Original hermit crab thread close due to maximum posts hit capacity. Refresh your bookmarks.

Lets start fresh from here.



Where to buy hermit crab?
------------------------------

1. Pet Safari @ Ikano Power Center - lots of it! Size is varied from micro / small / medium / jumbo. @ counter of Pet Lovers Center
2. Pets Family, Taman Megah SS24, beside Ming Tian food court - Approx. 11 Strawberry hermit crabs. RM30/each.



Hermit crabs food for sale at...
------------------------------
Legend : Shop name, location - product brand + name(price)

1. Betta Discovery, 1 Utama - Crab Worx (RM?)no longer on sale
2. Carrefour, Midvalley - Crab Worx (RM5.50)no longer on sale
3. Pet Lovers Center, Sunway Pyramid - Hikari crab pallets (RM8.50)
4. Pets Family, SS24 Taman Megah (Beside Ming Tian food court) - Hikari crab pallets (Rm8.50)
4. Pet Safari, Ikano Power Center, Mutiara Damansara



What type of crabs currently on sale in Malaysia? (at time of writing)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Ecuadorian Hermit Crab ( Small hermit crab ) RM5 ~ RM8.50
2. Ruggies Hermit Crab ( Medium sized hermit crab ) RM9.90 ~ RM12
3. Strawberry / Purple Pincer Hermit Crab ( Golf sized hermit crab ) RM 15 ~ RM30 ( Price varied from medium to Jumbo )

Note : All price is listed from survey and buying experience. Do not quote on it. Price is varied depends on location.
A rough guide on how to choose / buy hermit crab
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Things should you look out for is grayish legs and blurry eyes if the hermit crab crawls out. That means the crab is about to go through molting. Choose at risk.

It is fine to have the crab close to your hand so that it will come out from its shell so you can have a good look of it.

Most crabs were shy and always in the shell. DO NOT press the hermit crab to force it out, the more you press them, the longer they hide. This build up stress to the crab.

Shell condition is important. Any cracks on the shell is not recommended for new owners as the cracks will bring injuries to the crab's abdomen.

Active crabs is easy to spot, those that crawl up and down are actives. Also active crabs sometimes brings harm. If you are getting anything larger than Ecuadorian crab, don't let it pinch you.

This is important, DO NOT BUY ANY COLORED SHELL crabs. Toxin from the color will gradually infect the crab so avoid totally. It is recommended to get crabs with natural shells.

Related to the point above, you will need to have to buy extra shells for the crabs so get the ones that is the SAME size what that crab is currently wear.


Short pros and cons of keeping hermit crab as pet
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Pros :

They are small, relatively cheap in food, general care and enviroment setup aka. crabitat construction.
Clean and allergic free.
Cute in appearance.

Cons :
Very messy as time goes by.
Unpredictable behavior depends on humidity, temperature.
Stinks badly if the crab died for 36 hrs.
Short life in Captivity. 40 years in nature .vs 4 years in tank.


Future readings
------------------
http://www.crabstreetjournal.com (Packed with articles and a good user experience based advice forum)

More will add in soon..


Additional request
--------------------
Do PM me if you would like to see / or have question on hermit crab thread in LYN forum

Information donation needed! If you have any good tips on hermit crabs, post it!
Happy reading and happy crabbing!!

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 1 2013, 09:50 PM

wohooooo.. 2500 post reached.. congratualations!!!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyody here HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! and long live with your pets

This post has been edited by HoshiGami: Dec 31 2007, 11:26 PM

Before this thread meletup, Happy New Year everyone..

Happy New Year to everyone and hermit crab...Welcome to 2008

Yeah! My crabs celebrate their new year by messing up the whole tank

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Added on January 3, 2008, 10:04 pmBought myself a Ruggie and yet to shift it to the main tank.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jan 3 2008, 10:04 PM

Wah... Interesting shell! Where did you get it? Got picture from other angles?

IIRC, that shell is from japan. Plastic shell. Correct me if i am wrong.

i help my friend pick up alot of hermit crabs in langkawi

Wow !! hermit crabs are one of my favorite pets. I have kept both marines ones and the land ones before. I will be posting something very interesting about this topic. So stay tuned !

Happy crabbing.

This will be my first time sharing my hermit crab keeeping experience in lowyat. If you are new to land or marine hermit crab can always email me at chiachyuan@yahoo.com. I will to post my answers in this forum for all to see.


My Land Hermit Crab Tank (Terrarium Set Up)
A 2 feet plastic tank, some crush coral sand, a drift wood and water puddle. And about 40 of them inside. Now I am not keeping them anymore due to lack of time to take care of them, i release them back to their natural habitat the beach. I kept them alive and healthy for more than 3 years, I set them free 2 years ago, although some died due to failed molting.

Very fun to keep them and lot's of stuff to learn from them. They are really social creatures. I bought 1 more from a different shop tried introduce a new hermit crab into the tank existing colony. The new one will crawl from 1 end to the other end of the tank, using its antennae to communicate to all the existing tank members, and the newbie hermit crab was very well welcomed and accepted into the colony.

Now I am keeping sea hermit crab. Photos are coming soon.

























