What this video doesn't show is how the hermit crabs are initially forced from their shells to begin with :(

Please NO MORE PAINTED SHELLS!!!

Mine are out and about :) Just more proof of daytime activity.
(Ok so it's 8:40pm here now but I took the pics earlier)

While I have been importing the caresheets for CSJ I was looking over the list of 'essentials' for getting started and questioned the importance of sponges. I conferred with Michelle and she agreed that they are more trouble than they are worth and really should not be on the essentials list.

Sponges CAN help raise your humidity but there are better, more consistent ways to do this.

Sponges need to be kept clean or they can lead to the growth of mold or mildew which can be harmful to your hermit crabs. This means they have to be taken out daily and washed thoroughly in dechlorinated water. Once a week the sponge should be thoroughly washed and left to dry out completely. So you need more than one sponge to be able to rotate them. It is recommended you boil the sponge or once it is dry you put it in the microwave for a few seconds. For a kid this may be a bit much to remember and for an adult it's extra steps that just aren't necessary.

If you want to leave a dry sponge in the crabitat for the crabs to nibble on that's a good use for them. I just don't consider a sponge to be an essential item in crab care these days.

This is coming up a lot lately so it seems like a worthwhile topic to cover here.

First let me say that I understand where you are coming from when you are compelled to release your hermit crab.

That being said this is not something you should do. In most states it is illegal to release a 'pet' into the wild. While hermit crabs are wild caught and brought to a store I'm not sure this would get you out of trouble were you caught releasing your hermit crab. Next, only one species of hermit crab is native to the U.S. and only along the east coast. I'm actually only aware of hermit crabs in the New Jersey and Florida regions. So if you have another species that is not native to the U.S. you risk further punishment as well as disrupting the ecosystem. This may not be a high risk factor with hermit crabs but again the laws aren't lenient based on circumstances. Hermit crabs live on the beach and if you don't live near the east coast you will be releasing your hermit crab to a certain death.

So in summary DON'T release your hermit crab into the wild. If you feel that you absolutely MUST release it, please travel to an area where your particular hermit crab species is native and release it there. If you find yourself in trouble with the law, don't blame me cuz I warned ya.

A much better solution is to contact Marie at The Hermit Crab Adoption Center and she will match you up with an approved adopter who will take your hermit crab.

It has taken me the better part of two weekends to complete the chore but all 1000+ hermit crab photos I have taken are now organized and uploaded to my photo gallery:

Hermit Crab Pictures

Hope you enjoy them!

I found these great calcium treats at Petsmart last year and my crabs loved them and yes I love the fact that they produce hot pink and sky blue crab poos. I tossed one in the tank yesterday. This morning it was yet untouched but tonight... HOUSTON WE HAVE POO!! You can see the pooper in the corner of the pic. Obviously some of the stuff is shavings but its quite obvious which is the poo. Their food passes through their bodies rather rapidly and they obviously clean their shells out as they poo. I purposely placed the treat up in the turtle dock so I would be able to gauge when it was first touched.

To give you an idea of what this started out as:

This week Carol Ormes(Carol of Crabworks) is celebrating the 32nd Anniversary of Jon and Kate coming home with her. The AP did a short story where they interviewed Carol, Aaryn of The Happy Hermit Crab and Eleanor of El's Shells. A very short overview of care was given. So fun to see our fellow crabbers in the news! You can comment on the article here:

Daily Illini

and you can DIGG it HERE

Your comments and DIGGS will help increase awareness of hermit crab care by bringing new readers to the various hermit crab sites.

I found him yesterday mid molt. Wimblee has been with me 4 years and was one of my favorites. He's had many, many molts. Some difficult and some perfect so I never expected him to die during a molt. As you can see from the photos he was stuck in his exo. I freed his pinchers but that was as much as I dared for fear of wounding him or causing complete limb loss. With Michelle's help I tried to save him but failed. Days like this make me think about never buying more crabs. *sigh* There is a slim chance this wasn't Wimblee and he's dug down somewhere but given the size I'm 99% sure it's him.

As always when I have a death, if I discover the body before decay sets in I take photos for the sake of education. I'll be posting more of Wimblee later this week.

I’m writing to let you know that The Crab Street Journal website is back online as of today. I hope you will give us another chance and come back to help us keep our work rolling along.

When the site went offline last month I was not sure how I wanted to proceed. But after a week, or maybe it was two, I started thinking about the wealth of information housed at CSJ. We are the largest repository of information on hermit crabs on the web. Yes there are other sites with bigger, busier forums but no one has our archives of information, caresheets, research documents or a photo gallery that comes close to rivaling CSJ’s. I began to see that it would be a travesty to allow all that information to be lost. So with that in mind I contacted Vanessa about taking legal ownership of CSJ. Vanessa too understands the importance of the keeping our information out there, after all CSJ was her labor of love for many, many years. So with that in mind she readily agreed to give me full ownership of CSJ. So as of today, I am now the owner of The Crab Street Journal!

My goal today, moving forward, is to continue to building our library of information so that anyone can access it. Working full time means that my time on CSJ must be spent wisely and productively.

While the forums are fun and helpful, not all users want to participate on the forums. At this time I do not expect to personally be active on the forums if I am to continue to build the site content. I hope our members will pick up the slack and keep the forums active and help each other out!

I would like to continue our monthly contests but only if someone is willing to run the contests if Serena is not able to continue. I’ve not heard from her that she is not willing to return and pick up where she left off but we need a back up plan just in case.

The species site is still in progress at www.coenobitaspecies.com

The wiki has been converted to cover several types of crabs and is no longer specifically CSJ branded. I like the idea of including other types of pet crabs in the wiki. It is now at www.crabbywiki.com and there are forums there as well as the ability to start your own blog and image gallery.

