Well he came out of hiding at least! The weather is warm this weekend so I’m going to be cleaning my coral sand finally and hopefully next weekend can put it back in the tank. This sand is a huge mess and its driving me batty.
Violet rejoined the main tank last night after a molt. Kimba had not dug down this week so he’s back in the main tank as well. That leaves me with two molters right now.
Hey, what’s up? Well, I have some hermies, and my biggest one, Joey, is finishing up his molting and is finishing up eating his old limbs, I was going to ask, What happens to a crab when they eat some other crab’s exoskeloten? Because my other crabbie is trying to eat Joey’s exo. I figured you would know since you have many crabs. How many crabbies do you have by the way? I am curious. Can you email me, AND post something???
HEY STACY, THANKS FOR THE EMAIL, I AM SO GLAD YOU TOLD ME THAT BECAUSE THEY WERE STARTING REALLY BAD FIGHTS, THE ONE THAT IS STARTING THE FIGHT IS ONLY ABOUT A YEAR OLD, THE OTHER IS 3 YEARS OLD & THE 3 YEAR OLD IS THE MOLTER. JOEY IS ALMOST FINISHED ANYWAYS….AND ALSO I THOUGHT THAT IF A HARMIE IS ALONE THEY WILL GET DEPRESSED AND THEY WILL DIE THAT IS WHAT i HEARD!, EMAIL ME +and+ POST SOMETHING IF YOU WANT TO, PLEASE POST SOMETHING THOUGH!!! YOU DONT HAVE TO EMAIL ME THOUGH.
Sorry I keep bothering you, but my crabbie joey is not moving out of his shell, i want him out of it because it looks like it is WAAYY to small and its painted, and i am not a big fan of painted shells because the paint chips off and the hermies will eat it and will die is there any way to get a hermit out of their shell please tell me!
yeah Hey again, I just want to let you know that I have added this blog to my favorites, I will make a comment every day that I can – AH KAY??? =-)
Living alone all the time is not good for hermit crabs because yes they will get lonely. Being alone for a molt is good because it is a very stressful time for them and there is the risk of being killed by another crab.
You really need to leave Joey alone for a bit. He is probably exhausted from the molt. He will be back to normal in about a week. You can’t make them switch shells. Offer lots of good shells and make sure they have been boiled clean before you put them in the tank. He will have to change when he feels safe and ready.
THANX and I thought he was dying, but you said they are probably so tired, and I believe you, I have many many shells for him to try on, I just did’nt know you have to boil them first, is that to kill bacteria, because thats what I do with the sponges , and the food and water bowls and the tree and the equipment, to kill bacteria, should I put the sand in boily water so it kills bacteria? Because the sand just smells really bad after I got it wet to clean it
1) Should I put the sand in boily water?
2) or should I just get new sand period?
3) What do I do if the tank smells like dead hermit crab , even though niether of the hermit crabs are dead??? Do you know why it smells? Is it the sand???
Boiling them sterilizes them and also loosens and removes any ‘gunk’ that may be down inside of them.
Baking the sand is the best way to sterilize it. New sand should be sterilized too. Bake on cookie sheets for 30 mins at 350. It will take a LONG LONG time to cool so maybe buy some extra sand and sterilize it first, then replace.
Sand can be smelly. Are you using calci sand or regular sand???
Calci sand smells awful when damp and I would not recommend baking it.
Oh yeah – okay – I did what you said by boiling the shells, and yes I use calci sand – I dont think regular sand is good for them, it has no calcium and it scratches there claws. ANd thankyou for telling me that – how whould I bake the sand? what do I put it in??? SO I should put it in the toaster for 30 min. and at 350…exactly how long will this take???
OH YEAH i forgot to ask…Is that smell in the sand unhealthy of the hermit crabs???
I know you said it’s good for Joey to be alone, butmy other hermit crab Nemo is trying to climb over the wooden thing I put Joey on the other side so he could be alone – and Joey…well I can tell, he doesent look stressed anymore…he was afraid to get out of the shell before , now he changed into another shell – thanx! But I think Nemo is all depressed – do you think I should get another crabbie???