This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 24 2008, 01:42 AM

Anyone still having hermit crab? I just brought one back from Thailand..hahaha.. Wanna get 1 partner for him..

Go 1u already but dont see the shop open, ikano also..
Going sunway this weekend, any idea which shop is selling now?

More Pics.





Above : Land hermit crabs like climbing, and hang on to high places. It can stay there not moving for hours. It just cling onto the drift wood with most of its body in the shell, and front top view you may never tell whether it is a snail or a hermit crab until you need flip them over gently and look at the shell opening.










Above : This one is the largest and most dorminant one in the tank.


Below : Some medium sized land hermit crab from my tank.
















This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 24 2008, 01:32 AM

Hermit crab live in colony of at least 30 up to 100s of them , and their own colony members numbers can actually covers the whole beach stretch for several 100s of meters. They will crawl the whole beach stretch kilometres far from the main colony in search for food. U won't be able to spot them during day because the are hiding from the heat of the sun.

As for your hermit crab, keeping 1 of them will shorten its lifespan. In their natural habitat they lived for more than 30 years. Keeping 1 n only hermit crab is not a good idea , and u should at least keep 10 of them of different sizes in a small tank.

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Added on April 24, 2008, 1:51 amI will post my sea hermit crabs pics soon.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 24 2008, 01:51 AM

Looks nice! Love the pics! My hermit crabs is way smaller than yours ( Ecuadorian ).

Your substrate looks shallow, do your crab do surface moulting?

How many in the tank? I once have 6, 4 died left to pioneers

you should never keep too many crabs in one tank, they need to have alot of space to grow. so mainly a two feet tank can house about 5-10 growing crabs until adult size to avoid fights and deaths.

Also, you must provide 2 dishes of water for your crabbies, one sea salt water and one normal water, but both must be free of chlorine. CHLORINE can hurt your crabbies.

you crabbie lovers should visit www.hermitcrabassociation.com for further enquiries and learn about hermit crabs all over the world

This post has been edited by nimeewon: Apr 24 2008, 06:37 PM

I thought hermit crabs only do a surface moult if they're under stress?

Anyway, this is sushi. Pretty ain't she?


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Not really. The crabs have some intelligent sense when it digs around the substrate. I have an inch deep substrate when i first got the crabs and they did surface moulting until i added another 5 inches of sand and they start digging when they wanted to moult.

Wow, non camera shy hermit crab! cute! >.<

Tip of the day : the shell that the hermit crab is wearing above is Babylonia Spirata, a favorite shell for Ecuadorian and Ruggies hermit crabs.

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Added on April 24, 2008, 8:24 pmWise advice indeed. 4 small crabs died in a 2ft tank for me then i upgraded it to a 4 ft tank, bought 4 new crabs and they are ok now

Adding your provided link to the starting topic

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 24 2008, 08:24 PM

Yes that's what i am actually doing. For a 2 feet tank, i put in a drift wood for the crabs to climb, to make use of the extra space above the gravel, so they are some on the wood some walking on the gravel and some at the corners of the tank. I constantly take them out of the tank and let them walk around a limited floor area in my house, to let them exercise. After that you need bathe them in filtered water, that is left over 1 to 2 nights to get rid of the chlorine.

As to if they fight among each other? From my observation and a few years keeping hermit crabs, they hardly start fights. The dorminant hermit crab will normally get its rights over most 'things' inside the colony, like shells, food, walk path, and hiding spot. Should they really confront, the weaker one just defend itself by hiding into its shell, and rarely they harm each other in a colony.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 24 2008, 08:54 PM

Eh... I also let them walk around my living room. They only like to walk anywhere with a wall, cupboard, or something behind them. Rrely they will walk on their own. but sometimes spotted Sushi and Wasabi on the Carpet also. Sometimes Wasabi will climb the curtain also. Unagi too.

Wasabi is the dominant one. When it comes to fighting ar... Hmmm... When 2 of them want the same shell which I scatter on the living room floor, Wasabi will do a kind of kung fu or taekwando move and push the other away. I think she has jealousy issues also because the moment she see someone wants a shell, she wants it too.

And yar, Sushi likes that shell so much she always changes back to it.

Fighting is rare for my crabs.. dominant one? Its all of it, since everyone have the same favorite spot. Once all the crab wanted to be on the same spot, they would just climb up on each other. Food sharing is a problem, sometimes they push around, sometimes and tear abit and hug it.. still never see them fight.

btw Jamien, you name all your crabs sushi related? Cant wait to see Tamago and Tempura to be added in the family :P

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Added on April 24, 2008, 9:48 pmI did recommend all tanks should have a "second floor" for the crabs, I had mine build with drift wood and artificial vein that hooks up to the tank's cover so that they would climb upside down whenever they want ( of cause having the lid close tight )

Alternative solution is to use hemp net to make extra space above.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Apr 24 2008, 09:48 PM

Actually yar, all sushi related. My first one is Sushi lor. Cuz it's the first time I rear things from the sea besides fish. Then the second is unagi. He's quite dark despite he moult a not ehence his name. Got takoyaki lar. She's medium sized but likes big shells. Maker her look round. then Wasabi lor. She's a mean feisty crabbie. She tried to pinch me when I help her up. But she looks really pretty.

