Cursed?

[CrabbyJo]

Emma, that is so interesting!

What I took away from it was: The land hermit crabs were 10 times more attracted to other dead hermit crab odors than to food odors. In those cases, those same crabs exhibited shell changing behavior.

Here I'll digress and make an inference. In the cases where hermit crab owners find a crab dead (or gone) and another crab wearing it's shell, chances are that the original shell owner, crab 1, died before the new owner, crab 2, took the shell. Not necessarily, as so many crab owners end up assuming, the case being that crab 2 killed poor crab 1 for his shell! He may be an innocent squatter!

I'd love to add more, but it's time to leave work, so I'm off (was waiting for my ride). See you later! Thanks for sharing that article, I love learning new things!

[RudhiraKaama]

Alright... so last night I fully changed out everything and now have the following:
- Ecoearth coconut fiber substrate that is very very shallow over the UTH
- a bit of moss mixed in with that
- Carib Sea sand that is slightly moist in half the tank (not over the UTH)
- freeze dried shrimp and seaweed
- working right now on calibrating hygrometer but it looks nice and humid in the tank
- I ordered organic hemp twine (you can't find that stuff anywhere!!! at least, not online...) and will be making a net ladder and second level.
- I will be getting 2 gallons of distilled water tonight: 1 to mix correct salt into and another for regular water.

Questions:
- I still haven't been able to find a thermostat... should I put glass marbles over the UTH anyway and have the coconut fiber cover over that?
- must all of their recommended freeze dried food be actually freeze dried? For example, in the reptile section of the pet store, I found mealworms and crickets, but they don't appear to be freeze dried. Would these be acceptable?
- I found a nice deep "rock" bowl with tiered steps to easily get out - it appears to be made of resin... does anyone think that this would be alright to put in the tank?

Now, my problem this morning was that I can't find my crab!!! He's buried himself (hopefully, happily) somewhere in the tank and combing through it this morning, I wasn't able to find him!

[emmac350]

Crabs are scavengers and as such won't respond to live mealworms/crickets as food, but mealworms and crickets (whether dried or I've heard of frozen 'cubes' of krill/mealworms/etc.) are fine for eating.

I had to buy my thermostat online, so no worries about not seeing it in stores. Do put some sort of separation over the UTH (marbles) so crabs can't get access to it.

As for the rock bowl, I have the exact same thing in my ISO. Rinse it clean with crab-safe water and you can even boil it safely to ensure it's clean between uses.

Don't dig up your crab, just let him do his thing now. You've got a great start!

[CrabbyJo]

Sounds like you're really coming along!

I bought my thermostat off ebay (you can get some great deals if you wait for the near end of the auction before you bid).

Emma is right, don't dig up your crab. You never know when they are just down to chill out, or if they are actually preparing to molt. In either case, they are wanting privacy, and to dig them up can be quite disturbing for them in normal cases, and deadly if they are trying to molt.

As for freeze dried, you don't have to go that way, it's just recommended that when you do it doesn't contain preservatives. I serve frozen krill (from the pet store) but shrimp that I steam and freeze myself seems to get a better reception. Each person has different results though, so while someone's crabs go nuts for one thing, another's may seem to treat it indifferently! Just keep adding a variety of foods, keep it as varied as you can, and you'll see what your crabs love. Mine seem to love apples or applesauce (I serve organic unsweetened) and bone marrow (take any bone, put it in a plastic bag, and smack it with a hammer or heavy rolling pin to break it open, and serve the pieces to your crabs). I leave the bone in for a week or so, as even though it dries out, they seem to keep fiddling with it and munching on it. Then I wait a week or so before offering some again. Feeding can be so fun! I think Emma gave a link to some hermit crab food sites? Take a look, its amazing what they can eat!

[RudhiraKaama]

Ah, guess I'll look online at the thermostats then. I could've sworn I recently saw one in a pet store, but I guess I was imagining things.

