Pinching, ouch?

[cjpasula]

Hi there!
My husband and I have had two awesome hermies since Oct. 2011, and they seem healthy. One of my coworkers showed me HCP, and it's been a wonderful resource. I've been making changes to the crabs' environment, food, etc. ever since. I do have a few questions that fit in multiple categories, but I wanted to make a single post:

As of the past month, the larger of the two crabs has pinched us the two times we handled it last. Is pinching a sign of aggression, stress, or unease? We definitely enjoy handling them, and this is a new development.

As of yesterday, we adopted two more from where I work. The larger one seems to have either a black/purple marking or shell rot on its pincer, I chose to adopt it because of its ailment. So far, it took a long salt bath when I put him near the bath dish, and it has been motoring around seemingly happily. Should I be worried?

Another new development: I cleaned out the coconut substrate yesterday, put new stuff in (compressed coconut, hydrated and expanded with dechlorinated saltwater) and ever since, my two older crabs have been climbing up the terrarium sides nonstop! I'm afraid that they might break the tips of their legs. They even climb on the ceiling of the cage!

I'll show some photos I took earlier today of the crabs and their environment, any advice?

http://imgur.com/a/GSxZv#0

[Ackis]

I'm the hubby.

In this picture you can see one of the thermostats we have in the tank:

http://i.imgur.com/k5LF6.jpg

It's right on top of the heater we have, so it always registers as quite warm (90F).

The other end of the tank we have the hydrometer/thermostat combo and it says the temperature is 70F.

Could the crabs be climbing because it's too warm?

Regarding the actual pinching of our hands, what's the most effective way to get them to stop pinching you?

[cjpasula]

I forgot to enter this:

What is the volume of your main tank?
About 2-4 gallons

How many hermit crabs do you currently have? How big are they?
4; one is about the size of a penny, two about the size of a toonie, the other about a golf ball

How long have you had the hermit crab(s) that you are concerned about?
~4 months

What substrate or combination of substrates are you using? How deep is it?
All Living Things coconut fibre substrate, 1.5"

What do you feed your hermit crabs?
I have a few different types of food:
"Variety Bites" with shrimp meal, coconut flakes, spirulina algae, squid meal, brine shrimp
Zoo Med Hermit Crab Food (pellets)
Zoo Med Turtle Treats, whole krill
Zoo Med Fruit Salad with dried apples, cranberries, and mango

Do you use distilled, bottled, tap or other types of water?
Tap water with Zoo Med drinking water and salt water conditioners

If you are using a dechlorinator, what brand is it? Does it state to remove all heavy metals, chlorine and chloramines?
Zoo Med

What brand of sea salt are you using to supply your hermit crabs with salt water?
Zoo Med

What heat source are you using and where is it positioned?
I think it's a Zoo Med crab heater, it is sticking to the side of the environment.

Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hygrometer so that you can interpret accurate readings?
I'm not sure, but I'll be looking into that later

What is the air temperature range and humidity inside the tank?
The temperature is about 70F, humidity is around 60%. Seems low, but I'm hoping to get a moss ball later this week...

What is the highest temperature that the substrate near the heat source reaches?
It is around 90F.

Do you have any photos of your tank or hermit crab(s) of concern? If yes, please attach them to your post.
Photos were in the original post

[ladybug15057]

Welcome to HCP! (and hubby too)
Pinching normally is due to a fear of falling. Most times hermies will grab out (like humans do with their hands) to grip onto something as opposed to falling. Holding the palm of the hand tight, and straight usually prevents the hermie from having the fear of falling. You may also wish to talk to them in a soft voice when approaching the tank, changing food/water so they get familiar with the vibrations of your voice not meaning them any harm.
The black/purple you are seeing, is it indented at all, or a smooth surface? Sometimes when a hermie has an open area their scab will appear black in coloring. Any way to get a picture of the area? (ocean/sea mix can help if it is a scab)
90*F is entirely too warm and can cause an overheating situation which can be lethal to them. Try to lower the warm end to about 78-80*F.
What are you using for the tank? (this does not look like a glass tank?) Is the half log made of wood? If so please remove it, it is a conifer wood. Are you able to add any plastic vines for coverage and climbing?

For the questions:

Your tank is small for as many hermies as you have. Please do try to get a larger tank. (20 gal long if possible for now)

For the food, please do stop feeding the commercial foods unless they are dehydrated or freeze dried due to the preservatives they have. One can feed the hermies human grade foods prior to seasoning:
http://hermitcrabcuisine.com/

Please find another dechlorinator that removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals from tap water. (ZooMed does not remove heavy metals)
Get rid of the ZooMed Part 2, it does not have the salinity hermies need or the nutrients. (please see the Crab care section, one needs a ocean/sea water mix sold specifically for salt water fish tanks)

What are you using for a lid to help hold the humidity in the tank? (always open at least a slit for fresh air circulation)

You’re off to a good start, just need a little tweaking in a couple of things.

[cjpasula]

Thanks for responding so quickly.

The tank is 12x18x6", and is plastic. It's about the right height to stay on our computer desks. I'd be nervous to have a glass tank somewhere else in the house, because I have cats; and one of them is a persistent boy who loves to watch the crabs! The lid is also plastic, with many slits. The crabs do enjoy using the tank lid as a jungle gym: http://i.imgur.com/2W0nI.jpg

[ladybug15057]

I do understand about the concern of owning a cat. At one time we had 5 cats! They were VERY curious about our hermies and it was not uncommon to find one on the top of the tank. We started with the type of critter keeper you have, and it was entirely too hard for us to regulate the temp or humidity. (even using plastic wrap to cover many of the slits in the lid) Due to it being plastic, only the small hermie pads for heat can be used. But even then, when plastic is heated it does give off slight toxic fumes. The substrate in the larger tanks is enough to help stabilize the tank, and due to having cats we put plexiglas lids on top of our screen lids to keep the cats out of the tank.

[Ackis]

The crab climbing and just hanging out like a bat is kinda tripping me out. He's been doing it all night, when we tried to get him off he grabbed it with his pinchers.

We did get him down to say hi to him, and he went and climbed up in a different corner.

We are planning on changing the food and water conditioner based off of what we read on the site. Just waiting for PetSmart to get some moss balls in as well (they're replacing their tanks this weekend).

[Wai]

Please do keep the hermit crabs in a glass tank. Plastic critters are only good for using as isolation units within larger glass tanks. Using plastic critter keepers on their own is strongly not recommended by anyone here.

[Ackis]

I'm not sure if we could get a glass aquarium or not (space limitations). The one we have right now fits in a cubby hole on my computer desk. We'll take a look at PetSmart however, see if there's something we can manage.

As for the temperature the thermometer on the heater was saying 100 degrees last night, whereas the one on the other end of the tank was sitting around 70. I took the other end tank one and put it near the heat source and it was only at 72ish, I think the one thermometer we have is pretty much buggered. There's no real temperature difference in the tank either... might be worthwhile to just get rid of that heater as it's not really doing anything it seems.

Still worried about our crabbies climbing and acting like spiders/bats. We've never seen them do this before, so I'm not sure if it's the new tank, or the other new crabbies we got. They're actually climbing on the roof of the tank and just chilling up there. It's driving the cats nuts, which is kind of funny.

[ladybug15057]

If your tank conditions are within proper ranges, it is not uncommon at all for hermies to climb. They are also known as 'tree crabs'. Humidity and heat both rise, perhaps they are after the extra warmth/coolness or humidity?
If you have a WalMart in your area, the glass tank would be less expensive. They also have the humidity/ther combo's for less... in their hardware department.