At the moment hermit crabs both land hermit crabs and sea hermit crabs are not available in aquarium shops.

According to some traders, land hermit crabs aren't difficult to keep for hobbyist. However to them(the petshop business owners), it is a business environment where there are many other pets for sale in their shops, therefore keeping hermit crabs alive and healthy seems to be an easy task, will also add loads to the everyday business operations. Resulting high death rate to the hermit crabs before they can be sold to customers.

Therefore resulting hermit crabs livestock is a "ONE OFF" business. Meaning the livestock arrive at the shop for sale, when it is sold out, then that's it. Try your luck in waiting and hoping for another batch of livestock.

Some hermit crabs are sold to real experience keepers like us, the crab happily live and blend in to our home environment, while others are sold to parents as a gift to their kids may result to improper care and the hermit crab die from stressful and non-adaptive environment that is cruel.

As for me, releasing them back into the wild, gives me a happy memories. I released them at night, and seeing them crawling on the beach rejoining other hermit crabs colony in that beach is really an experience that money can't buy.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 25 2008, 10:54 PM

I thought the Jusco home centre got sell hermit crabs?

You mean that shop that links with Eneos car care shop, on the lower floor ,right ? Yes they do sell hermit crabs. As I said before unlike some pets that are regularly available, hermit crabs are not always available in pet shops. One my last visit to that shop, they only put up the shells on the display, no more hermit crabs for sale. That was somewhere in March 2008.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 26 2008, 09:50 AM

OIC. Maybe I mistaken lar. I saw shells in the display tank so I thought it was.

Some pics of my marine hermit crabs.

Photos are blurry due to algae growing on the tank glass.
Algae are also natural food to the hermit crabs.

Some are open for adoption for a small price. For more information please click here.









This post has been edited by blitzboy: Apr 28 2008, 02:52 AM

I thought algae was bad for hermit crabs? That's why we have to keep their tank nice and clean?

for land hermit crab, yes algae is is problem because it makes the tank dirty.


however for sea hermit crab, it also sometimes feed on the algae

I bought 5 at pasar malam. within 2 weeks all die...

i think those sold at pasar malam are land hermit crab. Normally they are quite hardy and able to survive harsh conditions.
At the beach, it is full of sand and it is very cold at night and very hot at day, still land hermit crabs are able to survive.

Pls share with us a photo of how your hermit crabs are kept at your home?

This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 4 2008, 03:59 PM

Hi everyone! Believe it or not ... i've just discovered this forum after more than a year of having my own land hermit crabs.

Just quickly ... does anyone knows where Beta Discovery from 1U have moved? I need to get the crab food : HAGEN CRABWORX. My hermits won't eat other pellets except for this. Just a few days ago, i tried feeding them with my cat food from Blackwood. Am also feeding them fruits and others at same time. Please help...anyone ... much appreciated!

Let's see if i can upload the pics here. I've not done this before ... duhhh



Attached thumbnail(s)

my hometown is fishing village, last time when trapping crab, 4 sure will get hermitcrab as well.

well, if any1 of u wanna get free hermit crab, can PM me. if i go back hometown, will get it if any1 interested....

Yes Betta Discovery have moved to B1, besides the POS Malaysia. They still sell hermit crabs. Hardly see any small ones these days.

Also nice crabitat you have there. Hagen Crabworx, i used to have those pellets and iirc, betta discovery sell those. Recently i see Hikari brand crab pellets more than other brands i know.

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Added on May 7, 2008, 11:21 pm@hyrl - Those sand looks familiar. Are those the Reptisand that is sold in a tin can in 1 ~ 4kg?

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 7 2008, 11:21 PM

Hi Onscreen! Thanks for your reply! Yeayyy! This is good news ... i shall rush down there tonight and 'borong' all the Crabworx before they move again. Will look into other brands you mentioned.

Sadly, last night ... my biggest hermit named Zulu in the pic above (with stripe shell) died. Not too sure why, he was eating well and all. This is sooooo stressful for me. I bought Zulu from Betta Discovery last year.

Oh yeah! The sand? Nope .. it's not Reptisand. It's PEE DEE sand ... <LOL>. We went to PD and brought back 3 pails of beach sand. We even brought back about 20 hermit crabs!!! Need to go to PD again and replenish new sands. My hermits just love their crabitat. I've had about 5 crabs molted in that substrate. I've also bought beach sands from shops selling marine fishes before getting PD sand.

Onscreen ... is Reptisand good or bad?

Ciaoooo and hope to hear fr you again...

If you go collect sand from the beach be sure to collect the sand from the very clean beach and not from those beach filled with rubbish made by those irresponsible people.

Collecting beach sand is a good idea to built a crabitat that closely replicate hermit crab's natural habitat. It will be a good also to stick an aquarium fan on the top edge of the tank to produce aireation, because hermit crabs do respond to sea breeze in its natural habitat. I believe the windy condition has a positive effect to keep the temperature low, and not too warm or too humid, and your hermit crabs are always active.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 14 2008, 01:43 AM

Geez blitzboy made a good point there on the wind. Will try that tomorrow.

