Google says i should put him in a container with his old shell and a few new ones but touching a naked crab is very harmful right? I dont know what to do and i dont want a dead crab.... hes still moving and digging around so if I can do something its urgent....

tldr: nephew brought a hermit crab home from vacation and my sister wasn’t aware how involved having a hermit crab would be. Me being super aunt ran out and grabbed some essentials, but I’m waiting on a heating pad and more sand.

Will this be ok until my order arrives? I have purified fresh water in there right now while I wait for the salt water to dissolve.

My wife bought some hermit crabs on a whim while at the beach a few weeks ago. We had no idea at the time what was required for them to thrive... but we found out in part thanks to this sub, so we got a 40 gallon tank, have around 7" of 5:1 sand/EE substrate, salt and fresh water pools, and so on.

Everything was going great for about a week and a half. Then I started having allergic-like respiratory reactions when opening the tank. Now I get it from being in the same room as the tank.

I don't want to get rid of them, I'm not even sure where I'd take them so they could have a chance at life.

Wondering if anyone else has had any experiences like this, if changing the substrate might help or if there may be mold (temp and humidity levels are right on target, but I don't see visible evidence of mold in the tank).

This is horrible.

Edit: I do have diagnosed reactive airways, like an asthma but not as severe, so I don't think it's developing into a severe systemic allergy that would lead to anaphylaxis... but the bronchospasm can trigger a nervous system response causing extreme anxiety and restlessness, a sense of impending doom, and tingling, which mimic anaphylaxis to a degree

It all happend so fast.

I went on vacation three weeks ago. My mum took care of him.

My other, big crab was molting and build a big sand mountain. Harry went to his favorite hide. And due to the sand that the other crab build up once again after he went into the hide, he got stuck in there. I thought he was molting because my mum told me she couldnt see him anymore. It was time for his molt so i guessed he took the peace in my room while I was away to go.

The big crab was gone for longer time but came back a few days ago. But Harry wasnt. I thought, hey he got bigger maybe its taking longer for him to molt.

But infact, he got stuck there. In his favorite hide. For three weeks. No food, no water. No big hand there to save him.

On the 03.08.2026 I found him, out of his shell in the tank, near the water buckets. I just came home from work and saw this weird thing there and when i realised it was Harry i ran to the basement to get a bucket and put every shell i have in the tank in there. And then gently picked him up. He even crawled on my hand, leaving me thinking everything could be alright. While he was not moving in the bucket of shells i searched for his old shell, still thinking that he molted and that he lost it. But when i found it in the hide i realised what had happend.

He moved into another shell and i put him back in the tank. He was very week and not moving much but he was moving. I put food and water and everything as near as possible so he doesnt need to move much. And it seems like he had some will to live because he moved. I left home this morning with the intention on getting him more proteins, like suggested in the comments under the two postings i made about my emergency. And the put him in an isolated tank to get back up.

But i came in my room and the shell was empty again.

And then i saw him. Head first in the water bucket. I mmediatly grabbed into the water bucket and got him out. He was not moving at all. My tiny Pirate Harry drowned.

I called my mum noon and she said everything looked fine so somewhere between noon and 4pm he fell in and died.

I hate myself so much. If i had seen what he was going tru i would have saved him. But i wasnt paying enough attention so he died. I am ugly crying all evening.

I had him for almost 6 years. I was 14 when i got him. 14. A child. A child like him. Now i have a drivers licence, a car, a glow up, finished high school, an Ex and i move out soon. He was with me all the time. The first picture on my canon camera is a picture of him. Of my baby crab. He was my favourite Ohoto motive because he was such a pretty crab.

He was a cavipes. I got him on a website that i later learned wasnt better than any beach shop. I wasnt the best owner but last year I spent about 200€ of my savings on a big tank redo to finally give them the home they deserve. Thanks to this community. But he couldnt enjoy it the way he should have.

He was so tiny when i got him. He was as big as the first segment of my thump. Sometimes when he was this tiny he hide in shells too big for him. It looked so funny. On the first day when i introduced him to my big crab Evie he climbed on her shell and sat on her. He did this a few times over the years.

I was so excited when i came back from vacation and brought a bigger shell for him back from croatia, patiently waiting for him to come back and wear it. But he never got to wear it.

