving your hermit crabs!
Great video! What brand of salt would you recommend to countries like Australia where there isn't access to instant ocean? I use red sea salt- do you think that's okay?
Thank you! We recommend Instant Ocean. I’m not sure about Red Sea salt, is it from a pet store or a grocery store? What brand is it? I’ll look it up!
@@CrabCentralStation It is for saltwater fish and coral, etc. I simply have no access to instant ocean :(
Do you know what brand it is? We just want to make sure it is safe! Otherwise we may be able to help you find some alternatives in your area. Also I missed that you said there wasn’t instant ocean in my original response! So sorry about that!
So sorry for the late response, my app didn’t notify me you replied! Yes it is a safe salt to use!
Red Sea blue bucket is a great salt for saltwater aquariums. Red Sea black bucket has higher magnesium/calcium/alkalinity for stony coral reefs. For land hermits, blue bucket should be fine.
GREAT videos !!!! Keep up the hard work.
Thank you so much! We appreciate your support!
Yay a new video
Thank you! Let us know what you think 😊
I got mine in Virginia Beach and they were sold with the wrong things like most hermit crabs but surprisingly they did not come in a painted shell they were in really good shells
Oh wow! That's really good to hear that they didn't have painted shells! I'm so glad you found our video on PPS. Let us know if you have any questions. Welcome aboard Crab Central Station.
after watching these videos, i feel so overwhelmed about buying my son a hermit crab from the beach. i am stressing out so bad about all the stuff i need to buy now. they should not be selling these in those stores! This poor little hermie. i feel so bad. i have nothing right now other than the box i brought him home in and the kit that came with it.
Yay! Keeping up with the #hermiejourney
I’m get a third soon. I have 2 alread6 so I am making sure they will be ok!
Also, it’s been hard for me to regulate the humidity. It started out at 65 so I closed the lid and it got up to 85. If I keep the lid open, it drops so I tried just propping the lid open today while I was at work. We will see how that worked. I’m so nervous!
Be careful with propping the lid... crabs can climb the silicone corner of thebtank and escape. It's better to add dry moss, take bubblers out of pools, move pools away from the heater ect.
Should I use it if I buy my crabs from petco without shipping
So what if I’ve had my crabs for a few days and I didn’t do this? They have been buried for two days and I’m worried.. all I heard was how important it was that they had enough sand and places to hide. I really wish I had seen this before. 🤦🏻♀️
Hi Charlotte Edwards 👋! Welcome aboard Crab Central Station. We're so glad you're here. First of all, you are not alone, most beach/pet stores do not give good, accurate, or complete care to customers. The good news is that you are looking for better care and we can help! Since your crabs already buried, don't dig them up. That will cause more stress which can lead to dropping limbs, injury, or death. Hermit crabs are mostly nocturnal, so try adding some stinky foods to the tank in the evening. This may lure them out of their hiding spots. If you see them on the surface, go ahead and put them in a separate isolation container while you remove all but 1 inch of the substrate. Also remove all the hides during this 30 day period. Then replace your hermit crabs and continue with the PPDS method in this video. At the end of the 30 days you can set up their forever tank with deep sub, hiding, climbing, ect.
Some stinky foods to try (never use any seasonings, salt, pepper): fish, cooked shrimp, scrambled eggs, sardines.
Some tank favorites: fresh apple, grapes cut in half, pecans, popcorn (no butter, salt), mango, bell peppers.
Foraging foods: worm castings, green sand, bark, leaves, flowers
I hope this helps!
30k views!!! That's amazing!!! 💜💜💜
Eeekkk!!! Yay! 🥰
I impulsively bought three hermit crabs, not knowing anything about their toxic shells, bad food, or literally anything about them. I thought they would be easy to take care of, and that supporting the beach shop I bought them from would be a good thing- I was so, SO wrong and I desperately need help. So far, they are all relatively healthy, but there are small bugs in my cage, and two of my crabs are constantly burrowing in the sand and hiding in the house I gave them in their tank. Once I found out they don't eat the cakes as much, I started giving them dried cranberries and coconut. However, I still kept feeding them the cakes as I want them to have a reliable, kind of back-up source of food. I've been giving them salt as well as fresh/spring water and have been trying my best to keep their tank humid and moist, but it stinks really bad most of the time, there are bugs, and they are typically tired all the time and like to hide...
...Any advice....??
HI aster! Welcome to the hermit journey! Check out the vids on our channel about base crab care, and this website www.lhcos.com for TONS of info! I recommend to get rid of the crab cakes asap and start offering a balanced diet (see our food video) and be sure that your heat and humidity is stable! Then follow this website from there.
