Hermit Crabs

[colejohnson73]

All my hermit crabs do is sleep. Is this a problem.

 

[pfara]

They're nocturnal.

 

[colejohnson73]

Oh even at night.

 

[T33's Torts]

Do you know what nocturnal means?

It means that they sleep during the day and are awake at night. Are they moving at all? Maybe they died?

 

[colejohnson73]

There alive i checked.

 

[HeatherN]

The first thing I would ask is, do they have a heat source? Is your enclosure humidified on any way? Do you provide fresh water in a shallow dish as well as salt water? Hermit crabs need a lot of specific things to thrive.If they are too cold they may be inactive.

 

[Skymall007]

I wrote this care sheet on hermits here. http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-90149.html

It is possible your setup is not correct. Also, some hermit species are more active than others. It depends on both species and personality. As mentioned earlier, they are also nocturnal.

 

[MuseCrazy]

If your temps are lower than 75F that's why they aren't active. Temperature and humidity is very important both should be 80F and 80%. It is okay to have a gradient of temperature in your tank (hot side, cool side). It is also possible that they are destressing. Lots of things such as low temps, excessive handling, low humidity for long periods of time cause stress. This is why a crab needs at least 6in or 3x it's height in substrate so he can dig a nice cave and relax. You can provide more space and a great place to do this by getting a shower caddy with suction cups and filling it with sphagnum or any forest moss, really as long as it's clean. My crabs really love the moss pits and they do just sit in there for hours, nibble at the food dish and then climb back up to the pit.

 

[Skymall007]

If your temps are lower than 75F that's why they aren't active. Temperature and humidity is very important both should be 80F and 80%. It is okay to have a gradient of temperature in your tank (hot side, cool side). It is also possible that they are destressing. Lots of things such as low temps, excessive handling, low humidity for long periods of time cause stress. This is why a crab needs at least 6in or 3x it's height in substrate so he can dig a nice cave and relax. You can provide more space and a great place to do this by getting a shower caddy with suction cups and filling it with sphagnum or any forest moss, really as long as it's clean. My crabs really love the moss pits and they do just sit in there for hours, nibble at the food dish and then climb back up to the pit.

Hi! Fellow hermit person =) Are you in the HCA too? Good to always run into fellow hermit lovers.

 

[MuseCrazy]

Yup, I have the same username on HCA. I came here cause I just got a turtle lol.

 

[Skymall007]

Yup, I have the same username on HCA. I came here cause I just got a turtle lol.

So exciting!!!!!!!! Good to see you! We seem to like shelled things lolz

 

[maryalmeida81]

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[maryalmeida81]

I love them I used to have a lot of them and mine all got mites and passed away !!! I had a tank similar to what you have I would always spend all my straight $$ on their tank toys etc,etc !!! Good luck with them ... Mary


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[Skymall007]

Thank you I just had a mite scare but turns out everything is fine. I got very worried

 

[Tyanna]

The care sheet link isn't working. I'm interested in maybe getting one!