Tropical Fish Forums

[mataderek]

have any of ya had some?
they seem pretty cool my girlfriend is getting me one so I'm setting up a tank

[ismellikefish]

land crabs?I've had some but I perfer my crabs in a saltwater setup not to big and they help out more than use space.my hermit crab just passed on I had him for years!

[thebelovedtree]

If you're going to get one, get a few they do better in groups, and definately google a bit, they do have quite specific needs and can live for a long time if they're taken care of.

[mataderek]

yes iv read up on them page after page I seem to got the jest of it

[Cinder]

I had two hermit crabs for years while I was in High School and College. I handled them a lot and never was pinched, I think because they were so used to me handling them.

Mine used to cruise around the table while we would eat and I would let them explore the living room - under my watchful eye. One of them would literally climb the entire drape from floor to ceiling and then walk across the valance until I got him down.

Mine loved lettuce and peanut butter. One of the biggest things to remember with them is that when they outgrow their shell they have to find a bigger one to move to. Thus, you want to have several different types and sizes of shells laying around their tank so they can try them on and see what one fits them best. Always keep larger shells available for them.
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135 gln. freshwater tank
29 gln. freshwater tank

[ismellikefish]

another very important thing is to remember that they cannot pinch to hard and that people often harm them by freaking out and dropping them when they do defend themseves or try too clasp a surface fro stability..when your friedns touch em make shure you tell them they can't hurt them so you don't have a hurt crab....

[Kaycie]

I had hermit crabs probably about 10 years ago now, in elementary school. My first lived about 2 years, and one of her successors lived a solid 3 years before passing on. I kept them in a 5-gal tank with a heater that stuck to the bottom of the tank. Half was sand, half was gravel, with a "swimming pool" and sponge in the gravel half. They had a little driftwood-tunnel thing that they all absolutely loved to climb through. I seem to remember their favorite food was cheerios, but they'd eat pretty much anything I gave them.

Also, yes, they can pinch pretty hard. I have a scar on my hand from when one of my crabs latched on and wouldn't let go. If you get pinched, don't tense up, just run your hand under cool water and the crab will let go.

[ismellikefish]

hmmm....my crabs"huge ones too" always pinched me and it never hurt...just make shure you don't throw them if they do pich...your story reminds me of when my uncle cuaght a leopard lizard we had to walk half a mile to his home to run it under water it wouldnot let go of his thumb...the scars were badd...

[mataderek]

jeez

OK we bought 2 very happy hermit crabs named itty and iddy oone kidna small and the other med sized they seem to be happy I bought a under tank eheater put it ont he side of the tank with less gravel and made the tanks gravel slope, the gravel is calicm sand stuff I mixed wet coconut stuff into the sand to make it moist and make humidity and got a sponge in there also


but is there a way to make a 55 gallon tank into a hrmit crab place and a fish tank?

[ismellikefish]

yeah...just make it half land half water...I would make a muddskipper tank with brackish water and do this...it would be best with mangrove plants..