@@CrabCentralStation Thanks for replying! It's been a while since I posted this and my situation is completely different and I feel like I'm taking care of them much better! I've been feeding them a balanced diet of fruit, seeds, and veggies and am keeping them in a larger tank with correct temp and moisture. Thank you so much for your help along the way!
I live in Florida so we already have a humid climate.
I started the post purchase stress method with new my crab about three weeks ago. I got up to the optimum heat and humidity but during that monitoring period I thought the crab was dying because it stopped moving around and eating, but it actually just surface molted today (was sure it was hanging out of its shell dead but nope). Once it starts moving around and eating again is it ok to move it to the deep substrate? Should I still wait?
great vid!!!!! finally a vid on acclimation of land hermits🤣💕. for some reason, it also make my babies more active.
quick question: iyou said that we want to prevent burrowing or hiding;. I have three crabs I just got yesterday, and even in one inch of substrate, they still managed to burrow, what to do?🤔 thx!!!
Are they completely under the sand? We want to prevent burrowing so that they don’t end up molting before we get their nutrients back to where they are supposed to be. That way they don’t die in molt.
And thank you!
Crab Central Station unfortunately yes. what to do what to do. I am thinking a bare bottom crabitat or maybe moist paper towels?🤔🤔
I assume your crabs are small? As long as they aren’t molting, they should be fine. You can reduce to 1/2 inch if need be. We have never tried with paper towels or bare bottom. I would think with the increasing humidity the paper towels will rip apart and the crab may eat them. We can’t recommend anything other than sand. Keep an eye on them and if they aren’t moving around and eating, you may want to reduce the amount of sand.
@Dani M I have this question too. What do we do about our substrate if we already have 8 inches in there and the store isn't that far off?
The Petco has them at 60-65% humidity and 75-77 degrees. Both readings are the cruddy analog dial thermometers. The substrate is about 3/4" of sand which looks pretty damp. The issue is their food is just a plate of pellets.
60-65% is about normal room humidity here, and 77 degrees can easily be our tank heat with the thermostat, which I agree is awesome, I tested it and we can keep it up to about 83 if needed, 75-77 is no problem at all. I'm not sure how to reduce the tank humidity though, because our tank with the water tanks in there keeps it around 85%. I can try cracking the lid a bit, and if the heat gets too low just turn up the thermostat. We also have about 8" of substrate in there. I was thinking about maybe taking only a teeny amount out, like an inch or so, and then covering it snugly with plasticcore or plexiglass and then adding back 1/2" and ecoearth on top of the plastic sheeting to prevent digging.
We do have another 10 gal tank, but we have our current crabs down for a molt. They've been down since around 4th of July weekend. So we figure another week or so.
The thing is, we can't see the point of letting the crabs at Petco stay there another week or two... or three... in the pet store before we buy them just to wait on the two guys molting to clear out the old tank to use it for PPS... It seems like it would be better to buy them and bring them home now where we can feed and acclimate them properly and them move our two molters into the new Crabitat with the new guys we plan on getting already in there. The way I see it, waiting to buy them just makes them weaker. There are no adoptions here in Juneau Alaska, I did already try to find some. The closest are in Seattle, and we aren't travelling now, obviously.
Thanks for your so helpful videos. We have watched them all multiple times because of such good info.
As far as the heat and humidity acclimation goes, you are doing great! Since the pet store wasn't far off for temperature I wouldn't worry too much about that. If you could possibly regulate the humidity for your new friends that would be good. 45%-65% humidity from the pet store is pretty low and I wouldn't recommend throwing the new guys into 85% humidity right away.
As far as the PPDS for the new crabs, that is a tough position (especially since you have other crabs molting.) Normally I would suggest you take all but an inch of sand out of your current tank, take out all the hides, and focus on getting good nutrition in your new crabs so they can survive their first molt. Your current molting crabs do pose an issue though. If I understand your situation correctly, it seems you have crabs molting in both your extra 10 gallon tank and your current larger tank? What I would do in this situation is create a temporary ppds tank out of a tote or bucket (the challenge is that you would need to purchase a heat mat for it) This way you can focus on your new carbs nutrition and you won't disturb your currently molting crabs environment.
