In 2009 we introduced isopods to our crabitats.

In: Crabitat
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The list of critters that can safely exist with hermit crabs is fairly short. Yes Isopods** – beneficial tank cleaners Springtails – beneficial tank cleaners Food/soil mites – harmless   No Fiddler Crabs/Halloween Crabs – aggressive diggers and are likely to eat molting hermit crabs. Earth worms, beetles, centipedes, crickets, praying mantis, roaches: May stress each other, over populate, disrupt/harm/ kill/ eat molters. Crabs may harm /kill them. May carry/spread disease/parasites, especially with over population. Centipedes – venomous Millipedes – poisonous Snails – Hermit crabs can kill snails Frogs/Lizards – could harm each other, different habitat needs Fish – inappropriate water for a fish   **Read More →

In: Caresheets, Crabitat
Tagged: , , , ,

A member of HCO on FB (not affiliated with LHCOS/CSJ) raised an issue regarding the use of Prime. After doing some research of our own we are in agreement with their conclusion regarding Prime treated water and pre-mixing. Please note: As we do not have the necessary information to determine how land hermit crabs are affected by ammonia build up in the water and to what degree we err on the side of caution and treat our water as we would for fish. All information regarding Prime is based on the assumption it is being used in a stable fish tank. Our use is muchRead More →

In: Crabitat
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

You finally scored that awesome tank at a killer price but now how do you clean it?? If the tank is simply dirty but no actual build up on the glass, the cleaning process is pretty straight forward. A mild detergent can be used with hot water to wash away dirt and grime. Use a mild bleach solution 1:10 ratio to sanitize the tank in case of parasites or disease. Follow up with a thorough rinse with water and then white vinegar. Allow to air dry 24 hours. Dealing with stubborn build up on the glass is more challenging. Some stains may never come off.Read More →

In: General
Tagged:

CSJ and LHCOS is thrilled to welcome Stephanie B. to our Local Representatives team! Stephanie will be a Local Rep for upstate New York. About Stephanie: A little bit about me: I live in upstate New York-at the tippy top in the Adirondack region. I’m a mother of two humans, eight hermit crabs, one betta fish, soon to be one bearded dragon, and one husband. I enjoy naps, reading, and relaxing hot baths-all of which rarely happen because I have two humans children, eight hermit crabs, one betta fish, and a husband. Like a few members here, I became a hermit crab owner/enthusiasts through myRead More →

In: Recipes
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Ingredients: 1 portion dark red/black cherries 1 portion blackberries 1 portion blueberries 1 portion red apple (Unwaxed only, she peel is the important part) 1 portion red beets 1/2 portion red raisins 1/2 portion dried plums/prunes 2 portions red beans (do not skip, or you won’t be able to grind into a powder) Blanch each item in a small pot of crab safe water, reserving and reusing the water for each item. Prunes and raisins get soaked in the warm water last until they are very soft. Blend all items, including the reserved soaking/blanching water (start with a little) until its a paste about asRead More →

In: Biology
Tagged: , , , , , , ,

A hermit crab’s gills are enclosed in the branchial chamber, which functions as a lung. The branchial chamber is on the sides of the thorax, above the crab’s legs. A hermit crab breathes through its gills and branchial chamber, which must be kept moist in order to function. If the branchial chamber and gills dry out, the crab will die. Compared to aquatic crabs, land hermit crab’s gills are reduced in size, and if the adults are kept underwater too long, they will drown. [2] There are tufts of setae at various sites on the ventral surface that enable moisture from the substrate to beRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

We turned 16 last week, did you know? Crazy isn’t it!? October 17, 2001 The Crab Street Journal was born on the internet so this year we are celebrating our sweet 16. What better way to do that than with our very own exclusive Huggable Hermie!? Mama Moose Creations partnered with us to create a one of a kind design to honor our birthday. The purchase price of this HH is $35 includes a $10 donation to CSJ. When you order you will receive exactly what you see pictured here. Your donation goes to help offset expenses incurred in running the website, promotion, contests, outreachRead More →

