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What was I thinking??? (Let's see. Ow my feet hurt, these bags are heavy, why advertise that if you aren't going to...ohhh! pet shop! ohhh! crabs! Or something like that anyway.)

Anyway, meet Onion.


Pickles didn't want to be photographed.

I am still kicking myself over this one, especially since they came from a chain shop that made me pay $2 for the stupid printed cardboard carry box to transport them in. I was tempted to say no and just get them put in a fish bag, but I had already given the girl a hard time about the ones that were 'just resting' (she says, as she whistles into their shells) and overheard a fantastic conversation about cat litter that was so mindboggling that I really didn't have the energy to play the "nah, I'll just pop them in my pocket" game. I wonder if they'll start charging for fish bags soon?

Anyway, I digress. They are TOO CUTE! Onion absconded with an oat shortly after that picture and Pickles is busily tunnelling under the water bowl and then climbing up the vine thingy, only to repeat the process after a short rest. It is constantly scrabble scrabble clunk bang squeak

Does anyone else have these? Apparently the lifespan on this species is something like 30 years! I can't find a max size anywhere, but I'm guessing maybe golfballish? At the moment they are somewhere between marble and broad bean sized

Very interesting critters

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

haha nice little story

but anyway, i have had two of these little critters back when i was 8 or something, so i can't quite recall how to take care of them and such. What i do remember, though, is that you need plenty of extra shells laying around for when it grows too large for its own shell, but im sure youve already figured that one out.

I also remember that my first one lived for about two years, while my second didnt live long at all, and i vividly remember why-
one day i unintentionally left a sock on its cage while i was getting ready for school. well when i came back from school, he was gone i looked everywhere around my room but eventually gave up. The next day, around the afternoon, i found him unfortunately dead, at my sliding glass door. He managed to climb up my sock, come down from his stand, go all the way across my room, go down a full flight of stairs, crawl all the way across a living room, and eventually reach the sliding glass door!.

and so the point of the story is hermit crabs are deceiving good escape masters, which you never guess with the large, bulky shell on their backs.

note to self: socks do not go on crab tanks

I had a similar issue with a crayfish, poor thing looked like a dustbunny and took hours to rehydrate enough to sink again!

I got a picture of Pickles



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For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Fantabulous creatures. Those eyes on stalks sure got me.

Zach, that escape story is amazing. they certainly can tip-toe a distance. What a Houdini using the sock to rapel down the tank.

Sound like they are a ton o' fun Calla.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

i had three not to long ago. one was near baseball size and was actually huge. i had them in an uncovered tub with crushed walnut chells for substrate... they did well until they all became smart and dissappeared one after the other... stepped on one hiding under dirty clothes on morning and the other two i found shell less under my bed... it was odd. they do need misting with water and their water bowl should be really shallow (like 1cm) or should have a sponge in to to prevent drowning. also the cocnout shells are nice becasue they like to hide and keep out of sight in certian times. they eat all kinds of prepared foods and a variety is best. clean the tank once a week with a complete substrate rejuvination. often times pet stores reccomend calcium ofrtified sand or similar, but thats just smelly and adds to the cost... not much benefit. nothing else i can think of other than keep their tank covered and secure... they are escape artists...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

These guys are very tricky! No wonder they have stayed so popular with people, they look so simple and as soon as you dig deeper into it you realise they are anything but. Cheap and low maintenance, but certainly not simple!

Their tank has been upgraded to include a large saltwater bathing area (yay for tupperware), some coconut fibre (pfft, should have rehydrated a corner of the brick, I have litres of the stuff in the oven and all over the house drying out ) and small pebbles as substrate and various climby things. I'm still hunting a larger tank for them so I can build in some proper ponds, but I've hit a snag and the crabby people seem not to have much info, so I thought I'd ask you fishy lot

Can you cycle a terrarium-type setup? I am trying to keep the humidity up but, as you can probably imagine, that just invites bacterial growth. How do you balance it?


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Dont know whether it would be harmfull but have you considdered one of those ultrasonic misters?

Maybe you can mount it beyond the reach of the crabs.

Don't forget to make sure that the water you provide is topped up with plenty of calcium. As they grow, they will moult, even though they don't have a protected rear section - the rest of the crab is armoured. So you'll need to ensure that they have a calcium rich diet. Grate some cuttlefish bone (as sold for budgerigars to chew on) into the water and that should provide them with calcium in the water.

Also, take whatever food you're providing, and when moulting time looks as if it's approaching, start coating their food in cuttlefish bone dust.

Plus, be prepared to shell out (pardon the pun) on a good selection of replacement mollusc shells for each moult. After a moult, a hermit crab will move into a new shell, and discard the old one. You might find that when it does, the other crab decides to take up residence in the discarded shell just for the fun of it, by the way!

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Coincidence that you name your crabs after foods ? Fattening them up before the garlic butter dip ?
hehehe

The Amazon Nut...

I suspect the shape of those shells had something to do with the name choice.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

yes, the names came from the shells. Onion looks very much like a small pickled onion and pickles was just a follow on from that. If I'm lucky enough to find a strawberry crab when I'm up north in the next few months, I have a name picked out already that goes with the theme

I have mixed them two dry foods already (the bought ones were utterly lousy and smelled like dust), one with mainly grains and one with high colour foods, so I've hopefully covered most of the dietary needs. The rest should be covered by the fresh foods. The waters are also full of shell grit and dust, as is part of the substrate. Once they get through a moult I'll reassess, but I think they should be OK for calcium and minerals. I'm also hunting worm castings (may need to DIY) as apparently they really like those.

I'm a bit of an avid shell collector, so I'm pretty much set until they get past golf ball size Of course, they want to keep their dull boring shells but hey, they really kind of suit them so I'm not complaining. It is rather a shame that I can't get those types of shells down here, it would be nice to keep them in the same type.

I'm wondering today if Pickles has managed to pull off a quick moult while I wasn't paying attention. He looks a little bigger and a lot darker than I recall, but I can't be certain.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Well best of luck with the new pets !

I've been calling my male keyhole by various names lately, but 'Onion' isn't one of them lol

The Amazon Nut...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gqqA0G6o6Gs

^^ Pickles exploring his dinner.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

can i have it for my mantis shrimp?

It'd be like a pre-packaged lunch!

Nah, i think I'll keep them as unfood

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Don't suppose you happen to have a taxonomic name for the species in question?

Only I agree that they look incredibly cute. And might decide to add a couple to the menagerie if any turn up here.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I do indeed they are Coenobita variabilis, Australian Land Hermit Crab.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Ive heard that you should leave the molted shells in the cage for a while after they drop them. They nibble on the old shells for the calcium they left behind.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey