New crab owner, rough start

[calebb3]

Hello! I'm Caleb, and I have 3 hermies currently. When I first got my hermies, I had no idea how much care they actually needed so unfortunately a few had died (i think PPS for 1 of them, and after some research I believe the other 2 died of unsuccessful molting) When I got them from a beach boardwalk shop, I was told that the container they were sold in worked fine for a permanent home (it was a small plastic "cage" which i now use as a temporary enclosure instead) and that they just needed water and hermit crab pellets. Obviously that wasn't true. After doing some research, I have made huge upgrades to my setup and now my (new) hermies are doing very well! I still have yet to upgrade to a larger tank, so I currently have only a 8-10? gallon tank (it's not measured in gallons so i'm not exactly sure? I got it from the "hermit crab" section at petco, it was labelled as "for hermit crabs" but later found out that it's not even big enough for one-two hermies) I am currently unemployed but will upgrade to a much larger tank ASAP! Other than that, I think I have everything down! I get fresh produce (delicious fruits and veggies) from a nearby farm which we know doesn't use preservatives, or pesticides/insecticides, I give them eggshell for some calcium, and shrimp/steak/salmon and beans for the protein (i also throw in crushed oatmeal and walnuts and coconut fiber)! I have their fresh and salt water, (2)thermometer + hydrometer, and climbing toys. They get their heat from a heat lamp (not ceramic), and get about 10-12hrs/day of artificial sunlight. Their substrate is fine washed playsand from a local hardware store, roughly 3-4 inches which is good for them, since they are small. Anyways I think that's all lmao, thanks for reading and SCREW THOSE BEACH HERMIT CRAB DEALAERS!

[sporemice]

Good on you for doing your research and wishing you luck with your new hermies!! I just got mine the other day after a couple months of prepping. We're in this together!! :-)