Reptisand is actually a processed beach sand and its baked before packed. Reptisand is used in reptiles but its recommended for hermit crabs as well since it have good humidity control and water absorbtion that would keep the sand wet for quite sometime.

Betta Discovery recently no longer sell pellets for hermit crabs. So far from my search, pet shops around in PJ, Pets Family and Pet Lovers Center carry some hermit crab pellets and hermit crabs related items like shell shaped food dish, Reptisand, climbing decorations etc etc.. though stocks is rather limited.

LOL..i thought in malaysia only got ruggies? got straw or PP?

and btw, do you really think the wind thing is a good idea? well, aeration is good. but hermies need high humidity (75-78 %) in order for them to breath easily. They cant breath well from dry air. So the whole wind thing will just make the air even drier.

This post has been edited by prophet007: May 15 2008, 12:33 AM

Hi onscreen.
Thanks for supporting my idea. i wish to invite all hermit crab lovers & keepers to try out this simple experiment.

1. First take one of your hermit crab out from it's crabitat.

2. Held it in your hand, and the hermit crab normally will be hiding in the shell.

3. Now, try blowing some air into the opening of the shell. Blowing it little by little from your mouth.

4. The hermit crab will react to the wind entering shell, and the wind passes through its legs. In a matter of seconds the hermit crab will show itself and try to free itself from your grip, because you are holding its shell.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 15 2008, 12:37 AM

well, maybe the hermies DO react to the wind. so what? i mean in the tank, they need high humidity and IMHO, the wind will just decrease the humidity drastically.

hyrl: just asking, i saw only one water dish in your tank. Is that fresh water (tap water) or salt water?

blitzboy: seriously, your tank was very nice. But do you know that you were keeping them in a wrong way?

First of all, there was too little sand, and I dont think the hermit crabs can have a nice dig and molt perfectly.

Secondly, 40 crabs in a 2 ft tank? That was seriously overcrowded.

Thirdly, you only had one water dish inside your tank and I have no idea whether it was salt water or fresh water. But FYI, hermit crabs need both salt and fresh water in order to survive.

Fourth, the cover of your tank cant even contain humidity. and if you put a fan on it, I must say that your hermit crabs were suffering as they cant breathe easily.

No offence, but if you really want to keep land hermit crabs next time, please do a bit more research.

This post has been edited by prophet007: May 15 2008, 01:01 AM

I will recommend the aquarium fan that you buy it comes built in with a switch for ON/OFF.

The hermit crab natural habitat on the beach, has winds that is not constant and varying wind speed. You can replicate this condition by having a fan fitted to the tank, and only turn it on occassionally.

The fan don't need to be ON all the time. However it is better to have the fan ON during a very HOT day, to keep the condition in the tank cool.

well, that is because hermit crabs live on the beach where water supply is abundant. And because of that, humidity is quite high.

Plus in Malaysia, a tank's temperature wont suddenly increase or decrease drastically. They will more or less mantain at the same temperature, unless your tank is placed near the window.

PS: blitzboy, i have some comments (post 40) on your previous hermit crab tank. Please have a look.

For keeping land hermit crabs.

You need 2 dish of water. 1 dish for fresh water and 1 dish for saltwater.

When i used to keep hermit crabs, i give them filtered water that is left over night before giving to them. And the salt water mixture I mix it with sea salt , the brand is Red Sea, at salinity of 1.023 to 1.025 specific gravity, same as the sea water.


Land hermit crabs drink more fresh water than saltwater. So be sure to have more fresh water for them.

He made a good point there and you posted faster than me

Anyway, will post update on the crabs activity with a fan turned on.


And Prophet007, with all due respect, forum is a commuity of sharing information but not knowledge bashing. Also, 40 crabs is possible but you have to judge the size of every crab before putting them in.

yes! exactly! But from your picture (first page), I can only see one water dish.

And fresh and salt water should have the equal amount. Not because they drink more, then you provide more. Drink more or less, they themselves will decide, we as keeper should only prepare whats best for them.

of course you can put a fan on it. But just make sure you have a lid to cover your tank. maybe some plexiglas or something that dont have too much holes. And I dont think I am knowledge bashing. I am just sharing my point of view.

But regarding the population, I cant deny that 40 in a 2ft tank is really too much. And overcrowding will promote fighting (I am not saying your crabs were fighting). Even they are tiny or micros, 40 is just too much and they dont even have enough sand to dig in.

This post has been edited by prophet007: May 15 2008, 01:21 AM

Hi there i appreciate that comments.

I had placed more sand in the tank. than you saw in the pic. It was because the crabs dig dig and dig so the sand becomes very uneven, some corners of the tank have higher ground level.

Yes I have 40+ hermit crabs. Do that tank looks overcrowded?

It is because the hermit crabs i keep mostly are small to medium sized ones, and most of the time i am always watching them, and handling them. Only a few are large sized ones. I kept them this way for 3 years, they are all healthy, although some died in the molting process; i released them back to the beach.

That water puddle is freshwater, and i have a smaller dish for saltwater, not so visible in the picture, it is behind that drift wood.

If there is no aireation, the tank sometimes smells due to hermit crabs excrement and dampness. The air movement not only keep cool, and also can help reduce foul smell. If you on the fan all the time surely it will be dry inside the tank. You don't have to keep the fan ON all the time.

And I now no longer keeping land hermies, because no time to take care of them, now I am keeping marine hermies and i set up 1 saltwater aquarium just for them.

well, hermies' poop dont really smell. And yes, your tank looked overcrowded to me. Also, at least have 3 inches of sand for them ma...dont be so stingy la. haha. Cause some hermies hide in the sand to relieve stress.

The fan thing should be ok provided you have a proper lid. Perhaps next time you would want to prepare a larger salt water dish as wild hermies live beside the beach and there is not such thing as fresh water beach.

I dont have any experience in keeping marine hermies, so all the best.



And oh, onscreen, there is something I dont really understand. I have seen golf sized ruggies and medium sized straws/PP. So is there any particular reason you mention the size beside the hermit crab species?

Hi Blitzboy!

Thanks for your thoughts. No one likes dirty sands filled with rubbish ... I bet my crabs would not appreciate that as well. I don't think i would have the guts to scoop the dirty, smelly sands and drive 2 hours home with the sand.

I've not read / heard about aquarium fan or giving some breeze to my crab. Will do more research, but thanks for your shared info.

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Added on May 19, 2008, 5:58 pmHi Prophet007!

Thanks for asking ... answering to your query:
1. I have 2 water dish, both filled only with SPRITZER Mineral Water (not drinking water).
2. One dish with salt and the other without.
3. Most of the time, the water dish with salt would finish first without fail!

Here's a picture of my crabitat with their dishes.

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Added on May 19, 2008, 6:09 pmHmmm ... somehow, i do not agree. My hermit crabs drink more of salt water than freshwater. Their salt water dish always, without fail dries up first.
Maybe it's just my crabs

By the way, any food suggestion for land hermit crabs are most welcomed. I'm running out of ideas to feed them . Over the years, i've been feeding them:

1. Apple
2. Banana
3. Papaya
4. Honey
5. Weetbix !!!
6. Corn (cooked ... from corn in the cup seller)
7. Fresh grated coconut
8. Dried shrimps



This post has been edited by hyrl: May 19 2008, 06:09 PM


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1. Apple
2. Banana
3. Papaya
4. Honey
5. Weetbix !!!
6. Corn (cooked ... from corn in the cup seller)
7. Fresh grated coconut
8. Dried shrimps
9. Hagen CrabWorX
10.Bread

You menu of food for the hermit crab is already very complete. Add Hagen CrabWorX and bread to the list.

However, you feed them corn that cooked from the corn in a cup seller,
normally cooked with butter (oily substance) not advisable to feed the hermit crabs oily food.
Land Hermit crabs breath with modified gills that can breath air when remain moist. Oily substance
can kill it, if it got into the gill chamber, mixed with the moisture inside, due to disrupted breathing.


You can buy fresh sweet corn from the market,
peel of the leave and scrubs cleanly and wash in tap water, and wiped it dry with clean cloth.
The cut the corn out into cilinder shaped blocks. Feed them raw sweet corn.
Feed them 1 block and keep the rest wrap up in plastic transparent food wrap,
in the fridge for next feeding in future.
You should see how the hermit crab pluck the corn from the stem. Interesting to watch.
You can collect the stem later, when they finished plucking off every corn seed from the stem.

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Added on May 20, 2008, 1:15 amhyrl

You tank looks very nice. Looks like you even have a tray for them to select the empty shells. More like a wardrobe for them.

When i used to keep hermit crabs , the empty shells are littered every where in the tank. LOL.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 20 2008, 01:16 AM

9. Hagen CrabWorX <<< need to get them a.s.a.p
10.Bread <<< they like toasted bread, not burned toast .. but just toast

However, you feed them corn that cooked from the corn in a cup seller,
normally cooked with butter (oily substance) not advisable to feed the hermit crabs oily food.
Land Hermit crabs breath with modified gills that can breath air when remain moist. Oily substance
can kill it, if it got into the gill chamber, mixed with the moisture inside, due to disrupted breathing.
>> I knew i would have comments on this! FYI, i always asked for just steamed corn ... no added Marjerin/butter or salt. Just plain corn.

The cut the corn out into cilinder shaped blocks. You should see how the hermit crab pluck the corn from the stem
>> Interesting idea! I should try this today. THANKS!

Looks like you even have a tray for them to select the empty shells. More like a wardrobe for them.
>> Hahaha ... yeah! something like that. But it could only last couple of days. Few days later, all the shell submerged under the sand. And i had to pick up each shell, dust off the sand and place them back again. sometimes, the shells are even deeper under the sand.

This post has been edited by hyrl: May 20 2008, 05:44 PM

you can also give them chicken breast, peanut butter (without vege oil or any preservatives), pumpkin, rose petals (without pesticides), bell peppers, mangos etc.