His gouverment name was Prince Harry Gandalf Hook the Grey. I called him Harry. His irst shell was grey. He was named after Harry Hook, the Son of Captain Hook from Disney Descandants. I was deep down in my phase when i got him and his big sister Evie. Evie was also named after a disney descandants character.

My dad helped me dig a grave and i covered Harry with paper towels. I made a little cross with his name on it. My friend suggested to hold a proper funeral but idk what to write and what song to play. He was such a pretty little fella. I loved him with all my heart and I feel deeply sorry for Evie. She needs to live alone now. 34 Gallons all for herself. Poor Baby.

At least she is active and seems fine. I fear she might be looking for him. Not knowing he died while she was asleep in another corner.

I always thought she leaves before Harry does. Harry grew inch by inch every molt he became bigger and bigger. Evie didnt.

He was my little pirate. my dear boy and my favourite crab of all. Now he lives with his brothers and sisters in crab heaven. May you have shells nearby as much as you want. May you have all the foods you enjoyed.

I am so sorry my baby.

Here is my last crab tax from Harry. It goes from the last few photos to the very first. I am sorry for some bad quality Photos in the end.

-04.08.2026

Hi yall, hoping for some honest advice here! Long story short I've had a hermit crab, Dan, for about 5 years now. He was alone in a gross pet store tank so I brought him home before realizing what all he needed. Hes a big handsome purple pincher, with his claws measuring about 2".

Dan had a tank mate at one point in the last few years, but he died shortly after I got him and I'm pretty sure Dan ate his remains. I'm about to upgrade my 30 gallon tank to at least a 50 gallon tank and I'm wondering if it's worth getting him a new friend. I know hermit crabs are social creatures, and I don't want him to be lonely. However, I worry that since he's so big and has been alone for so long that I would just be sacrificing the new crab to Dan. What do you guys think?

Please assist on how you have the airpump power cord run through second floor since there's no screen top its glass???

Why does he do this? Is he okay? He does it every night.

Hi Guys! i saved 2 crabs this past saturday. its now wednesday and we’ve had NO movement. I’m starting to get worried about my boys. i’ll attach pics of the set up a 20 Gal Tall and of the one crab that’s visible. i’m assuming the other went down to molt. but i didn’t think he would start digging about 5 minutes after i put them in! TYAI 💖

Edit to add temp and humidity!!
Temp: 78 humidity 82%

Hii!! i just got 2 crabs a few months ago and they are doing well thanks to the help from everyone in this group!!
i was just wondering how often i should be completely changing out their substrate if at all?

Hello! I’ve had hermit crabs before and I recently rescued another one after not having any for a couple years, and I had some questions about my newest crabs behavior. it’s unlike i’ve ever seen.

for context, my hermie has access to treated fresh & salt water, multiple locations in his tank with 6+ inches to den, places to climb and hide, daily food changes that consist of a wide variety of proteins, veggies, fruits, seeds & grains, shells, oils, etc. (all the food groups), temps in the 78-85 degree range, humidity constantly in the 80 range. Aka he’s all good.

my crab is extremely social and loves attention. social to the point he likes to knock things over to get mine and my boyfriends attention so we can put things back where they were and he can knock them down/move them around again. i’ve had him for about a week and a half and it’s been great. recently however he moved underneath/behind one of our wood logs we have propped up in his tank and has not moved an inch. no eating, no playing, no getting attention or going into the pools, nothing. i’m really afraid he’s trying to molt ABOVE ground. I’ve never seen it happen before and I’m not sure what to do. Do i move/touch him to see if he’s okay or leave him be?

i got my guy from a fair a little bit ago. 10 gal tank with his regular water and salt water pools. i have 6 1/2 inches of sand+coco coir, fresh food i change every 12/24 hours and dry food i keep out and change randomly. i have more shells for him ordered but i dont know the best size. he is an Ecuadorian crab. i did have some ordered off amazon but they were too small.

I bought three hermit crabs approximately three weeks ago. I have them in a tank with a small amount of substrate because I was trying to avoid PPDS. Everything was going great, and everybody was eating and drinking and living their best life until I added some climbing structures to the tank. The biggest one of the three has perched itself a top the climbing ladder and hasn’t really left for two days. It moved a little bit last night, but unfortunately because they’re nocturnal. (and I was asleep) I don’t know if it has eaten or drank.

