# Hermit Crabs!



## Nameless (Jan 8, 2012)

Another tanked animal, and my first real pet 'hobby'. I keep seeing people on here with the size of their tanks and what is in them and I keep wanting to do the same, only:

17 Gallon tank
3 Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs

=P

Anyway, I wanted to know who else here was into them as well? They are soo cool. Not that I am all that good at caring for them either... But I am getting better and better (I think).

I've got the three PPs right now, Camaron, Dannyel (Danny and Daniel), and Samanthauel (Samantha and Samuel) but I don't plan on getting more until all three have had successful molts so that I know for sure their living conditions are good.​


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Nameless said:


> Another tanked animal, and my first real pet 'hobby'. I keep seeing people on here with the size of their tanks and what is in them and I keep wanting to do the same, only:
> 
> 17 Gallon tank
> 3 Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs
> ...


I kept land hermit crabs for over 5 years until I had to make room for my second child last year. I had Purple Pinchers, Ecuadorians, and Strawberries with about 25-30 total in a 75 gallon terrarium. If you give them fresh fruits and veggies everyday, at least 4-5 inches of sand to molt, and keep the temp and humidity around 80 then they'll live for years.


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## Nameless (Jan 8, 2012)

Four to five? Or is it six? Or only twice the height of your biggest crab XD. Hermits seem to be just as confusing as fish are to keep for those of us who are still at the beginning. Thanks though, I'll do a deep clean and bring it up to... 4.5 inches? 

I've started feeding them fresh reciently, but they haven't eaten anything of the new foods yet =(

I keep trying to join hermit crab forums to open discussions and get help from people who actually care for them properly (like you sound like you did. Sorry you had to lose them) instead of the people who keep them in those tiny little containers or have no idea (like me). But alas, they all seem to be dead DX​


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

Nameless said:


> Four to five? Or is it six? Or only twice the height of your biggest crab XD. Hermits seem to be just as confusing as fish are to keep for those of us who are still at the beginning. Thanks though, I'll do a deep clean and bring it up to... 4.5 inches?
> 
> I've started feeding them fresh reciently, but they haven't eaten anything of the new foods yet =(
> 
> I keep trying to join hermit crab forums to open discussions and get help from people who actually care for them properly (like you sound like you did. Sorry you had to lose them) instead of the people who keep them in those tiny little containers or have no idea (like me). But alas, they all seem to be dead DX​


The substrate should always be 2 times deeper than your largest crab and I had a few jumbos the size of baseballs. I always bought playsand from Lowes because it was cheap and clean. It took four 50 lb. bags to get 5-6 inches in my 75 gallon terrarium. I had a handful that had been with me for the full 5+ years, but the ones I had lost were almost all due to bad molts, which sometimes just happen. The best hermit crab site on the internet is www.hermicrabassociation.com if you were curious.


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## lmb (Nov 1, 2011)

I keep 4 Purple Pinchers in a 20 gallon Long and they are doing great.

Good and accurate info from Ghostknife.


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