In: General
Tagged: ,

What else would you call it when  you add FOUR new Local Representatives to the team? Please don’t judge my love for my LRs based on the cleverness of my writing. 😀 Some days I’m less creative and I’ve put this post off too long already. Let’s get to it and welcome four new wonderfully crabby people to our Local Representative team: Anna K – Missouri Ian G – Missouri Ronda L – Utah Yoa J – IndonesiaRead More →

In: General
Tagged:

Another new addition!! Welcome Jeanne S. to the local reps program! Jeanne will be covering her region of West Virginia, USA. Jeanne joined our group and immediately fit right in. She is eager to help and usually one of the first to welcome a new member to the group. We are excited to have her on the team! I asked Jeanne for a little introduction… “My son wanted a pet in 1988 so my in-laws got us a hermit crab . Herman lived 3 months in a critter keeper I saved his shell . Still have it. Flash forward to 2005, a friend went toRead More →

In: Caresheets
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

This guide will help you care for a hermit crab that has been attacked, lost several limbs or is suffering from molt complications. General care instructions will be outlined and special exceptions for molting crabs will be included at the end of the guide. If this a newly purchased hermit crab that is dropping limbs you should check out our information on Post Purchase Death Syndrome. PPDS is a common cause of dropped limbs. Dropping multiple limbs indicates extreme stress. Not all hermit crabs can recover from this type of limb loss. Isolate The victim hermit crab needs to be isolated. Use a secure containerRead More →

In: General
Tagged: ,

Did you accidentally bring home a land hermit crab or a marine hermit crab? We often find people searching our site for care information on what are actually marine hermit crabs and not land hermit crabs. We are a group dedicated to the care of land hermit crabs and provide no care information on marine crabs. Their needs are drastically different from a marine hermit crab and we are not able to provide assistance beyond what is in this file. Please note: In most areas of the U.S. it is ILLEGAL to collect wild life without a proper permit. Shown here you can see theyRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , ,

Volunteers needed August 16, 2017 in Ocean City, New Jersey to assist Local Representative Beth Carducci in handing out hermit crab caresheets. There has been talk of ending the pageant after this year. If that is the case we will shift our focus to another similar event. Pageant details: http://www.oceancityvacation.com/details/2288-miss-crustacean-hermit-crab-beauty-pageant.html Facebook Event Thousands of hermit crabs are doomed to death in the boardwalk shops, we want to help as many as we can survive after they are taken home. If you aware of an event involving hermit crab racing, pageants or carnival giveaway please email us at crabstreetjournal at gmail.com   The boardwalk giftshops are aRead More →

In: General, Recipes
Tagged: , , , , ,

1.5 cups organic yellow cornmeal (I used Bob’s Red mill) 1 cup packed, freshly ground coconut 1 large very ripe (brown) banana 1 package very ripe strawberries (pint) 1 cup or so sunflower seeds 1.5 cups whole, with shell, dried river shrimp (I used chubbymealworms.ca brand) 2 tbsp beet root powder 2 tbsp carrot root powder 1 tbsp chlorella powder 1 tsp powdered nutra Rose or 2 teaspoons liquid nutra Rose 1 cup dried apple ribbons Soak/cook the cornmeal with treated hot water as per the cooking instructions. Blend the strawberries and banana together and mix with the cornmeal after it cools a little. MixRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , , ,

That’s right, HUNGARY! We have our first European Local Representative joining us.  Please welcome Veronika Barany Berthane to the team! This mother of two became the owner of a couple hermit crabs when a friend of her child no longer wanted them. With a little bit of searching she found our Facebook group. After joining our group and learning all she could about hermit crab care she decided to help others in her region by translating our care practices and establishing a hermit crab care blog and a Facebook group in Hungarian. Veronika also posts pictures of her hermit crabs babies on Instagram.    From Veronika: IRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , , ,

There are no words to express how THRILLED I am to see that our mission of education is spreading. Sometime last year I was invited to join an Indonesian hermit crab group on Facebook. I selfishly wanted to not only see the photos of the gorgeous hermit crabs that are native but I wanted to see how they are kept as pets. Despite our language barrier our two groups quickly became friendly and intermingled. The members of the Kelomang Lovers Indonesia group were warm and welcoming and most of all quite curious about how we care for hermit crabs in North America.  We happily sharedRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , ,