Hey blitzboy, i tried putting a timed fan blowing into the tank and yes, the crabs respond to wind. For the first time ever, they make chipping sounds during the night and their activity is greatly improved. Sleep in the day, playing hard at night and it fixed my super high humidity as well.

Anyway, my girlfriend brought me to a shop at SEA PARK by the name Irine Aquarium, they recently have alot of aquarium stocks and price isnt expensive compared to most current pet shops. If any of you want to expand their crabitat and staying rather near or in PJ, give that shop a go.

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Added on May 21, 2008, 4:08 pmAh those, there are a size comparison thingy for people to imagine how big would those be. Though i do notice the size are varied but those indicated in the bracket is mostly the common size you can get in the petshop.

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 21 2008, 04:08 PM

noob question here...

what are ruggies?

any pic for how the timed fan is attached to the tank?

This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 21 2008, 04:34 PM

Why ruggies? Its a nick name to that specific type of crab rather than going through its long species name.

7 species over all:
Ecuadorian
Ruggie
Strawberry (a.k.a land strawberry)
PurplePincher (a.k.a Carribean Hermit Crab)
Viola
Cavipe
Indo

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Added on May 21, 2008, 5:07 pmThe pics, i will take it this weekend as i am moving them to a new tank so its a best time to "show off"

This post has been edited by onscreen: May 21 2008, 05:11 PM

This is sea hermit crabs in my newly set up marine aquarium. Taaa daaa...........

Notice one of them is the largest at size of a tennis ball.

Please lower your sound volume settings, because the surrounding background noise is very loud. Thank You.


This post has been edited by blitzboy: May 28 2008, 01:08 AM

This post has been edited by angelfish84: Jun 2 2008, 04:55 PM

woah, what pet shop is that.. i did pay a visit and do a revolt on no colored shells for hermit crabs

yeah colored shell are nice to see , but not good for the hermit crab's health.
colored shell are painted, and the chemical composition in the paint is toxic to the hermit crab.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Jun 4 2008, 01:53 AM

call for all hermit crabs keepers in lowyat.net ...
anyone keeping marine hermit crabs like me ... pls post your pics here...
and let's share knowledge...

hello there.... new here..
any hermit crab 4 sale?..

i have marine ones... like the one in the video.....

i just bought two hermit crabs from carrefour mv, no idea what species or whatsoever. just bought them cos they are cute

anyway, it is okay if we use our kitchen water to feed them?

i recommend filtered water. The water coming out from Diamond water filter or NESH filter is suitable.

Be sure to prepare a seperate water bowl for them. 1 bowl for freshwater which is the filtered water, and one bowl for saltwater. I recommend Red Sea brand sea salt.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Jun 8 2008, 03:21 AM

more pics?

seem interesting

i have neither diamond nor nesh filter. can i use mineral bottle? those do not have chlorine i think. and i dont have salt water, guess i have to buy them from aqua shops?

my hermits were very active when i brought them home, but now they barely move.. just sitting there doing nothing. any idea why? natural?

i feed them crabworx.

tap water will be fine as long as you add anti chlorine into it. And you dont have to buy salt water. You just buy the sea salt. Pets Safari got sell Red Sea Salt.

Is your tank have enough substrate? What is your tank's humidity and temperature.

Dont always feed them commercial food. Add some fresh food into their diet.

The crabs may be destressing right now. Given the correct temp and humidity, they will be fine. And normally they are active during the night .

pets safari, so far..

currently, i am using the commercial plastic made thingy as the substrate. honestly not enough for them to dig and bury( is this a MUST?) they are in a small plastic container now.

fresh food, okay will try. but afraid it will smell after one day.

speaking of activeness, i think they had just quarreled for the only empty shell

looking forward to find some wood or plastic stick for them to climb.

hi guys...
I need help here...

I took some hermit crabs from the sea...
together with some sand and salt water from the sea...

but I think I have to change the water this weekend...
coz the container will probably stink...

i know normal water can't keep them alive...
what water can keep them to alive?

is it adding some salt to the water will help?

beside of that...
what things they eat?
i mean normal food...that is less hassle to prepare...like grass...?bread?the usual aquarium fish food?





This post has been edited by eason47: Jun 9 2008, 09:36 AM

your hermit crab look like this?







The solution is, you will need a full fledge marine tank (saltwater aquarium to keep it alive). I wonder if your are fast enough to setup one before it die due to lack of natural sea water. This hermit crab feed mainly on dead fish, and regular sinking pellet fish food. you can buy at aquarium shop and be sure to ask for food for marine fishes. You can make arrangement with the aquarium shop to setup your marine tank, and it is going to cost you for the tank, the filter, protein skimmer, the lightings, gravel, maybe some coral rocks for decoration ,the salt and the sea water supplied by the shop.

How many hermit crabs you have? A standard 2 feet sized glass tank would be sufficient, but please ask for the one with increased height, to create deeper water.

OR


Like This ?




As for this one, it can survive on dry land, and will need filtered or mineral water to keep it alive. You can feed it with bread, and fish food or fruits such as papaya, apple, corn, Hagen CrabworX

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Jun 9 2008, 11:02 AM

Ouch...
I'm not sure...
I didn't see any difference between that 2 hermit crabs...
the only difference is one is inside the water...and the other one u put on the dry place...

since I taken it from the sea...
so...I think it's mean to be live in the water...

can I self-make the salt water?
how to do it?
adding salt into normal water?
or need to buy from aquarium shop?

will it going to be die?
but I store them with the sea water and sand wor...