@@CrabCentralStation Thanks! nope- the molters are by themselves in the small 10 gal tank. the large tank had no crabs. we ended up getting two jumbo females and I covered the substrate with plexiglass, there's no way the big crabs can dig down, but this way they can still reach the water tanks easily, which are about 8 inches deep and walled off with plexiglass, which is one reason I didn't want to remove all the substrate. I have an exoterra topper that has glass doors on the front, and I can crack them open to a certain degree that is smaller than the crab shells (their shells are 2.5" so in a 3/8" crack there's no way they are escaping) and that is keeping their tank about 66-73%.
we got a TEENY guy (6mm claw!) and some others who are in about 1-1.5" shells. I was able to find another 10 gallon tank on craigslist and I used a heat mat that was too small for the other tank. I used that reflextix silver bubble wrap stuff on the short end and the two LONG sides. we can watch them thru the short end. and on top of the screen top, which was damaged. I cut the damaged portion out of the half near the window end, and taped everything over carefully. There is seriously less than an inch of substrate in there but these guys are so small they can still pile it up and hide underneath, so I may remove even more. I used craft mesh on the open end of the top and can cover that with plexiglass if it goes too low. I used gaffer tape to make sure they cant escape, but i can peel it up to get in for their food and water. the temp is good around 73-77. the humidity is VERY high though, in the 80% still, so I'm just going to avoid misting it and leave the top open. I don't want to lose heat with the underpowered heat mat.
thanks for your response. I rewatched the video again a few times and I think this is going to be pretty close enough for them and that separating them by size is going to prevent the escapes of small guys getting arond the barrier and digging down in the big tank. I figure we can use one of the 10 gallons as the other as an iso tank or as a PPDS tank in the future.
thanks so much again for the help. I appreciate having someone to ask questions of with good experience and advice!
Wow! This all sounds really great! The temporary plexiglass bottom is really smart! Do you have a thin layer of sand over top of it? Craft mesh for slowly increased humidity is genius as well... I love these solutions! Your crabby friends seem to be in really great hands :)
@@CrabCentralStation it's all your fault!!😉😉 I've been watching your videos. Yes I put about a half inch substrate evenly over the top of the plastic because the lower substrate was already properly... Humidified? From dryish. I did put a nice chunk of moss in there above the sand but the jumbos in there have 2 1/2" shells so they aren't hiding anyplace even with the moss! I took a few more things out of the bank for the little guys and they are all hunching together now toward the back. We took a photo of their food to make sure we can tell if they are eating at night.
Thanks again for all your great videos. They are well thought out and concise with great info. We are in Juneau so we sometimes have to rig things that aren't available.
So glad we have been able to help! Happy crabbing :)
Hi! So we purchased our 2 crabs a week ago while on vacation before realizing what all was needed 🤦🏻♀️. I did as much research as I could and quickly set up a 10g tank with sand/eco earth, heat pad, food, and water bowls. Both crabs started digging but one would come out and play in the water (our bowls are not deep enough i’m realizing), eat a little, etc…it was fairly active! The other dug in the corner and stayed there for days. i’m not sure i’ve seen him eat or play in the water at all but he did move occasionally. We got them 2 hiding huts and he’s relocated there but hasn’t come out (but isn’t digging). The other one that was active dug again and I haven’t seen him/her in 3 days.
I know not to dig them up but should I try and coax her out and do this method? We have already had their head/humidity in ideal ranges since we got them…would it hurt more than help at this point?
Welcome to CCS! We are so glad you are here with us on your hermit crab journey! Definitely don't dig up your new crabs, that will cause more stress. If they are on the surface, you could take them out for a short time while you remove some substrate and hides. Leave the heat/humidity as it is since they have already been in those conditions. The big thing is to remove the hides and deep substrate so that they can concentrate on eating and drinking (as the video describes). I hope this helps!
So I got three hermit crabs last month and sadly about a week later it passed. I did a TON of research and I thought that may have been all I needed to do but sure enough I have been learning new things everyday like what else to use! I want to adopt another and get it a little more comfortable then my ones now are! My crab sebastian always comes out but pickle is always hiding from me. I did not do the pps method but if you have any tips to get them more comfortable as well as what to do for the new baby I will be adopting soon please let me know! Thanks!
P.P.S. method will definitely help with that! Also, some crabs are just more shy than others. We have a crab who walk to the glass to greet us every time we walk into the room, and another that still startles easily and hides in her shell when we move our hand. We have had both of these crabs for the same amount of time. Sometimes a crab is just shy, and will take a while to warm up to you!
Omgosh, I went to look at hermit crabs at Petco, they were all painted - with paint. I never saw that before, I would think an actual pet store would know better than to paint an animals shell!
It is sad! Petco doesn’t paint them, the wholesale marketers do. But, it is still shameful that pet stores buy and sell them!
I never knew you had to do this!!
It helps the crabs slowly acclimate back to the correct conditions. It also gives them time to rehydrate and gain back the nutrients they lost during capture-transit-sale.