Watch us grow!! Mike and Melissa are joining us from Florida. They plan business and family trips around hermit crab adoptions they find on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace (among others). Their largest rescue was 33 crabs from Naples who were all in painted shells. Recently the last to change is now in a natural shell! They not only rescue hermit crabs, but also work hands on helping others set up proper crabitats. One was for a Kindergarten class that they set up with the perfect crabitat and some hermit crabs for the children to enjoy. Michael works with the Reddit community to promote proper landRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , ,

That’s right kids we’re going to the Pet Expo again this year!! Thanks to a very generous donation from an amazing couple the expo is fully paid for!! I am so excited! I hope some of you nearby have a chance to come see us. Should be in early November. From the bottom of our crabby little hearts we thank you for your donations and for being part of our community!Read More →

In: Crabitat, General
Tagged: , , , , , ,

A couple years ago when we created our Facebook group to go along with our website I was shocked to find so many people with flooding issues and bacterial blooms in their crabitats. The response to this was a false bottoms.  In 14 years of crab keeping I’ve never encountered this, so it’s on my mind all the time…where is all the water coming from? I think I may be on the path to the root cause – overly wet substrate at the beginning. When you take sandcastle wet sand, add wet ecoearth, add bubbler pools and heat and it’s no wonder the humidity inRead More →

In: Crabitat
Tagged: , ,

We are amending our recommendation regarding moss. While moss is safe and should be offered in your crabitat we no longer believe it is safe to MIX the moss into your substrate or to layer it under your substrate. In the video below you will see a newly set up crabitat (not the owners first crabitat, she was upgrading) with moss layered under the substrate to test a natural false bottom, as was previously done on All Things Crabby. It rapidly developed an out break of Trichoderma that went all the way through the moss to the other side of the tank in one week.Read More →

In: Recipes
Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

If you are going to be away on vacation these cookies are an easy way to provide your hermit crabs enough food until you return.  In addition to offering a Hermit Crab Oreo Vacation cookie I suggest sprinkling your crabitat with some dried foods. This will encourage foraging and offer lots of different foods at once. Dried flowers, grains, seeds, egg shells, nuts and mealworms are all ideal dried foods.  I recommend that greensand and worm castings be available in your tank pretty much all of the time. You can cycle them out for a day or two if your crabs completely refuse other foods.Read More →

In: General
Tagged: , ,

The Land Hermit Crab Owners Society is thrilled to announce the addition of FOUR new Local Representatives! Mary is joining us from Tennessee. Her super power is search. If the answer is out there, she will find it. She is a Facebook moderator for our group. Pam is joining us from Pennsylvania. She is part of the Hermit Emergency Response Team and contributes content to CSJ. She moderates our Google+ community Amber is joining us from Western Canada. She is a our food guru and also contributes content to CSJ and the Coenobita Species site. Anne is joining us from North Carolina. She is partRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , , ,

The Land Hermit Crab Owners Society is happy to announce our very first Junior Local Representative Max! The Junior Local Rep program is a mentoring program for hermit crab owners between the ages of 13 and 18 who fully understand the importance of proper care and embrace the LHCOS/CSJ mission. We have a very high level of expectation for this program and Max has worked hard to earn his new title. Max is very active on Instagram and Youtube, devoting his time to helping other hermit crab owners provide better care. Max is the king of hermit crab DIY and you can see his work overRead More →

In: General
Tagged: , , , ,

Welcome to the Land Hermit Crab Owners Society hermit crab adoption program! We are hoping this process will be a little more efficient for everyone.   Our adoption program is open worldwide and we don’t exclude anyone simply for not being part of our Facebook group or a member of The Crabstreet Journal.   Placing hermit crabs for adoption: Fill out this form: https://goo.gl/forms/LstZ4tDDFWDpKcTk2 We will do our best to find an adopter close to you but there is no guarantee.  Please note most adopters expect the adoption to be free. To become a forever home adopter, a temporary foster home or a transport assistantRead More →

In: General
Tagged: ,

Overall the expo was a huge success! Both days brought a steady flow of people past our booth. We were located right next to the only concessions. Because of this I wanted to take advantage of people lingering so I set up a monitor with a playlist from Youtube on a loop.  I also hung the facts and myths on the back drape so people would be able to read them while waiting in line. The first day I encourage people to pick up our activity sheets and some did. The second day I handed them out and ended up giving away ALL of them!Read More →

