Two more - I couldn't help myself!

[CrabbyJo]

So the husband asks me to drop off some movies - and the movie rental store is right next to the Pet Zoo. I ask him, will you be mad if I come home with a hermit crab? He said no... so... of course, I had to look to see if they had any!
It was awful. The water dishes were almost bone dry, and there was a crab out of his shell, stuck up against the plexiglass side. It's a wide open "crabitat", with tons of climbing toys sure, but no way to keep temp or humidity up, and no gauges. I suggested gauges, I commented on their bone dry bowls, I mentioned if they kept it at a good temp and humidity their crabs would live longer.. and the guy says back that they sell so fast out of that store that it doesn't matter.
I wasn't on top of my game or I would have given a good argument, but I was sleepy (it was almost closing and an hour before my usual bed time) and I wasn't too sharp.
I did comment more to the cashier, who said she'd only been there two days, I let her know that they need to be warmer and the air kept humid. Poor little things. I remember seeing a letter somewhere that someone had typed up to send to pet stores with bad conditions. I think I will look that up and change it to fit this situation. I am also thinking of calling the Pet Zoo in Anchorage who actually have their crabs in tanks with humidity and temp gauges - as I mentioned to the cashier.

But - I did pick out two lovely medium E's! One has a nice orange blush on his lower legs and pincer, and the other one, well he was just active as could be. I got them home, and they both were frantically trying to climb out of the bowl I set them in as I got their bath ready. After the bath and the drying off, when I picked up Mr. active, he just about freaked out trying to frantically push and pull on my fingers. I had to hang on tight, almost freaking out myself until I could get him set into the habitat!
It made me sad, watching those two frantically run all over the habitat. I hadn't seen that with my others. These two looked scared, and all I could think about was how they'd been torn from the wild, and now would have to get used to this being their whole world.
It also makes me angry, thinking about how many people buy crabs who don't know how to take care of them, taking advice from pet store employees who also dont' know how to take care of them, and how so many are destined for a very short life because of it. I think those of us who are posting on the forums like these are in the minority.
I do understand the intensity of caring that some have, and the frustration at trying to help others who just don't seem to understand how important all this stuff is for caring for these little guys.

Enough of that -now I have to name these guys!

[Wai]

I'm planning to adopt two more some time soon. I guess the environment in my tank is a bit lonely - two crabs in a 14 gallon tank. I can easily fit more, but I've been worried whether I'm doing the "right" thing so that my hermit crabs won't die if they try to moult.

[CrabbyJo]

It does sound a bit lonely Wai.
What makes you worry about how many crabs you have if your crabs try to molt?

[emmac350]

Wai had a catastrophic mass molt-gone-wrong while he was away on vacation a few years back, which is why he wasn't allowed to have crabs for 3 years (I think) until very recently.

[Wai]

Yes, back then I must say that I was doing several things wrong. When the time came for a hermit crab to moult, they would either fail to fully shed their exoskeleton or harden their new one and ultimately die.

Assuming that Eris didn't moult while I was away, only Neptune had successfully moulted once, but died in her next one. I think it was probably nutrition; I hadn't heard of spirulina or the need for meat back then. Also, the stuff I thought was sea salt probably wasn't sea salt at all.

With just two crabs, I can easily separate them if one of them decides to moult, but with more, it would be more difficult. I've always been worried about moulters being dug up and have their shed exoskeletons stolen by others.

I guess that it's better to let nature take its course and adopt a few more hermit crabs. After all, they live in large colonies in the wild. With Haumea buried for a few days (I don't know whether he is moulting or not), Eris seems to be bored and lonely in the tank. I'd too be bored if I were in his situation.

[emmac350]

I know that crabs can't resist the smell of a freshly shed exo, but if the crab can't smell it because it's underground, they most likely wouldn't be able to smell it...I don't think. If you have a surface molt, it's important to iso the crab, but if the crab's under a few inches of substrate and you offer plenty of protein, calcium, and chitin, I think the urge to dig up the molter would be greatly reduced. However, I've only had hermit crabs for under six months now, although I had two successful molts in my main tank already.

[CrabbyJo]

Congrats Emma, on successful molts!
And Wai, I can certainly understand your fear and reluctance. But truly, you've learned a lot since then, and I think you can trust what you know, and what others have taught you through their experiences with crabs, right?

I would encourage you to get one or two more to keep Eris company. As long as you know where Haumea is, you can do the pop bottle separation thing right?

Whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best with it.

[Wai]

I know where Haumea is buried roughly, but he could have tunnelled to other areas (as Eris did when he moulted).

For those who don't know, I recently adopted two more hermit crabs, so that Eris won't be bored. They are currently in ISO.

[CrabbyJo]

Gongrats on the new crabs, Wai.

[Hermie's rule]

Last night I dreamed that I purchased ANOTHER hermie!!