Hi, I was hoping you could help me. Just got my first two crabs about a week and a half ago and I set up the tank just like you said to in this video (except I skipped the gradual temperature change because the pet store I got them from already had the tank at 85). However, one of the crabs (Cheeto) is acting oddly and I’m not sure what it means. A few days ago he stopped moving around the tank any. He just kind of picked a spot and has been chilling there ever since. He hasn’t moved to eat or drink in days. I know that he’s still alive because I have seen him move a little bit, sometimes he’s hiding in his shell, sometimes his face is poked out, and he’s turned to face the opposite direction a couple of times. But no movement beyond that. Is he about to molt? Should I put the soda bottle around him? I don’t want to cut him off from the rest of the tank if that’s not the case, but I also don’t want my other crab to harm him if he IS molting. What should I do?
This is exactly why it is so good to have a PPDS tank. It makes it so much easier to monitor them. The best thing to do is continue the process. Offer different foods every night. Change the water every other day to keep it fresh. Keep an eye on him. You will definitely know if he is surface molting, he will be shedding his exoskeleton. If that happens, then add the soda bottle. Let us know if you need anything else.
I am about to takeover a hermit crab that is nelected and the only reason i even knew that it was neglected was because of u guys
Thank you for saving him!
wish i knew about all this back when i was a kid... my crabs kept dying on me one after the other, the worst being a big one I got as a birthday gift that passed the next day, with one crab being here from the start and being the last to pass, making me think they all could have lived longer :(
Crabs can live up to 40 years in proper conditions!
Hmm well I found this video about 3 weeks after I got my crab. I set it up based on the OTHER tank setup video. So at this point, do I start over or stick with 80 degrees and high humidity deep substrate?
Same thing here, what did you end up doing?
Hello ladies, I have a bit of an emergency. My crab Bruce has yet to molt in the time we’ve had him. He was in a tiny cage without sand for 3 months and he’s been in my care for 3 months. I’ve not really seen him eat or drink much, he wouldn’t eat real food when I tried to get him to, so I always kept moss in his tank, and when he buries himself, he leaves the top half of his shell above sand. He did change his shell a month ago but he hadn’t molted. I left him alone for about 2 weeks and when I came back home last night I saw he wasn’t half buried anymore. I opened his tank and smelled a faint crabby smell mixed with the smell of the moss, and it made me nervous. I gently lifted him up to see if he was ok, he didn’t droop out of his shell but he was frozen in one position, and his eyes were out and up but they didn’t move. I still can’t tell if he moved on his own or not, but I do remember him flinching his legs ever so gently. I have no idea if this is some unusual way of molting as I know it can take months to do that, I also read sometimes they smell when they molt. I haven’t touched him since last night because I don’t want to disturb him if he is molting but I’m also scared of the possibility that he is dying.
Hi! I’m sorry to hear that you’re experiencing this! You will know if a crab is molting because they shed the upper half of their body off. Their exoskeleton will have legs, head ect. If there is no exoskeleton, the crab isn’t molting.
This may be a bit of a silly question! But after the 30 day period, how would you transition them and get them use to the deeper substrate? Do they naturally figure it out (like the depth of the substrate).
And also another silly question! Where would you put the hermies when redecorating their tank, like giving them the proper inchs of substrate they need after the 30 days?
They will adjust to the new environment pretty quickly. While you redecorate, just get a tupperware container. Put some substrate and a little hide, maybe some damp moss, and a lid, and they can stay in that while you decorate their tank and add more substrate. You want to have a good plan in place so that they don't have to be in that little container for very long.
Rly helped a lot thanks 🙏
Glad to hear!
Wow thank you so much for alllll your videos! I’ve been obsessed with them and following the suggestions to the T. I do have concerns about my crabbies. I’ve had them about a month. Unfortunately they are very inactive and not eating or drinking. Can you help me?
Awesome! We are so glad our videos are helping you on your journey! We do have a video called, “How to have an active hermit crab” that might be helpful for you. Thanks for watching!
I have a cadge with a fake plant and two types of sand, I also have shells scattered around the cadge and a mini house along with two water pools and a little bridge the humidity in our house is the right amount they need, my mom is not a big shopper and she dose not want to spend to much money I’ve had one crab for over a year now and just got another one do you think that’s just enough for a while until I get an upgrade?
I’ve been putting a piece of apple in my tank because I suspect they weren’t eating and they haven’t eaten since I’ve gotten them on may 15
What other foods are you feeding? Is it only the Apple? How big are your hermit crabs?
