In this issue - The Crabstreet Journal

The first magazine for land hermit crab enthusiasts!
June 2007 Volume II Issue 6
Photo by Heather O
In this issue
May winners
Oveheating
Virtues of live moss
Meet Sister Site CtryLuv
It’s getting hot in here!
You've filled the pool and broken out the flip flops,
there's lemonade in the fridge and the ice cream truck is
coming down the street. You've got everything checked
off on your summer list from Beach Ball to Water Balloons but there is something that may not be on your
list. Something many crabber's forget about . Before you
run out the door stop and check the stats in your crabitat.
With summer temps on the rise it’s time to check your
tank to make sure you are not overheating your little babies. Checking the air temperature is not enough, it is
vital that you check the substrate temperature regularly
to make sure it is not too hot. Depending on where you
live and how you cool your home you may not need a
heat source at all in the summer. If your home is cooled
by air conditioning you will most likely still need some
added warmth in the tank. If you require no additional
heat source, be sure to change your overhead bulbs to a
very low wattage. Your hermies need their light year
round! Check the location of your tank and ensure the
air conditioning is not blowing directly on your tank or
you will cause wildly fluctuating temperatures inside the
tank.
Crabitat Temperature
and
Substrate Temperature
By Marie Davis
It can be confusing as to what the temperature of ones
Crabitat actually is sometimes.
One buys a thermometer to place on the inside of their
Crabitat to monitor the air temperature. The hermit crabs
original home is in the tropics, so air temperature of
ones Crabitat is important so not to cause them any undo
stress. The thermometer is placed at substrate level,
along with the humidity gauge, to monitor the temperature and humidity within the tank where the hermit crabs
spend the majority of their time.
Even doing this, there are times when some crabber's experience complications with their hermit crabs. For some
unknown reason, they begin to have hermit crabs going
shell less within their Crabitats.
When asked what the substrate temperature is, they are
bewildered. Most have never heard of monitoring the substrate temperature, or even thought to feel the substrate to
see just how warm it is. Within the first year of my crabbing, I had discovered during the first cool months, that
even though the thermometer on the wall of my tank may
have read 72 degree's Fahrenheit, there were times, that
the substrate temperature within my Crabitat was actually
much higher than what the wall thermometer read. I had
found that the substrate temperature was in reality 80 to
80+ degrees Fahrenheit when I took the temperature
where my UTH, (under tank heater), was located. I began
to take the substrate temperature as frequently as I read
the inside wall thermometer for this reason. Frequently, I
had found there to be a discrepancy between the two temperature readings. The wall thermometer reading and the
actual substrate temperature would vary as much as 5-10
degrees, and sometimes more. During the colder months,
the thermometer on the tank wall usually read much lower
than what the substrate temperature was.
During the warmer months, the substrate temperature was
usually cooler than what the wall thermometer reading
was. It seemed as I was continuously taking the temperature of my substrate and needing to plug or unplug the
UTH on our tanks according to what the reading of the
thermometer was. For this reason, I invested in Electronic
Temperature Controllers that had a probe that went into
the substrate of my Crabitat. I set the temperature of the
Controller to 78 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain a steady
stable temperature within my Crabitats. I would like to
take this opportunity to suggest to every crabber that
along with monitoring the temperature of the air of their
Crabitat, to please also monitor the temperature of their
substrate, especially where their UTH is located. Substrate
temperature is just as relevant as the air temperature
within ones Crabitat, especially if one has a hermit crab
burrow into it, which they have been known to do
Visit Jedi_sena’s blog chronicling her
food trials: http://hermitcrabfoodtrials.blogspot.com/
Jedi_sena is a regular contributor to The Crab
Street Journal newsletter.
Meet Crabbie Cove
By Angela (CtryLuv)
Hi! My name is Angela and I am a single mother with 3 children. 1 of the kids, my oldest and only son has married, had a baby (making me a grandma) and joined the US Army. My other two daughters still live at home with
me. There is Jessica who just turned 18 and Christina who is 14. We have many type pets, including 1 dog, 1 cat, 1
ferret, and my crabbies.
I have been crabbing for about 3 years now. I got started in crabbing when my youngest daughter called from cheerleading camp in Florida to see if she could buy a hermit crab. I told her yes as it sounded like an easy pet to take
care of. Once she got home with it, I started doing research and found out just how wrong the setup was that Hermie
was in. The next day we went out and bought a 10 gallon aquarium, screen lid, lots of decorations and climbing
toys, food and water dishes, humidity and temp gauges, sand, a hidey hut and 1 buddy. We got home and got their
new home set up, putting damp towels over their screen lid to keep in the humidity. Since that time I have moved
up from a 10 gallon, to a 20 gallon long, to a 55 gallon, and finally to a 75 gallon tank. I now have 3 separate 10
gallon tanks. One is an ISO tank for the hermies, 1 is for my Fiddler crabs, and 1 I gave to my daughters so that
they could buy some goldfish. The 75 gallon is the main tank, with the 20 gallon long being the equadorian tank.