Pls buy anti-chlorine & Red Sea brand sea salt from the aquarium shop. Buy the hydrometer as well, because you need to measure the salinity of the water. You need filtered water & the Red Sea sea salt to mix the sea water at home, treat the water with anti-chlorine and then add salt to the water, make sure you get the salinity reading on the hydrometer is between 28-30 specific gravity. Once you have enough sea water to fill up a tank, leave the water running in the tank for a few days to cultivate bacteria, by then the water is safe for the hermit crab to live inside it.

Boiled tap water can be used for hermit crabs.

@ahtiven : 5 inches of substrate and make sure you get a termometer for the tank. If possible, get a humidity reader as well. New carbs are rarely active when they first brought into homes as they have to adapt the enviroment. This is known as Post Purchase Stress ( PPS ) .. they need intensive care and to make sure that your crabs is comfortable in your home, spend more time with them, play with them. Talk to them gentally as they DO understand emotion and feelings

Also, you have to monitor the crabs really frequent. When crabs get too stressed, they would just crawl out from the shell and run around shell-less.

Next thing to make sure is you get extra shells just incase they are in need of changing shells. Each crab must have at least 3 shells minimum. For instance, you bought 3 crabs from a pet shop and you have to get 9 shells in total that is the size of the current wearing shell or slightly bigger from the current.

Try looking for this product : Exo Terra artifical Vein, Exo Terra feeding / water dish. The price is varied from RM8.90 till RM49.90 for the dishes while RM15.90 for the Artificial Vein ( Medium ) while RM29.90 for Coarse Artifical Vein. Some plastic products contain uncertain amount of toxic so try avoid any of it. Large driftwood is good as a decoration item. Just make sure that you soak it in warm water before you use it.

Oh i forgot this : Crabs do need privacy. If they want a moment of their own, Exo Terra Reptile Cave is a good choice for them. Varied in size ranging from RM 8.90 till RM48.90 (Small to Extra Large) or you can get those small flower pots (may it be plastic or clay) to make a hideout place for them. Oh, if you feed bread to them dont be surprise to see balanced bread being stacked in the hideout.

For the substrate, get some fine sand that is non color-ed. Geo-System substrate is the brand of sand i am using for my crabs. Make it 4 ~ 5 inches depends on the size of your crab. Also get some smooth river pebbles for extra flavor. The price for that is RM 8 per 4kg? . There another sand brand that is optimized for reptiles and crabs, Repti-sand is the name. Though its expensive ( RM16.90 ~ RM29.90 ) but the sand is extra fine and well processed.

Optional substrate to enhance the tank environment is the Exo Terra Jungle Bedding. It comes in a fixed size pack or i would say, rather huge pack and tagged with a price of RM19.90. It consist of wood bits that is excellent in humidity management so you wont have to spray fresh water on the substrate that frequent.

Sorry if i typed that long English is abit choppy due to me eating dumplings while typing.

---

Added on June 9, 2008, 4:41 pmPossible to take a picture of the crabs? So that some of us would be able to identify and assist you over setting up a proper environment for the crabs.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jun 9 2008, 04:45 PM

i have got four hermit crabs from langkawi, but now has been transfer to sungai petani in kedah. you want it i can transfer it to you but you have to tell me how to send the hermit crabs to you.
i may not charge cause i am search for adopters to adopt them. i am going back to Sarawak for third semester.
all of them are healthy, four of them are in various size. they have been with me for four weeks already.
so if you want your hermit to have friends please let me know and the way to send it to you.
i will not charge you foe each one of them but as for the cost of sending them to you will be taken into account.
so will you adopt them?
and please tell me how to send it to you.

wow, thanks for the long explanation! i am sure it will benefit a lot other crabbers out there too!

anyway, i put a wood stick in it and now two of them do not seem to go down from the wood..

just to add one more note, they are really noisy in the nights...

For fresh food, of course you have to take it out after 24 hours or it will start to smell, especially in a humid condition. And yes, the substrate is a MUST. How small your plastic container is?

Well, maybe if you dont know anything about hermit crabs, you shouldnt take them from the beach. Did you wash the sand from the beach? And you will have to change the water every 3-4 days. As mentioned, Red Sea Salt is the best so far. And dont you ever you table salt cause they will sure die.

Speaking of food, it is better if you provide some fresh food. I dont think hermit crabs will eat grass. If you consider preparing fresh food a hassel, then you should release them back to the beach. And try not to feed too much cheap fish food, cause sometimes the quality is not so good and there are certain preservatives in the food.

Noisy means they are active. Hermit crabs usually goes active at night and inactive at day except for weather changes. Mine goes active when its raining and they are sleepy heads when sunny / hot season.