I couldn’t find the heat mat thermostat in the shopping list.?
I really need advice. My sister and her kids recently went to South Padre Island and my nephew convinced my sister to get a hermit crab. They went to the little shop, picked out a big one and a small on and then got another small one for free. They of course were given the small little plastic container, painted shells, etc. I am an experienced Turtle owner, so I knew to do my research as soon as I found out she got them and came across a bunch of information, including this channel, that they had nothing they needed. However, I did not come across this video in time. When they got home, they filled the tank up with moistened play sand to the 6 inches, water bowls, etc. a few days ago, the bigger crab died. Now there are the two little ones. My sister has been caring for them to the best of her ability but the kids aren’t helping like they were supposed to so now she wants me to take the crabs. I got them today, and now I’m coming across this video and I have no clue what to do since they’re already in this set up tank directly after being purchased, and one has already passed. The small ones are alive, we’ve been looking in to see new movement and new burrow holes. Today since I got the tank, the past couple hours, I have only seen one of the crabs moving around. I don’t know if the other one is trying to molt but it is definitely in the sand. I really need help..
Hello 👋 Welcome to Crab Central Station! Your story sounds like how most of us got started. The great news is that you want to learn and do better and we can help you with that! We have a bunch of videos on our channel about all the different aspects of hermit crab care. Watch as many as you can, they will help a lot. We have links on our website and in the description of our videos to great products and stores.
If the crabs are already buried in the substrate you can not do the PPS method. Digging up the crab will cause more stress, it's best to leave them.
I'm not sure if the tank your sister gave you has a lid and a heat mat, but that is a great place to start. Hermit crabs have modified gills and breathe the humidity in the air. A cemetery sealed tank along with heat and water pools will create the correct environment (we have a video on heat/humidity and water pools).
It can be overwhelming at first, but once everything is set up, hermit crabs are pretty easy to maintain and a lot of fun to own.
@@CrabCentralStation Okay, and what do I do if they aren’t touching any of their food?
Try some stinky foods like scrambled eggs, tuna fish, cooked shrimp, plain popcorn. Ours also love apple slices, grapes, carrots, corn on the cob. Hermit crabs have a hard time turning down worm castings as well.
@@CrabCentralStation Awesome, thank you!
im going to adopt 3 purple pinchers when summer comes, because i will be moving soon after school ends. i heard that these animals can stress easily, and stressing is never good and leads to bad things. im watching this video to make sure that the purple pinchers will become comfortable in their new tanks normally.
*i have a few questions though, if anyone could answer!*
1.can i do this method using a 30-gallon tank and have the outcome be similar and steps be similar? if not, what would change and should change?
2.how will i add more substrate after this period is finished without stressing them? where should i keep them in the meantime?
3. can i do this method with multiple crabs at once (in my case, itll be three)? if not, what should i do differently?
4. how do i properly clean the things that ill be adding into the tank? (i dont know exactly what ill add as of right now, but if i add fake plants or other climbing things, how should i clean them?)
5. is it okay to have an air plant in the tank during this process? ive heard that they can get the water they need from the humidity in the air, but im not sure if the little levels of substrate and lower humidity levels at the start would be the right environment for the plant.
if anybody who can accurately answer these questions could share their thoughts in the replies to my comment, it would help me and other people greatly. *ALSO,* if you're not 100% sure that what you're claiming is correct, tell me in your comment so i can look into it more. thank you!
What if i put them in one with a lot of eco and they instantly dug in the ground
I put about 2in of substrate and one has burrowed. I am worried what should I do 😢 please help
If I start a pet shop the same process happens at least first they are gonna just be shipped to the place with normal shells but before getting shipped they have good food and water and a lot other normal shells and are gonna have giant cages and hides and stuff they climb in and are together because they are social creatures
That would be great!
I want to thank you for your great, informative videos! I have a question...I'm about to get some hermit crabs from someone on Craigslist (I couldn't buy from the store after hearing the horror stories about how they're treated). The crabs are coming with a 20 gallon tank. I already have all the supplies needed based on your videos. The crabs have been in a tank with no lid or heater and have a small layer of coconut substrate. It looks like they've been fed dry fruit/vegetables and pellets. They do have two shallow water bowls. Should I complete the whole P.P.S. process? Or since they're not from the store should I modify it?
I'm sorry that I missed your comment! How are things going now? What did you decide d to do? Thank you for rescuing instead of purchasing!
I live 5 mins from the beach....what can I use that's natural? Sand, drift wood shells?
