Hermit Crabs United Question#1

[HermitCrabsUnited]

What's the best time rate to buy hermit crabs? In other words, should I buy a new one every month, week, or day?

[HermieLove19]

I wouldn't try too hard to buy one on a regular basis. If you buy one every month you won't have room for one that really needs to have a home. I've adopted 5 hermies and rescued 7 or so. If a hermie is in really bad shape at the store sometimes they let you adopt them out. It's always good to have room for those times when you don't expect to bring a hermie home but you end up getting one last minute.

[CrabbyJo]

You also need to consider that new hermies need time to de-stress, and should probably be given at minimum two weeks up to a couple of months to get used to their new surroundings.
Isolated is best so that if they have any mites or other problems they don't spread them to the hermies you already have. If you were adding a new hermit crab every week, for instance, I think it would stress out the ones you have as well as making it hard on the new ones. They need time to get used to each other.

[Chermo]

I think it is best to buy like 3 or 4 to start and then depending on the size of your tank, you can then buy a new guy or two when you see them in poor conditions or when someone is looking to adopt them out. I got my 3 new ones from someone not wanting them anymore since her son was not interested in them anymore. I was glad not to have to get them from a petstore too. I knew these ones already were taken great care of and didn't have mites so they went right in the main tank. My other 3 were down so the new ones had time to do what they wanted before the other 3 came up. I think it went great.

[Jaci]

Before I got a new one, I would bring my current hermies into the store. I picked up the one I wanted and put them with the others. If they ignored each other, I got them; however if I saw any aggressive behavior I wouldn't. I haven't had any problems. I am keeping my eye out for new hermies, but haven't gotten a new one in about a year and a half.