Food, hermit crabs eat anything that can be pinched / tear. for instance, Steam fish without added ingredients, steamed prawns, peanut butter, bread without the crust, fruits fibers (except orange, durian, grapes.) they dont eat vegetables except for carrot and steamed potato. for a more balance food nutritions, baby food is the best. If you have a large tank, put in 2 food dish, one serve general food while the other cater specific types. This way, they have varieties in thier meal.

Some crabs are intelligent enough to move the food and mix it so dont worry on mixing the food at once, this will extend the hours of food exposure before it turns bad.

i have got hermit crabs to adopt, all together i got four. from the size from half inch to one inch and a half. but i dont know how to send it with train or ship. please if you want them help me to solve the prblem of sending, thank you. they are healthy and free of charge but you will have to pay for the send cost. thank you.

I just never search for the info online last time...
just when I got it back from the beach...then only I search for info throughout the internet...
only then I know it's call Hermit Crab

ooo...
okie...so they are not eating grass...
alright...noted...

can't leh...
my home is very far from the beach leh...
I will try to observe their behaviour this few days...
trying not to let them die...

pls take a picture of your hermit crab, and post it up here so we can help you the best we could.

can i use those sand by the roadside and use it as the substrate? my container is small around 20cm x 10cm only.

as for the food, i tried feeding apple(50 cent size) but they did not seem to eat, but the apple changed from one place to another place tho lol. hafta throw the leftover or else it will attract food flies.

now i am curious what species are they, shud be Equcarion(sp?) something like that cos they are purple-white ish. maybe they are local after all, here the pictures; daimyo and shogun :

can someone help me identify them?

This post has been edited by ahtiven: Jun 10 2008, 12:56 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

these two are land hermit crabs.

the one on the left is Ecuadorian hermit crab and the one on the right is purple claw hermit crab. they are 2 different species. however they share many similarities like habitat, diet and physical appearance. the purple claw is identical to the light purple colored larger claw.

Differences of both land hermit crabs.

ecuadorian
1. similar colored walking legs and claw from white greyish or yellowish color tone to light brown colored.
2. coma or oval shaped pair of eyes




purple claw
1. walking legs & claw are often light tone of purplish color, and some grows into deep purple color.
2. dot shaped more rounded pair of eyes.





See the difference? Very obvious difference, right?

But i don't how to tell the differences about ruggies hermit crab. though ....



reason for editing : Typing error.

This post has been edited by blitzboy: Jun 10 2008, 09:17 PM

eh? you got mixed up bro. lol
i guess the one with the bigger claw is purple claw hermit then. nevertheless, thanks for spotting the species and their difference.

may i know where to get strawberry or PP?

This post has been edited by ahtiven: Jun 10 2008, 09:03 PM

Identification of hermit carbs is done by strokes that they have on the big pincher, the pattern on the head, its feelers (color, shape of the tip). Those reaction hairs around the crawlers and pinchers is also another way to identify the species of the crab. Color is hard to identify since an ecuadorian can have a purplish tone on the exo-skeleton and the color goes back to greyish green after moulting.

Also to share a tip here : learn up most of the shells that hermit crab wear.

Example : babylona spirata is one of the top favourite shells worn by ecuadorian crab while ruggies prefer turbo shells. According to research, the curvity of the inner shells is how the hermit crabs find its favorite shells. Due to their different shapes on the abdomen, it needs the required space to curl up and hook the shell properly.

I will take some pics tomoro morning for an example on the identification.

---

Added on June 10, 2008, 10:39 pmSand on the roadside have a large mixture of bacteria and tar so its that is not suitable for substrate. Some claim that gardening soil works for hermit crab if well washed. Small containers suits only for 2 crabs but nothing more. Recommended size is a 2FT(60cm) tank and that can store up 6 ecuadorians or 2 ecuadorians and 2 ruggies or 3 equadorians and 1 strawberry / PP.

Dont worry about them not eating food. If you notice the food moved around, that means they do eat it but did not leave obvious mark of them eating it. Only Ruggies, Starwberry and PP will leave obvious eating marks to the food. Ecuadorians are the most gentle eater among all hermit crabs.

This post has been edited by onscreen: Jun 10 2008, 10:43 PM

Well, so far, I noticed most ruggies like to wear D-opening shells. PPs and Straws prefer turbos. And I think in Msia, we still cant get PPs or Straws. Straws need a higher level of humidity to survive well. They are also quite destructive.

And for the substrate, do not use anything that you are not sure of. And of course, sand by the road side is a big no no! We cant get playsand in Msia, so get coral sand instead.

IMO, the best is 50% sand and 50% forest bedding. But I dont know if there is still forest bedding available in Msia, so just stick to coral sand.

thanks for the info guys, appreciate it.

i really like strawberry crab deep red color. and they can grow to much bigger size.

btw, i have requested my friend to get some nice shells tioman island. hehe cant wait.

another question, when do they normally molt? they molt the same as prawns do right?

Yap theres still forest bedding. ExoTerra forest bedding it is. Still on sale in most pet shops except for pets wonderland.

hi there...new here...
just bought my hermit crab today...
this is my setup..



is it ok?...
or is there anything that i shud add in the tank...
currently there's 4 hermit crab in the tank

This post has been edited by arif2002: Jun 11 2008, 03:47 AM