Check with you local governing ordinances, it is usually illegal to remove those items from beach areas. Sand can contain harmful parasites, so you want to use play sand and eco earth (5:1 ratio) instead. Driftwood, assuming it's legal, can be washed and then baked on the lowest setting your oven can go, for a few hours. Shells..... let's leave those for the wild hermit crabs, they have so few as it is that many hermit crabs are having to wear trash as shells. You can order shells at www.theshellstore.com
Hi! I just adopted two crabs 2 days ago from a buy & sell group as an impulse buy and am now learning a LOT about them quickly. They have been housed in a tank with pet store sand and only one pool of water since their original owner bought them about 10 weeks ago. I knew enough to make two shallow pools of water when we got them in our care, but my instant ocean isn’t due to arrive for another week so all I have is sea salt to mix with water or that crab step 2 water mix. Which option is best for a temporary measure? Also, I just got play sand today but I’m afraid to disturb the crabs, as one seems to be up on some fake grass in a top corner of the tank and isn’t moving a lot, or eating that I can tell.
What do I do? Disturb the little guy to set up the tank properly? Or wait a week for him to relax a bit and THEN add in proper water baths and sand?
Hi! So sorry we missed your comment. Add in the new substrate (5:1 ratio of play sand to eco earth) when you can, as long as your hermit crabs aren't molting. I assume you have the proper salt by now. Let me know if there is anything I can help with!
Where did you get that heat lamp please and thank you?
I am so stressed out 😞 I have tried so hard to make sure these crabs have everything they need. All the videos I watch seems to be different in their own ways. It’s like I just came across this video and had no idea I had to do this before changing things for the better for these crabs. No wonder they aren’t moving around like they were before I got them. The humidity has been too high, the temp has gone from 70 to high 80s and the sand is about 3 inches deep, they have caves and a log to hide in. I’m just so incredibly sad bc I’ve been obsessing to make sure they stay alive. They seem unhealthy to me. Not active at all. One goes into the sand to rest and the other stays in this log I have.. like a hollow stick, inside of it that’s leaning against the tank. They are in a 10 gallon currently and I just got everything ready for them to go into their 29gal. Can I change anything right this minute to fix this or is it too late? 💔🐚🐚
I got a hermit crab recently in outbanks North Carolina at a beach shop. I found a hermit crab with a shell the was not painted. I named him crab cake. I got the largest tank at the beach shop but it is still very small. I put some zoo med mulch mixed with sand stuff ment for tarantulas, hermit crabs and etc for a temporary use I also put two litte containers of saltwater and fresh water that would fit in the very small tank. I found some good hermit crab food the had dryed shrimp and it has calcium in it. The food helps with its exoskeleton. Let me no if this food is good for him " A world thrive of wonders hermit crab variety diet". On the side I have been giving crab cake fruits and vegetables. I went to my grandmothers house yesterday and she had a ten gallon tank the she used for fish i got a zoo med 10- 20 gallon heating pad for the tank and a few other stuff. I have not put him in the tank yet because I need to get a few more things. Can you tell me which side to put the heating pad on? I heard from other people to put the heating pad on the opposite side from your water bows but I want to here that from you so that I no what to do. Your channel is the most informational channel on hermit crabs I ever seen thank you for all of the info your channel is alsome keep up the work. Thank you again 💓 subscribed and have the bell turned on.🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐌🐌🐌🐌 🦀 🦀
Hi Noah McHenry! Welcome to Crab Central Station! Thank you for joining us on your journey and we are so excited that you have decided to join our #CrabCrew
Congratulations on your new hermit crabs. Hang in there, the beginning of owning hermit crabs can seem very overwhelming. Just keep working on the things as you can and feel free to ask any questions here. We are happy to help! I would start by watching our video on PPS. This is a great method to help your hermit crabs slowly acclimate back to correct conditions. The heat mat goes on the back of the fish tank, above the substrate. So if you put 6 inches of substrate, the heat mat would go 6 inches up from the bottom of the tank. A 10 gallon is a great starter tank for your little guys. As they grow, you can upgrade the tank size. I would only feed foods that have whole ingredients on them, usually anything that says hermit crabs is generally unsafe. Fruits and vegetables are great! They need protein too, you can feed them chicken, beef, shrimp, fish, tuna, scrambled eggs... most things you eat (just don't put any seasoning on it). The best substrate is play sand (you can get this at home depot for 5 bucks a bag. You'll only need one bag for your tank) and then put in a half a brick of eco earth. Mix that up really well (we have a video on this called substrate). I don't want to talk you ear off... check out all of the care videos and they will help you out!
