Carolyn writes:

Dear Stacy,

I am planning on buying a pair of the smallest straw's I can find. I think I am ready and would like a little more information on them than I have been finding.

I have a 29 gallon tank with about 6-7 in argonite sand, two plastic waterdishes about 4 in deep. Two second levels soon to be three or four. Lots of fresh, dried and reheated food. I currently have 2 micro PPs, 2 micros E's, and o med large PP. They all seem to get along well and they don't seem to destroy the tank( may have something to do with the fact at least 3 of them are underground). The temperature is 78-80 degrees F and the humidity is the same. Is this going to be okay for them?

I have a few other questions as well.

Do you know where Blueberries can be found in the US?
What is the best way to adjust the berries to their new home?
What are their seemingly favorite foods?
Whats the best way to save space in a tank to add to surface area?

Thank you,
Carolyn

Your temperature range should be more like 72-78F, so there is a more of a difference.
Do you know where Blueberries can be found in the US? No reliable place no. Some claiming but not delivering
What is the best way to adjust the berries to their new home? Here is an article on aclimating
What are their seemingly favorite foods? Not sure on this, I don't remember them having a stand out favorite.
Whats the best way to save space in a tank to add to surface area? Besides your second levels, lots of nets and climbing things.

Strawberries WILL destroy your tank so be prepared! They do seem to love to sunbathe so giving them a branch/tree/perch near the lights will be good.

I wish you luck. I have yet to successfully keep Strawberries alive for a significant length of time.

Tanya writes:
My son purchased a hermit crab yesterday. We came home and set up its crabitat in an old fish tank we had. However, the pet shop employee did not tell us not use tapwater for its drinking/bathing spots. As soon as I read your blog, I took the tap water out and am replacing it with declorinated water (we still have some water treatment from our fish). Should we be concerned that our crab came in contact with tap water? Is there anything we can do to minimize any damage? He seems to have settled in well. He immediately switched his shell for one of the extras we had purchased for him and is currently in his crab hut, where he has made himself a hole to hide. I'm assuming this is a natural way to deal with the stress of the move. How will I know if the tap water damaged him?

Completely submerge the crab upside down in dechlorinated water to make sure he's well rinsed off. Beyond that you can only wait and see. New crabs are susceptible to many stresses that can lead to early death.

Dana writes:

I own three hermit crabs in a ten gallon tank. I am going home for the summer and my hermits seem to be very happy in their home but I was wondering if you can ever keep hermit crabs outside? I am from San Diego so the humidity is always 80 or above, and they would be in a 6X6 enclosed area with a small, shallow pond which I think they would enjoy(it use to be a turtle enclosure). I was just wondering if this can be dangerous, or anything, it seems like it wouldn't be since its natural for them, but this is why I am asking because I simply do not know! Thank you!

I don't know anyone who has done this. What is your temperature range in San Diego? Really humidity over 80% relative may be too heavy of a saturation for them.

The temperature range is 65-80 and it will get a bit above 80. The humidity right now in San Diego is 75%, and I thought it was suppose to be between 70 and 85, oops! My hermits probably hate me! I just thought it might be cool for them to get lots of space to roam over the summer, but I want to do this without killing them! Thank you!

65 is too cold, the bottom temp range for them is 72F. 85% would maybe be ok for for Strawberry hermit crabs but not for other species. So maybe while you couldn't leave them outside long term you could certainly take them outside for a few hours a day. Just make sure they can't escape and have plenty of shade. If its too hot you will find they seek shade and will rest until it cools off.

Linda Writes:

I am a new owner of three Purple Pinchers. I am trying to be a good keeper, and have read as much as possible about their care, but I have a couple of questions. I have a mesh screen top for my crabitat, but I see that you advised someone to cover it with plexi-glass. My question is how do the crabs get enough oxygen to breathe if they're totally enclosed like that?
My other question is how large do they grow to be, or do they stay pretty much the same size. I'm wondering if they will be the size of baseballs in ten years, or not.
Thank you so much for your reply.
Linda

My plexi glass is not tight fitting, with my lights warming it, it tends to pull up at the edges. That allows enough air exchange. If your plexi fits flat you can simply slide it over a couple of inches to allow air exchange or place something under it to prop it up a bit.

Zac writes:
I had my first molt and thought my crab had died but after a brief look i noticed he was very pink and he had lost his outer shell. every since then he stays on his back you can flip it over and he will flip back in a few minutes but if i mist him with water its like he goes crazy and almost comes all the way out of his shell with all his legs going crazy. this has been going on for a week or so and i dont think he eats should i do anything?

The fact that he is flipping himself over is a bad sign. It typically means the crab is going to die.

Misting a freshly molted crab is a very bad idea. Not only does it cause extreme stress (which you say with him flayling his legs) but it can lead to bacterial growth on the unhardened shell of the crab.

I take it this was a surface molt?
What is your tank temperature and relative humidity?

Thank you for your reply we are new in the crabs my little girl loves them the tank stays between 77-80 and the humidity can be from 50 to 90 but we have to mist it often as it moves a lot throughout the day. I dont think this crab eats he stays in the same spot but I dont know if this is normal since we have only had these for a couple of months

I'm going to save us both some time here and assume that you, like many, many new crab owners before you (including me) have not been given any sort of accurate info regarding hermit crab care. Don't take it personally please! Your temp is ok, a bit high but your humidity is varying far, far too much. Sooo... you could check out the care articles on my blog about optimal tank conditions and a variety of other things... OR you could come on over to my much larger community site: www.crabstreetjournal.com

You don't have to be a member to read out library but if you want to participate on the forums you will have to register.

Once you get the tank conditions in line you will have more successful molts and healthier crabs.