Luna Tail

I need to keep track of which crab is where and who is molting and who is not… so I’m going to do this here, as well as on my Flickr page. So here we go!

This picture is of the 20 gallon long I have upstairs… there is only one crab in here. I got this tank and this crab on Veteran’s day, the 11th of November 2008. The person who gave him and the tank to me said that there may be bugs in the tank… so I cleaned it out, and gave him some new shells, and he switched shells. And he’s in isolation to make sure he’s okay.  So far, so good.  Though he may be molting under that pile of ecoearth:

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Downstairs Tank. I got this tank and the two bigger crabs on 06 Nov 2008, Thursday. I got the three smaller crabs from Petco on 07 Nov 2008, Friday (not sure why I bought them, I was being goofy that day). 29 gallon (I think, I haven’t measured it yet). Three of these crabs are out and about and two of them seem to be buried, possibly molting.

These are the two on the cholla wood. The bigger of the two seems to be doing quite good. I got him for free on KSL.com and his name was Max. The other one I got with him was named Lucy (since I have a dog names Lucy that’ll have to change) and she was in a painted shell. She is not visible at the moment.. so she is buried and maybe molting. Though when I say ’she’ I’m guessing, I haven’t sexed them yet.

The other guy in the white shell is one I got from Petco. Seems okay, though not much movement out of him.  He hasn’t gone down to molt though so maybe he’s okay.

Oh, this is the tank where one of the crabbies was nakid for a day or two.  He is now gone, and I don’t know if he’s molting or if he got a shell.  Hopefully he’s molting. There is no bad fish smell so hopefully none of them have died on me.

This is the third guy in the downstairs tank that is not buried. He is also a Petco crab. He seems to be doing okay, though like the little white guy he hasn’t had much movement. He’s been on the cholla wood most of the time, too, with the other two crabs.

Finally, here is a picture of the whole tank downstairs. My tanks are pretty sparce right now mainly because I want to keep an eye on the crabs, and also because I don’t have much to put in them yet! Plus I have a tank at work that I’m going to be switching to a way cool 35 gallon hex my friend Christy gave me.

So there we have it! They have ecoearth substrate. Salt Water (Instant Ocean) and fresh water bowls. Wood to climb on, and food from The Crabbage Patch as well as fresh food. I need to eat more fresh food myself, and share with the crabbies!

I will post about them occasionally so I can keep track of them!

Okay.. I know, I’m bad. I like hermit crabs and I can keep them alive. It’s taken a year for me to get enough confidence to get more crabs.

There was an ad in a local online classifieds that two little hermit crabs needed a home, for free. So off I went and I snagged them! They were just in one of those small plastic cages that you buy in the store. Some boring sand. No humidity, no heat… they seemed very unhappy.

So my husband went off and got this used aquarium, a 29 gallon, for $35. It has a stand, too, which is nice. It was dirty so I cleaned it out. And while I was at the pet store looking for heating… dangit, there were some sad crabs there too so I got three of them. Ugh.

These five are very small, much smaller than the ones I have at work. I was going to put this 29 gallon tank at work, and take the smaller one and bring it home. But I like the stand so I will probably keep this tank here. I might, however, bring these five little guys to work, and bring my three bigger ones home. I haven’t decided yet.

It depends on how these five little guys do. I want them to settle in and get a bit healthier first. They now have 80 degrees and 80% humidity. I need a glass lid for the tank, and a white light on them so I can see them during the day! They also have good food and good water. So hopefully they will perk up and get happy!

Isn’t he a cutie!? I love hermit crabs. And… strangely enough, I haven’t managed to kill them off and it’s been a year since I’ve gotten them.

Yay! I tend to kill off fish anymore… mainly because I don’t have the time to clean their tank every other week. Hermit crabs, however, don’t need so much cleaning. Though they do need a high humidity and high temperature cage. About 80% and 80 degrees respectively.

I have three… and I hope to get a couple more. I’m looking into adoption of the little guys, istead of buying them from the pet store. But I’m not sure if there are any up for adoption around here in Utah.

I just thought I’d post this picture, I took this yesterday. This guy just got a new shell, and he’s the biggest one of the three.

It’s been about a week now and I can only find two of the crabbies. I am pretty sure one is under the substrate molting… I won’t worry for a little bit, but I am worried just a tiny amount. There are a lot of holes in the sand, and some piles, where I think, hope, that the crab has gone down into.

They seem okay… though they don’t do much during the day. I hope they move around more at night. The temperature and humidity are holding steady. I hope they are happy. How do you know if a hermit crab is happy?

I had a hermit crab dream last night. I’ll let you click on the link to read about it on my dream diary. It was an interesting dream, not really good, not really bad, just kinda fun.

I like the size of my hermit crabs. I don’t want them to get any bigger, though I do realize they will be getting bigger in the future, as they molt.

And speaking of molting, I do think one of the crabs has gone under the sand to molt. I haven’t seen her in a few days, and there are piles of sand that have been built up. I have seen the other two crabs frequently, though.

They are such fun little guys, and my coworkers are helping me keep them safe and happy, too!

Well the crabs are in their new, permanent, home. I think they are happy. Humidity is staying up, Temp is steady. they cruised around a bit this morning but now are resting, fighting, or being more mellow. To the left is a picture of the crabitat. To the right is a picture of a crab in the back of the tank. I cannot tell the crabs apart, I wonder how people do that! They look very similar to me and I don’t know if more than one of them has switched shells.

Well they are cuties for sure. I am actually going out of town tomorrow for a week, so my friends are going to help take care of them until I get back. I wrote them a big long email and showed them the ropes, so I think these three guys will be fine.

I will try to post while I am gone, but I might miss a bit!

Here they are! I have to head out, they are safe in their temporary home until they get into their big home tomorrow. The humidity and temperature are good. They are very lively. One already switched shells, another is checking out the coconut hut. They are so curious and adorable!

Yikes! The Hermit Crabs come tomorrow! They are on their way now, as I type this, overnight delivery. I’m going to get three of them. I have a temporary crabitat setup at home so they will stay here with me at night, then I’ll take them to work where I have their permanent setup, tomorrow.

Soooo…. I’m nervous! I hope they are okay.

I ordered the hermit crabs! Woo Hoo! I ordered them from The Crabbage Patch. I’m going to the small hermit crabs. I talked to the gentleman at The Crabbage Patch and he recommended more sand for the mediums. I will still add more sand for the smalls but this will give them more sand to burrow in when they want to.

They will be mailed next Tuesday, overnight, and then I’ll get them on Wednesday. Since I work from home on Wednesday I will be there when they come. I’m excited! Woo hoo welcome to the new crabbies!