The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Daisy is so cute. How do you tell the difference between them? Different shells? I love "crabitat" - too funny - and am looking forward to seeing it. Looks like a coconut to me.........

LOL - that last picture is great. Our puppers ignore our crabs - even when they clunk around tapping on the glass. We've had many over the last 8 years or so and I also find them fascinating to watch. We had one named Daisy also that used to love to sit on my shoulder, snuggled up to my neck. She was very gentle and would tickle me with her feelers. I'm sure she was just looking for a warm place to sit, but she'd scramble under my cupped hands too and sit there, looking at me. We started working with her outside the cage when she was small so she wasn't afraid to be handled and since we were always gentle, she never startled or pinched us even when we would turn her over to examine her underside or give her baths in the sink.

If you need some crabby care tips or crabitat ideas, I have many as we've gone through many redecorations of our 50 gallon tank. Things like making sure the sand is moist and at least three times the depth of the largest crab so they have plenty of room to dig tunnels when they are ready to molt - which they'll do every few months or so. Don't panic when they disappear and don't disturb them when they do as it can take a week or more and is a fragile time for them. I used to mix sand and crumbled peat blocks to help keep the moisture level in up in the sand - it helps keep it from collapsing too. I also discovered that if you place a couple rocks under the water pool, it'll keep it from dropping on them when they dig under it.

We had Purples and Gray Ruggies and all kept moulting and growing until they got big enough to span my palm. As they got bigger, we had to anchor down the cover on the tank because they also kept climbing out and we were afraid our cats would get them. I used a lot of natural things to decorate their tank with (rocks, broken clay and non painted ceramic pots, shallow bowls with rocks in them...) but the thing they found they like the most is an aireal walkway made of a wire shelf like you use in a kitchen cupboard covered with plastic canvas that is laced to it with plastic lacing or fishing line. Using this, we have built them areas in the sand to dig and are able to keep the food and water up high out of the sand (where it gets algae or molds very quickly). We even cut strips between the climbers that they love to nap on or climb upside down on. Netting draped across it also gives them a way to climb up but our's love to just climb up the legs.

Do your's chirp? The first time I heard that was so funny - I kept looking around the house wonderin what was making that noise. Then I spotted the cat, staring into the tank like Charley is - only she was chirping back at them. LOL

I haven't been online there in a while, but there is a site called The Crab Street Journal that has an awesome forum for sharing and gathering decorating, training and care tips.

Good shells are very hard to find. I hate ordering things online that I want to see first but good shells are important to the crab's health and what I find locally are usually chipped, painted or too thin. Mine prefer the Turbo style because the shell is a medium to heavy density, which provides good protection from attack and holds inner humidity for their bodies. Crabs are amazingly strong and can lug around even the heavy Murex type shells fairly easily (though the spikes on the Murex's often get snagged on things). I avoid the Cherry and Fairyland shells because they are too thin and don't breathe well and our crabs just don't like them. Another thing to watch for in shell buying is the shape of the opening. E. Rugosa's (also known as Ecuadorians or Ruggies) tend to prefer rounder oval openings that fit their bodies better but I have had some that go for the more flat ovals but can't figure out how they can be comfortable squeezing in there. All our Purple and Reds, prefered a round non-oval opening as their bodies are rounder and legs tend to be longer so they can carry them better. Painted shells also don't breathe and if given a choice, most crabs will choose a natural shell. Be sure to sterilize any shells in boiling water before introducing to your crabitat to kill any parasites and molds. Watching them switch shells is a bit unnerving because that isn't the most attractive part of their bodies but it is fun watching them pick over and peek into shells as they try to decide which one to take. Aside from molting time, it is also the most likely time for an aggressive crab to attack so its a good idea to put the clean empty shells up on a higher shelf or in a dish so they can swap without fear.

Humidity is difficult to control but I found that by keeping a pool at soil level and one up on the shelves with the top closed, the air stayed humid without promoting mold as long as the food was changed every to every other day. One pool is fresh water and the other is salt water btw as they need the salinity and one must be deep enough for them to flush out their shells in. If the sand/moss mixture (3 parts sand to 1 part crumbled compressed coconut fiber block) in the bottom is less than 2" deep, it dries out and they can't dig into it to molt or hide because it will collapse. I have a low side where the pool (a ceramic ash tray actually) is located but the deeper side is mounded to about 5-7 inches deep and I occasionally sprinkle that side with water to moisten it. They dig tunnels and caves in it and it's fun to watch when they clear a cave up along the glass and peer out at you.

The Ruggies are the most vocal between the two species. Strawberry crabs are also very vocal but can be aggressive and are known for rearranging their crabitat so we have had only one. She would sit up on a rock and when ever anyone challenged her "perch" she'd chirp like crazy - a definite warning to back off. One of my purples got caught up inside a tower that I'd put in and one night I heard this frantic chirping as a bigger Ruggie cornered him and wouldn't let him out. I ended up taking the tower out and he happily crawled out. The one Ruggie we have left now will sit on an upper shelf where we put their food and chirps if I put grapes or raw shrimp with shells (his favorite treats) in for him. The sound is like a cross between a cricket chirp and a stone rhythmically scraping on glass.

Vicky I'm glad you enjoy your hermits.......they secretly give me the creeps! Dawn I'm sure the pet store will rehome your fish. Large plecos are expensive and many people enjoy them.

Guess what my Mom brought Riley from her trip to the ocean. Yep. Hermit crabs. Ugh. Any tips on crab care?

My first guess would be that they are Purple Pinchers. You'll find all the info you need on this site, they have care sheets for every species:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/index.php

They're a lot of fun once you like them...

ok so the new crabs are in their new home a 10gallon tank.I will have to post pics as soon as I can. The first one closed up tight into the shell when I picked him up to move him, but the second came right out as I picked her up. Yikes! I almost dropped it! Shudder!!!!! but the poor things ran right into the water bowls to get a drink and then hid in there new little hut.

Vickie I have them in a 10 gal tank with playsand and coco fibner mix 4 to 6 inch depth. With a clay pot on its side to hide in( that's where they are now) two ceramic dished one with fresh and one with salt water but I used reg aquarium salt. food dish and a log to climb. They love the sand as the kiosk had them on gravel with only a wet sponge to drink. They haven't really eaten except Mr krabbs ate some grape. Krabby hasn't eaten but ran to the salt water while Mr krabbs ran to the fresh then they both hurried to hide.

geez, I had no idea the care a crab requires.

Debbie I had no idea either till I red up online. They sell the poor crabs and say just wet the sponge and give a sprinkle of this dry food powder....they will die a slow death that way. they need heat and humidity too.

I have a pleco in my outside koi pond. He is nearly two feet long. Since it stays warm in the winter here he does fine. Someone didn't want him any more so I adopted him. His name is Tank.