Concerning the lid for the tank... what do each of you have at the moment? Should I buy a piece of plexiglass and cut it to size? Should I leave the standard aquarium lid on (I have the one section that's a cutout for where a filter should be placed, that is the area I had covered with duct tape to keep in heat and humidity)?

Real rocks - is it alright to put real rocks (thoroughly washed and rinsed) into the tank? For example, we have a lot of puddingstone, and quartz in the area. Any thoughts?

Plastic plants - Is it alright to place plastic plants in the tank or would it be better to put in live (edible) plants? I'm just afraid to do that for fear of attracting more pests.

[CrabbyJo]

Some pet stores do carry thermostats, but sometimes they are hard to come by, or more expensive than say, Ebay.

For a lid, I have a mesh lid with a light hood on 1/4 of it, the other 3/4 is covered with two pieces of cardboard that are thoroughly wrapped in cellophane to hold in moisture. The cardboard acts to hold in heat, hence why I have chosen to continue with this rather than have the more attractive plexiglass cut to fit. The two pieces of cardboard enable me to slide it to allow more airflow or less as needed. Whatever you choose to do, you will want to make sure there is some airflow. Occasionally I will take the cardboard off just to let some fresh air in, which drops the humidity so I have to mist before I cover it up again.

Real rocks are fine, as long as you are sure they are not of a kind high in minerals that may rust in the humid environment (truly, rocks can rust!). Quartz is absolutely fine. I have rocks in my tank that I found out in my yard. I chose ones that don't have a lot of crevasses for mosses, etc. to hide in (believe it or not, some are not killed with boiling) and boiled them well before using them.

Plastic plants are absolutely fine. Real are hard to maintain, esp if you spray with salt water (plants do not like high salinity), and the crabs do tend to make piecemeal of them. If I ever get a 75 gallon, I'm going to make a plant corner and see how it does. I will use eco earth for dirt, as potting soil is not safe for hermies.

If you do use fake plants with metal in them, make sure none is exposed, and check them well each time you deep clean for nicks. Put aquarium sealant on any breaks in the plastic so no rust can form and harm your hermies.

[RudhiraKaama]

Ahha... alright, I will find some relatively smooth rocks and boil them to include in the tank. Funny you mention rust on the rocks - I live in an area famous for iron mining... much of the rocks in the area have rust. but I will of course not choose those! I kind of wanted to build a little crabby mountain for them to scale (not steep enough where they would fall, of course).

I purchased distilled water and 2 coconuts last night. I successfully broke open the coconuts (I've never been able to do so before without having a significant mess) and gutted them, leaving nice, roomy shells!! I will soak in salt water and bake tonight!

I also mixed up the salt water and filled the jacuzzi... crabby still no where in sight though...

Wai - what is that line you have connected into your jacuzzi for??

I can't wait for my hemp to arrive so I can create a nice net! I essentially want to create a 2nd story with a net ladder leading up to it.

I also now can't wait to buy some nice plastic aquarium plants to put in the tank!
(This is getting pricey! ... oops!)

[emmac350]

I think you're referring to Wai's bubbler in his water bowl? A bubbler is constructed from an aquarium pump, aquarium tubing, and airstones. You connect them all to each other, put the stone in the water, and turn on the pump. It bubbles in the water, raising humidity very effectively.

[RudhiraKaama]

Ah! Thank you for the info! ... Perhaps I will look into a bubbler in the near future once I get things a bit more set up.
Emma, your daily crab page is AWESOME! I was cracking up! Your guys are adorable!
Thank you again everyone for all of the information, I am beyond appreciative and I know my crabbies are as well!!

[CrabbyJo]

Rhudikarma, I forgot to tell you, check out Walmart in the craft section, you can find hemp twine there! They have natural hemp in rolls like you find any other twine - stay away from the jewelery hemp (little bits of it on cards, hanging with the jewelery wires,etc), that stuff is 'spensive!

I tried two different gauges, and the larger one I think I like better, tho it is a little hard to knit or crochet with. Just takes a little more oomph! hehe.