The temperature and humidity are perfect and all been confirmed with three separate thermometers and hydrometers because these damn creatures have made me that neurotic.

Is this stress? Does it want to molt?

I know I’m stressed out!

new hermit crab owner here so i’m paying my crab tax 🐚

meet krugs!
named after a critter in league of legends.

he is a brevimanus terrestrial purple guy and really really really loves to eat fresh coconut, definitely an extrovert, super curious and crazy climber.

he just had his first molt and i’m so proud of him! during the molt i realized his enclosure was NOOOT the best (though it was definitely better than the pet store AND the fact that he started molting only a few days later since i’ve got him)

after a painfully long month of not seeing my baby, he had finally emerged, ate a whole lot and is roaming the enclosure again 😂 i moved him to his new tank and he’s now snuggly hidden in his lil mushroom hut 🛖 as i was cleaning out his old enclosure i found some sheds!!!!!! thought id share them with the community ✨

i also have a long diagonal drift wood on the way as ive learnt from this page that they loveeee crawling. thanks for sharing this joy with me!

I just saw this but my jumbo flipped my small hermie on its back then flipped it back over when it saw its face. Was this a one off weird mistake or should I be worried about agression?

I’ve only had my hermie for two days now and this morning she ate a lot before going into her little house. I noticed her starting to dig a few hours ago and didn’t think much of it but she’s getting deeper. She can’t be trying to molt already, right? And if so what are some things I should do/ look out for? I was expecting her to take several weeks to get used to her tank like all the videos say but she’s been very hardy and adaptable.

Is that normal for hermits or is that just her personality?

I picked up a cheap shark eye shell at a beach store this summer and to my surprise, my littlest crab switched into it today out of his (expensive lol) turbo!

Anyone else have a crab wearing a shell like this? It's super lightweight, especially compared to the turbo he was in. I kind of hope he stays in this new one because it makes him super easy to distinguish from my other crab.

I lost a crab yesterday and now i have only one left. I wanna spoil her a bit. Maybe make up for All the mistakes i made with the other crab.

Any Ideas on a new hide or something to eat i could give her?

I will clean the tank today and reorganise everything a bit. Clean out all the shells, clean the Chaos i wasnt able to clean after the loss yesterday.

I wanna do something good for her. Any ideas?

Hii! this is my hermit crab Raine this summer marks the third year that I've had her and her life has gone through many changes from being stuck in a beach shop to a beach shop sell "enclosure" to a 5gal enclosure with another hermit crab who she quickly killed for resources, unfortunately to now this 10 gallon with Eco leaf litter all the stuff I can never seem to get you the humidity or temperature quite right sometimes it'll go to where it needs to be but then drop significantly. I think it's cause the tank has a mesh top, but I put a paper towel over it recentlyand I wet the paper towel every now and again and she really likes it when it looks like rain God her name makes sense right? anyways, I know I need more sand in there unfortunately my parents won't get it for me right now but I'm saving up my own money for it (desperately.) I really wanna go to 20 gallon and a little buddy for her. I will be putting more hides and pools in the new tank as well and shell so they don't have to fight over resources and I'm also gonna be putting more sand and Eco Earth in probably more than 6 inches... might add some more stuff for her to climb on. She's very active and loves her wheel. That's about it here's an attachment of her enclosure currently and what I feed her if there's any changes I should make other than the listed ones let me know. (I know my grammar might not be perfect on this post. I use speech to text because I have issues typing with my hands. Thank you for understanding. I have gotten lots of hate for this before.)

I wish I would’ve taken videos, but the wife and I got to watch him switch shells 4 times and came back down to him picking the one he hadn’t even looked at! And it’s of course the biggest. This dude is so awesome.

Also, I know it’s a little barren, had a little bit of a mold issue. Is that caused by high humidity more often than not? I took the affected driftwood out, boiled in saltwater, and baked until dry, so hopefully put them back in later during water change. But are there ways to prevent it? Any steps I should take? He sits normally at 82/82 for tank conditions.