In: Caresheets, Crabitat
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Welcome to Hermit Crab Pool Boy Training 101!  We hope the following information will cover hermit crab water pools from a-z. If we didn’t cover something here please feel free to comment or contact us. Let’s dive right in, the water is fine! Your tank should have two types of water bowls or pools: ocean water made from marine-grade salt and freshwater. Tap water contains beneficial minerals and metals so we discourage the use of distilled or otherwise purified water. Tap water must be treated with a product like Seachem Prime to make it safe for use. Prime also binds ammonia. In our testing, ammoniaRead More →

In: Caresheets, Crabitat
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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
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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 →

flooded substrate

In: Crabitat, General
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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 →

Hagen Exo Terra Water Dish

In: Product Reviews
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Product Name: Exo Terra Water Dish Large Product Manufacturer: Hagen Exo Terra Where it was purchased: Pet Store When it was purchased: 4/1/2015 Price: $24-29 AUS Do you feel this product is a good value for the price: Yes Would you recommend this time: Yes Why or Why Not: It is a large water dish with little stairs for hermit crabs to get in and out of easily. Reviewer: Vanessa PRRead More →

ReptoFilter

In: Product Reviews
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Product Name: Tetra Decorative Sandstone Terrarium ReptoFilter Product Manufacturer: Tetra Where it was purchased: Amazon When it was purchased: 05/19/2016 Price: 25.99 Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 10 inches Shipping Weight: 6.6 pounds Do you feel this product is a good value for the price: Yes Would you recommend this time: Yes Why or Why Not: I have two of these filters now, one in each style. This one is slightly larger than the other style. I am really pleased with this filter over all. It does what it is supposed to and is easy to maintain. The only downside is that it takesRead More →

Standard Tank Measurement Gallons To Inches

In: Crabitat
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COMMON AQUARIUM SIZES & WEIGHTS 5 GALLON L x W x H 16″ x 8″ x 10″ Weight (empty) 7 lbs Weight (water-filled) 62 lbs 10 GALLON LEADER L x W x H 20″ x 10″ x 12″ Weight (empty) 11 lbs Weight (water-filled) 111 lbs 10 GALLON LONG L x W x H 24″ x 8″ x 12″ Weight (empty) 16 lbs Weight (water-filled) 116 lbs 10 GALLON HEXAGON L x W x H 14″ x 12″ x 18″ Weight (empty) 12 lbs Weight (water-filled) 110 lbs 15 GALLON L x W x H 24″ x 12″ x 12″ Weight (empty) 21 lbs WeightRead More →

In: Biology
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In hermit crabs, the fourth and particularly the fifth pereopods are reduced, usually remaining within the confines of the gastropod shell and hence are not used for walking. These appendages do however becoming important when the hermit crab attempts to right itself, providing anchorage within the shell. Further, the fifth pereopod has become specialised as a gill cleaning appendage, often resting within the gill chamber (Bauer 1981). On the abdomen only the left pleopods are retained (Poore 2004).[1] Hermit crabs used specialized setae on the third maixillipedes and fifth pereiopods for most grooming but used the unmodified first, second, and third pereiopods as well. MostRead More →

In: Biology
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The land hermit crab (Coenobita) develops a water sac inside of their shell prior to a molt. As shedding of the old exoskeleton begins, this store of water is used to expand the body to stretch and increase size before the soft exoskeleton begins to harden again We are building image galleries of specific body parts. If you have high resolution, clear photos that you would like to donate to this project please contact us via email: crabstreetjournal at gmail dot com Overview of the anatomy of a land hermit crab (Coenobita)Read More →

Coenobita compressus enjoying fish, peanut butter and veggies - Photo by Amber Miner

In: Caresheets, FAQ
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Hermit Crab Care 101 – a guide for properly caring for your pet so that it thrives in captivity.Read More →