How many hermit crabs do you have…it sounds like you have many of them. I only have 2 of them, I am planning on getting more but I think I am going to wait untill Joey is done molting…and untill I see Nemo and Joey get along with eachother. I think hermit crabs like pictures of other hermit crabs because Nemo like to look at all the hermit crab pictures I have on the covers of the books I have bout them… Nemo tries to get out so he could reach it.. but he can get out.. the tank I have is really tall………………What I did with Joey is I have a wooden climbing/hiding toy for the hermit crabs – I put Jout close to a corner and I put the toy around him – its big and its arch shaped when stood up – so he feels comfy – I have 6 shells I think he might like – I also put about 2 shells that may be too big for him…I just want him know he has a big selection of shells. I think he likes it… he is a lot more happy now, do you think that would probably make him happy??
THAT PART WHERE IT SAYS HE CAN GET OUT….typo, he cant get out – hehe
ANd where it says I put it around JOUT – that means JOEY
I ALSO PUT one of the claws in there, there is almost nothing left…only a half a claw, and a sponge in there for moisture, and food on a shell plate for calcium….I had a crab die a couple weeks ago…I dont know why…..SME-LEE – i cried, it was so sad… turns out JOey was very territorial towards baylee because baylee never ate anything, joey ate all the food, I could tell because I never seen any poo from her…isent that so sad???
Hey… I had a hermit crab before. But he died. His name was Kyle. I pu him in a teeny cage foe a while and there was no other crab around to bother him! I don’t know why he died.
UM HELLO ROXY…you know who this is? – ITS ME ROXY…and your hermie died cuz he is all alone DUR!!!
I would get rid of the calci sand. I don’t know if the smell is bad for the crabs or not. Regular play sand is perfectly fine. Crabs live on the beach remember.
Nemo can probably smell Joey. Another way to isolate them it so cut the bottom off of a 2 liter bottle and put it over Joey, pushing it all the way down to the bottom of the tank so Nemo can’t dig under it.
Do you have a lid for your tank to hold the humidity in? Without humidity your crabs will die because they can’t breathe.
Try visiting http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com
Yes…I have a lid for my tank…I even cover the lid with a big cloth so they can breathe through it, but the also have a lot of mousture and humididty. And yesterday, I took every single item out of the tank, and I couldent find what made that tank smell. I even stooped so low as in to sniffing the crabs. now is that silly or what? But then I found that my sand is the thing that is causing the sand. And you said I could use regular sand rite? The dude at petco ( where I got my crabs ) said that using regular sand has no calcium in it and it can make them unhealthy…and calci sand cost a lot more money. But the calci sand is good for somethings, the sand I have glows in the dark so the crabs could see if they want to…even though it only glows for a limited amount of time. But I don’t think the regular sand will smell…it wont smell rite???
I also took the shells out and scrubed them and then I boiled them and then I took them out after a few minuets and Joey changed into one of the new shells. FINALLY! on thursday Joey will probably be done molting and will be perfect… ha thanx
How come my name is already typed in here when I come?
The regular play sand will not smell. Just make sure to bake it, IN THE OVEN, first. It shouldn’t be wet or soggy while in the tank. You might want to buy a sifter. They are a dollar or something and make it easier to clean the sand. The petstore would like you to buy the more expensive sand from them. Remember they are in business to make money. You can buy a 25lb bag of play sand for 3 dollars at a hardware store, Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Great job that Joey changed shells!
It remembers your name with ‘cookies’ to make it easier when you return. Its harmless.
Hey but when I came back today, my name did’nt pop up there!
Thanks – but it was your sugestions that helped me!! Joey probably changed because it was clean! Thank you!
I will go to lowes some time soon to get the play sand. THANK YOU!!!
Hey, I am just curious. How often to you make a new journal entry?
It doesn’t always do it for me either.
I’m glad I was of some help and you are welcome.
I only post when I have something new to say *L* Depends on what is going on in the crabbie world at my house.
ok. I cant wait to see what else happened in your crabbie world. I only have a crabbie …house. I only have two hermits. And Joey is almost completely finished molting,and the shell he went into is the one that I thought he would choose. that one is like his exact size. And Nemo ….I have a feeling he is going to have that shell for a very long time. He is WAAAY to small for that shell. But I only had Nemo for about 2 monthshe was like that when I got him…do you believe that my best friend Gave me Nemo after Baylee died? Isent that so sweet?