Thank you so much you are the best most other TH-camrs take months or even years to respond back to me thank you for all of your help. I would like to show you a picture of my tank in the further. I not finished with the new tank yet but till then take care and thank you. 🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦀🦐🦐🦐🦐🦐🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚🐚
So I got a hermit crab, I did everything I’m supposed to, but I put 6 inches of substrate into its tank, it has burrowed all the way to the bottom under its coconut and has been there for about 6 days, I’m scared it’s going to die. What should I do?
We just got one from Petsmart and they don’t have them like the stores at the beach. Would I want to do the same type of process?
Thank you so much
You are very welcome! Thank you for watching and supporting our channel and our family 😊
Can I use aquarium salt instead of instant ocean
Okay so I have never ever owned or cared for anything that needs a tank. I am terrified of suffocating the new crabs I adopted with a glass lid. I have a 10 gallon aquarium that I set them up in (2 crabs, planning on a bigger tank once I move), and I currently have a screen lid but I'm having issues with humidity so I've been keeping a towel on it. You guys recommend a glass lid but is there anyway to get air flow through it? I don't want to risk not giving them enough air for the small amount of time I open the lid for maintenance.
Hi! Hermit crabs don’t breathe the same way that a mammal or reptile may. They don’t have lungs like other land animals. It’s similar to that of an amphibian that can be on land and water. These modified gills breathe through the humidity in the air. Don’t worry they will be able to breathe 😊
ive had a crab for three years and i havnt done this at all
Will they die if I was inexperienced and put them in a forever tank already? (The one I got from a beach shop seems very active so idk if he’ll be okay.)
I was wondering why you would increase the temperature by small increments over the pps period. Please explain when you get a chance
Here is a quote from this article on PPDS (formerly called PPS) on the CRABSTREETJOURNAL Website: crabstreetjournal.org/blog/2013/02/21/pps-post-purchase-stress-minimizing-the-impact/
“The most important principal is GRADUATION of environmental conditions. Based on an average, calculated by scientists while they studied components of a hermit crab’s anatomical processes, they noted that it can take up to 96 hours for a crab collected and sampled directly from his native habitat to adjust to a change in environment. This is once the crab reaches his physiological threshold whereby hormonal triggers begin to occur. The hormonal regulation is fueled mostly by the crab’s food resources, but it also can include other regulatory systems. This means that a crab requires time to reduce physical stress by being able to adjust to his immediate circumstance.”
This basically means that hermit crabs need a gradual change to their environment during this time so they can acclimate to it. Think about if you stayed in a nice air conditioned home around 72 degrees and then were forced to live outside in the 85 degree heat. We are made to withstand both temperatures, and while 72 is low for a hermit crab; they can survive that temperature (not thrive) and so if we just up the heat by 13 degrees it can shock the regulation system in their body. This is why we gradually increase the temperature over time. We want them to get used to the heat. It would be much easier for us to acclimate to a warm environment if we gradually increased 2 degrees at a time. From 72 to 74 isn’t a huge jump, so we do the same for our hermit crabs!
I hope that makes sense and helps you out.
What is a cutter bone and is that in the bird section?
I was wondering, I just got my hermit crabs a few months ago and I didn't realize this was a thing until now. I did a lot of research (10 gallons per crab, 6 inches of soil/sand so they can molt, what they can eat, humidity, etc.) and it did take a while for the humidity to go up, and the heater took a while to arrive at my house. Will my hermies survive the first year? or should I do this right now?
I've also read through some of your responses and Im dealing with another issue that someone else described but dont know what to do about it. One of my hermies have been very active, digging and walking around at night to get food and to bathe, etc. But my other one has been not as active, I don't usually see him, and he's gone under for periods of a few weeks, but then I dont see him eat. I hope hes ok and nothing is happening, but I dont know if hermit crabs molt very often?
I didn't know about PPS when setting up my crabs. I stuck huts into their tanks. I am offering foods and bought everything needed, I didn't add any external heating factors because it's summertime where I live and I have them in my garage, so the temperature has already naturally been hot. I imagine it was the same temperature where they came from ocean city New Jersey. Now I am at a cross roads should I remove the hermy huts????? 2 of them have been staying under there a lot
How are things going now?
Can you use soil and sand for the substrate? Also can you use hermit crab saltwater conditioner and drinking water conditioner
Wow…had no clue!
Thanks for watching!
Oh my gosh I never new that hermit crabs are treated like that 😩
We didn't know that in the beginning either. Once we learned... we just had to tell everyone! That's why we started our channel. Thanks for joining us here at CCS!
Thank you so much! Which I saw this last week!
Our subtrate is too deep.
Both crabs have dug and disappeared 😕.