In: Recipes
Tagged: , , , , ,

Ingredients: “Wild Craft” all dried ingredients. passion flower, nettle leaves, African honey bush, mushrooms, chamomile, oak leaves, maple leaves, raspberry leaves, rose, marigold, rose hips, black sesame, chia, flax, wakame (seaweed), coconut, hemp seeds. About equal portions crumbled dried leaves, rose and marigold. A little less of the rest of the ingredients, except the seeds and rose hips. Put enough seeds that it is well distributed throughout, or to your liking. No hard rule on quantities 🙂 Wild forage, clean, blanch and dehydrate yourself, our buy from a reputable source. This is a combo of purchased and foraged ingredients.   Instructions: Crunch up all theRead More →

In: Product Reviews
Tagged: , , ,

Product Name: Kidney Shape Ceramic Dishes Product Manufacturer: Zilla Where it was purchased: Reseller: NEHerp When it was purchased: October 2016 Price: 2.49 small & 3.49 medium Do you feel this product is a good value for the price: Yes Would you recommend this time: Yes Why or Why Not: I like idea of a ceramic dish for the ease of cleaning it after each use. Also ceramic does not tend to scratch like plastic dishes which could harbor bacteria even with the best of cleaning. I also like the shape of the dishes. You can place them together like a compartment style tray. No matterRead More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

Your web has answered so much questions for me, a couple of months ago i had lost 3 hermit crabs and that was really disappointing. So I decided to look up a couple of things, and i came across the crab street journal. I had found out that you need lots of things that i didn’t have and those were the reasons my crabs died. Now that i read some of those things i have two very happy active and curious hermit crabs. Submitted August 21, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

I’m so glad I found Crab Street Journal! Online searches have always provided a motley assortment of information and misinformation alike, but the guides on CSJ are clear and easy to understand, especially for a crabbing beginner like me. Their Newbie Guide and Emergency Help especially were a godsend, and I’ve been having loads of fun trying out the user-submitted recipes in the Recipe Book. I LOVE this website! Thank you CSJ for promoting proper pet care! Submitted October 17, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

When I was in elementary school we always had school fairs. The fair I will always remember was the fair that had the “crab walk”. Like a cake walk the music starts and you walk in a circle until it stops. The draw a number and if the number they draw is the number you are standing on you win a cake or in this instance a small hermit crab. I went home that night, my parents money all spent in one place, with at least 6 little friends. I didn’t have them long though and as a kid I thought that they just didn’tRead More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

Long ago, I got a hermit crab, book, and wire cage with a sponge…naturally the poor thing died, because all the information i got was wrong. Thanks to Crab Street Journal I now have two ten gallon tanks with fresh and salt water and lots of substrate, and am building a 75 gallon crabitat. Submitted October 17, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

My sister and I have had hermit crabs for over 5 years. When we first started, they were in critter keepers with improper food, water, and substrate. Slowly, with the help of csj and other sites, we learned that our set up was wrong and made improvements. Although it took a long time, we did what we could for our crabs. Joining the LHCOS Facebook group helped me learn a lot more. We were able to improve our tank even more. While it still isn’t perfect, we are continuing to improve it. Although I am not able to be near my crabs at college (😢),Read More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

When I first started as a hermit crab parent, I had no idea there was a passionate hermit crab community. The Crab Street Journal and the community it supports helped me become a better crab parent. There are always fun things going on and great pictures to look at! So much great information and inspiration for the crabitat. Hermit crabs are so fun to have, but the support and passion of the community makes it so much better. Thanks Crab Street Journal for all you do! Submitted October 16, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

The Crabstreet Journal is one of the best Hermit Crab sites you can find! I have learned so much from this site and would highly recommend it to any crabber. When I first started adopting crabbies, this site provided me with so much information. Also, when I was just starting my Hermit hobby, I got two from the beach. Then as soon as I got home I did more research to figure out how to care for these little guys. This was the first site I came to and I was surprised with all the information I found. Now, I have a properly set upRead More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