The adoption center is still in place under the ownership of Marie, it was never offline. You can access it via: www.hermitcrabadoptioncenter.com or www.crabstreetjournaladoptions.com

The caresheets STILL, STILL are in desperate need of updating so they reflect our current information. This project needs to be headed by someone goal oriented as it is probably the most important pending project we have.

The Sister Site & Local Rep programs will continue on, though I’m not sure what the structure of the organization will be. Previously LHCOS was the parent org but I did not acquire that site with CSJ. These projects may be shelved for the time being while we focus building other areas of the site.

Michelle has taken ownership of www.hermitcrabcuisine.com and will be working to build a super awesome food site there with the help of Jedi_Sena and NarNar!

Marie, Michelle, Angela, Yvette and Sue will still be site managers. Sue and Yvette are working in a decision making capacity at this time until they are able to return full time.

I hope you all will give CSJ another try and maybe even be compelled to volunteer to work on one of our projects!

*crabby hugs*
Daethian

written for e-How and reposted here:

Land hermit crabs are not the easy to care for, no fuss pets they are portrayed to be. They are complex creatures with specific habitat needs as well as dietary requirements.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

* Glass tank
* Lid for the tank
* Hygrometer
* Thermometer
* UTH or warming bulbs
* Substrate
* Extra Shells
* Food
* Water Dechlorinator
* Ocean salt mix
* Overhead light
* Hiding huts
* Climbing accessories
* Food and water dishes (3 total)
* Approximately $150

Step 1 Choose a location.

There are several things to consider when selecting a location for your crabitat. You need a place that is free of drafts, not in direct sunlight and preferrably a low traffic area. In a location where the room temperature fluctuates wildly you will find it very difficult to maintain a steady temperature in the crabitat.

Next you want to make sure there is an outlet nearby and room overhead for a light fixture of some sort. Bear in mind that the crabitat will require regular checking and cleaning so don't make it hard to access.

Step 2

First you want to affix the UTH. A couple things to bear in mind:

After time the adhesive will start to weaken so make sure you get a good snug fit from the beginning.

The UTH needs a little bit of clearance so affix some of those little rubber feet to your tank.

The UTH should not be placed in the center of the tank, affix to one end. Land Hermit Crabs require different temperature zones and placing the UTH to one end allows the other end to be naturally cooler.

Next add your substrate. Substrate should be several inches deeper than your largest crab to allow for digging for molting. The amount of substrate over the UTH will help control the air temperature of your crabitat.

The hygrometer should be placed in the center of the tank, centered horizontally and vertically. This gives the most accurate reading. BEFORE affixing the hygrometer, if it is analog it should be calibrated for accuracy. You can read how to do that: http://exoticpets.about.com/od/herpresources/ss/hygrometer.htm

The thermometer should be at substrate level but preferably poking down into the substrate. Using a UTH will cause the substrate to be warmer than the air and therefore it should be monitored closely.

Add your water dishes next, well away from the hygrometer so as not to affect the accuracy. All water should be treated with dechlorinator. This is not optional. All land hermit crab species require fresh water and ocean water at all times. The size and depth of the dishes should be determined by the size of hermit crabs you plan to buy. Your hermit crabs will need enough water to submerge in to flush out their shells. If you want to buy some teeny crabs, simply provide them with something to climb onto in the dish to aid entering and exiting the dish.

Add extra shells, hidey huts and climbing items. Avoid items made of metal or things that may mold or mildew. Try to maximize all the open space as hermit crabs are climbers. Be very aware of how close to the top you place your items. Hermit crabs can and WILL escape your tank.

Place your lid on the tank, plug in your UTH and turn on your lights.

Step 3

Purchase your hermit crabs!

Now that your crabitat is all set up and your humidity level and temperature is stable, it's time to pick out your new hermit crabs! The number of crabs depends on the size of tank you picked and the size of the crabs. Do not over crowd your crabitat!! You can mix sizes. Big crabs do not attack or eat little crabs. Cannibalism or shell fights have NOTHING to do with the size of the crabs involved, regardless of what someone may tell you. Overcrowding and poor diet are the common causes of cannibalism and shell fights are typically due to scarcity of shells or simple shell envy.

Look for busy, active hermit crabs. Broken or missing limbs will be regenerated. If the store tank is filthy, smelly or infested with bugs go to a different store.

Tips & Warnings

* Over time I've realized that trying to save money on equipments ends up costing more down the road when I have to replace inferior products. Just something to keep in mind when you are shopping.
* While you are shopping for supplies, stop by the hermit crab tank and check the humidity level. Make a note of it so that you can introduce your new hermit crabs to the same humidity level.
* For instructions on properly acclimating your new land hermit crabs visit: http://www.foreverpurple.com/lhccare/bringinghome.php
* Fill two needs with one item and choose an overhead light that takes day glo and night glo bulbs which emit warmth. This will warm your crabitat and provide essential light! I LOVE my Tri Light hoods. They have two fixtures, one single and one double. Each fixture has it's own power cord and switch. Plug them into timers and you are all set.
* Check online stores for light hoods and bulbs. I have found that www.pawsuppetsupply.com sells both for less than other stores.
* Certain sands called Calci Sand or Hermit crab sand are a waste of money. They are clumpy, smell bad when wet and stick to your hermit crabs.
* Very fine marine sands are expensive and will stick like powder to your hermit crabs.
* Keeping land hermit crabs as pets is NOT cheap and is highly addictive!
* Do not buy painted shells for your hermit crabs as spare shells. They are unsafe and crabs will not voluntarily move into them.
* Check your hermit crabs for mites at the store.
* Gravel is NOT a suitable substrate!
* Do your homework before spending a dime on supplies to make sure you are not buying items that are hazardous to your new pets.