They came out and ate day 1. I have changed food daily... it has been at least 5 days since food or water havw been touched...
Suggestions? I know we aren't supposed to dig them up. I am worried about them.
Not sure where one is. One I can see the shell in a far corner way under the subtrate.
Ideas? They are in a 10 gallon tank. I have a 20 gallon for them with heating pads on side of tank.
Thanks for joining us on your hermie journey! Welcome to the CCS crab crew! Unfortunately, once the crabs bury down, you just have to wait it out. Digging them up can harm them even more. Keep up the great work of researching and learning!
So what about the leaves? I’m having a hard time figuring out what is ok and what isn’t? I have tons of leaves available where I live. Could I not use what I have instead of buying it? What do I have to do to it, so it’s ready to be eaten by my crabs? I have the right dead leaves available I believe. Thank you for all of your help. You’re the best.
Hello! here is a safe foraging list! Hope this helps! crabstreetjournal.org/blog/2016/05/12/hermit-crab-food-foraging-list/
Thank you so much. After I asked this, I was able to look through better and found the link for this. 🤦🏻♀️☺️ Thank you so, so much for everything y’all do. I’ve learned so much and I’m falling in love with the process. 🤍 Grateful for you!
Hello! Gotta question. How does the 30 L Aqueon Top fit a 10 gallon tank?? I just bought the 20 L and the plastic attachment prevented the lid from being completely sealed. That’s all.
Love how you guys are advocating for hermit welfare btw! 😍
Hmmm.. I can't imagine how a 30L top would fit a 10g tank. I know that sometimes the plastic attachment on the Aqueon Tops don't fit enough to create a sealed tank. we just use clear packing tape along the back of the top and attach it to the tank to seal it. If we ever need to completely remove the top, it's as easy as replacing the tape along the back. I hope this helps. I'm so sorry our response is so late. We really try and answer all of the comments/questions. Somehow your's slipped by unanswered. Forgive us!
When you said leaves. Can I do any kind of leaves??? And how do I know the temperature of the humidity??
Leaves - oak leaves, maple leaves, birch leaves, almond leaves, catappa leaves... all safe. Be careful when gathering from your yard though. If you or your neighbors spray any pesticides, you cannot use the leaves from your yard.
@@CrabCentralStation ok but how do I check the humidity of my tank??
The Guage will tell you the humidity.
@@CrabCentralStation ok now I know what to do but I still don’t know the food.but I will know.look what I did to my stages I rote them down so I can’t forget.and tell me what’s wrong.😀😀
Stage 1
Day 7 - 14 The heat has to be 70 - 72 and humidity is 70%.Make sure that they are eating and drinking.if not repeat stage 1.
Stage 2
Day 8 - 14 Chang the heat and humidity.the heat at 71 - 73 and the humidity 72% .and make sure that they are eating and drinking.and if not repeat stage 2.
Stage 3
Day 15 - 21 Change the heat and humidity.the heat 73 - 75 and the humidity 74%.make sure they are eating drinking.and if they are not doing those stuff repeat stage 3.
Stage 4
Day 23 - 30 If they are eating well drinking well doing things that hermit crabs do.and go visit the basic hermit crab care.
Great job!!! Looks really good!
Can you have multiple crabs in the PPS tank?
I just saved 3 from the beach shops for my kiddos and had no idea all this was needed :) luckily I already had a 20g tank from my bearded dragons baby days... I got those tablets from your list and realized I need to grind them down what’s the best way?
Congrats on your new Hermit Crabs! I cannot remember which tablets you’re referring to, which ones are you talking about?
Hi! When you are doing PPS, does the same rule apply of 1 crab + 1 gallon of space? I want to get two more but I would really rather use my 10 gallon tank. Thank you!
You can have more crabs in a PPS situation, however you still don't want to OVER do it as the purpose of this process is to heal sick crabs. They still need a good amount of space and resources so that they don't feel threatened.
Hi. We just got two small hermits and both buried under the sphagnum in the PPDS tank almost immediately in relatively the same spot. Anything to be concerned about?
This was a while back, I'm sure they are out of PPDS now. I am so sorry I missed your comment. How are things going now?
Thank you for this really helpful video! I was wondering if our iso-tank is a separate tank to their forever tank, after completing all 4 stages in the iso-tank is it safe to simply move the crabs into their set-up new permanent tank provided the temp & humidity are the same?
Yes! That is how you do it!
My hermit crab died today I should’ve used this but I don’t have the money
Oh dear. I am so sorry for your loss 😢
Do I still need to use this method If the pet store I’m buying the crabs from does an amazing job of caring for them.