When I got back into “crabbing”, I was horrified to find that everything I had been doing was wrong.  Now, with that being said, I was only a child of 6 or 7 at the time, but, my parents didn’t know any better either.  The horrible wire cage with gravel, the pellets, no info on proper water or food.  I can remember giving them lettuce with tomato, some fruit, tap water in a metal cap…..By the time I decided to keep them as pets again, I looked up all of the info I could find, and it was then that realized why they didn’t liveRead More →

In: Testimonial
Tagged:

I think crab street journal is an amazing website and teaches lots of new crab owners how to care for their pets. Without them a lot of people including myself would not be caring for their crabs like they should. Submitted October 13, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

I am a new Crab Street Journal crabbie mom! I have been reading great things lately and very helpful information to get us started in the crab world so our little friends can live a long healthy life. Thanks Guys! Your Awesome!! Submitted Sept 28, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

I had two hermit crabs at first and they were in a wire cage and since there was only gravel at the bottom one of my crabs began to surface molt. At the time I thought it was dead but I didn’t smell anything so I left it alone… A few days passed and it didn’t move and it didn’t go back into it’s shell when I poked it gently so I threw it out… I wanted to try and figure out why it died then I found your YouTube channel I don’t think that it was dead it was only surface molting. It killedRead More →

In: Testimonial

Your website is very helpful and has a lot of useful information for beginners and things that advanced hermit owners didn’t know. Submitted Sept 27, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

My first experience with hermit crabs was when I was about seven years old. I was given a purple pincher named Rocky, and a small plastic box with pink sand in it. As I got older with trial and error I slowly recognized the abuse in that kind of care. I thought the only way I could find information about these little creatures was through random google searches. I did finally get a decent tank together but little did I know there was a huge community waiting for me FULL of great information and new ideas. I enjoy now looking through posts seeing the enthusiasticRead More →

In: Testimonial

I love your website and it have helped me alot with my hermit crabs🦄i heard about your website at an norwegian reptile page😜i got so happy when i found out u have an IG! Happy early 15th Birthday! For ur page😂 i really think my hermits and walking sticks would like to win! 😜Tilia Submitted Sept 20, 2016  Read More →

In: Testimonial

I had been keeping hermit crabs for several years before I found this group of wonderful people. I thought I had great tanks, my crabs were living and way better off than in pet stores. I have made such vast improvements for my babies since finding Crab Street Journal! Now my hermits are really living the life, with lots more stuff to climb, deeper sub than ever and water pools they can actually swim in! Now I have 2 55 gallon tanks and a 75 gallon set up, with a 75 gallon waiting for me to get up and ready! I LOVE this place andRead More →

In: Testimonial

I’m fairly new to Crabstreet and was doing things wrong for a while. They have given me so much useful information and the people who run it are always so helpful. I’m so excited to be giving my crabs the best and they are providing all the best info for me to do that. Thank you Crabstreet Journal!! Submitted Sept 20, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

The Crabstreet Journal website is great and very informative. And we are a very loving tight knit community in favor of hermit crabs who are open minded and advocate for current standard care. Submitted Sept 20, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

I love the Crabstreet Journal website! I own 3 purple pincher hermit crabs (Brigadier, Lola, and Harley) and the site offers so much great advice for people like me! There are always a bunch of fun giveaways, contests, and other activities going on, and I love meeting new crabbers through the Crabstreet Journal website. Submitted September 5, 2016Read More →

In: Testimonial

This website for hermit crabs simply helped me to know anything and everything there is to know about hermit crabs. Almost any questions I could ever possibly ponder over can be answered by this site. Thank you guys! You are the best! Submitted August 22, 2016Read More →

In: General, Product Reviews
Tagged: , ,

Product Name: Spirals in Time Product Manufacturer: Bloomsbury Publisher Where it was purchased: Amazon When it was purchased: 7/29/2016 Price: $13.00 Do you feel this product is a good value for the price: Yes Would you recommend this time: Yes Why or Why Not: This book is so well written that you do not have to be an expert to understand some of the most fascinating things about seashells beyond sea creatures using them. Helen Scales writes so the average reader can understand and you want to read more and more after each chapter. She covers so many interesting topics of the seashell. I found it veryRead More →