Right now I have I believe 13 in the main tank, and 11 in the 20 gallon giving me a total of 24 hermies.
Back in Jan, I had to move to MN, and got caught in a blizzard, and we had no way to move the tanks into the hotel
room with us. I parked the van between two running semis hoping to shield it from the wind and provide a little
warmth but I still lost quite a few of my crabbies :( Right now I am in the process of replacing them. The fiddlers
faired the best with no losses, the Es 2nd best with only one loss, but the main tank with the PPs and the ruggies, I
lost all of my ruggies, and all but 4 of my PPs.
As far as their home, I make sure that they have an adequate diet with everything needed for growing hermies, they
have both fresh and sea salt water ( dechlorinated of course) and plenty of places to play and to hide, along with
more than enough shells for even the pickiest of hermies. After I have replaced all of my hermies, and have the species I am happy with, I will be starting a new tank, preferably with sand crabs, and if I cannot find them, red claw
crabs.
Continued from page 4
I started my website as a hobby, just something to do, and it has grown
more than I ever imagined. On it you can find just about anything you
need on the care of hermit crabs. It covers basic care, the crabitat, their
diet, molting, illnesses, and just on and on and on. There is also a page
available for the care of Fiddler crabs, moon crabs, and red claw crabs.
If I am able to find sand crabs it will also be updated to include a page
on the care of sand crabs. I was lucky enough to be accepted into the
Sister Sites Coalition at the Crab Street Journal, and couldn’t be
prouder. If you have the time, please take the time to check out the
website. I think you will be
pleased :)
Angela’s
crabitat and a
few of her
crabby kids
Virtues of Live Moss in the Crabitat
By Michelle Stephens
One of the most underutilized crabitat items today is natural moss. Often a pet store employee will send a new crab
owner home with a water dish and a sponge and never once mention the possibility of using moss, even though they
could milk that person for another eight dollars for the Fluker’s terrarium moss!
Moss is one of the cheapest and most versatile item you could get for your crabitat. On top of that, it’s easy to find
and can be stored almost indefinitely.
USES
Here’s a list of just some of the things that you can
use moss for. If you have new ideas I haven’t
thought of, please post them in the comments and
I’ll add them to this post.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Use moss instead of a sponge to keep the humidity stable, remist when dry, no need for
daily sterilization.
Use moss to place your shells on to keep the
substrate from filling up your shells
Mix moss into your substrate to create a diverse ground cover that helps retain moisture
and adds structural integrity to tunnel digging
Create a “moss pit” on a hammock or in a container, it will be a favorite hang out for your
crabs.
Drape moss over driftwood, and around the
bases of artificial plants to create an authentic look
As it decays, crabbies will use it for a snack,
they love digging in it
Visit Michelle’s website:
http://naturallycrabby.com for more articles
and her homemade natural foods.
Michelle is the originator of hemp nets for
the crabitat. Order one from her today!
Continued from page 5
PURCHASING
There are several places that you can get your moss.
Pet stores almost always carry moss. The most common kind of moss that you can find there is Fluker’s
Terrarium Moss. However, you aren’t limited to pet
centered products. You can find moss at your local
hobby store or the hobby section of your local Walmart. You can collect it from the wild, you can even
purchase live moss for them to enjoy.
However, as you get ready to purchase moss there are some things you need to keep in mind. Avoid dyed moss. Dyed
moss is easy to detect because it is an unnatural green color. It often smells a bit like paint (when in doubt I often
make a small hole in the bag at the store and take a sniff, although this WILL get you strange looks). It may also have
a warning on the bag that the moss is not for human or animal consumption.
The variety of moss is also important. I have had good luck with terrarium moss, Hiawatha moss and sheet moss. I’ve
never found reindeer moss that was not dyed and
spanish moss is treated with harmful pesticides.
I’ve purchased live moss off of the internet and it is
great as a special treat but can be costly and hard to
find. It does not live more than a few weeks although
the crabs will eat it alive and after it dies.
If you are interested in collecting your own moss you
must be very careful where it comes from. Parks and
recreation areas routinely spray fertilizers and pesticides. Collect from your own yard or someone else’s
property with permission. Then prepare as instructed
below.
PREPARATION
Grab a quart size or larger glass bowl. Place a large handful of moss into the bowl and then fill halfway with prepared
salt water. (The kind you give your hermit crabs to drink.) Push down top moss until it’s all wet. Microwave for one
minute. This will kill any seeds or bugs or eggs that have been hitchhiking on your moss. Take the moss out of the
microwave and let cool. Gently squeeze off the excess water and place in your crabitat wherever you want it! Once it
turns from green to brown, remove (check for hiding crabs) and then replace.
In your natural crabitat moss can be a powerful and versatile (and inexpensive) element in creating a healthy and diverse environment for your crabs to explore. Do you have other ways to use moss? Let me know! I’m always looking
for new ways to improve MY setup as well.
May 2007 Winner: emoliver
Dimensions of Crabitat: 48in wide x 12.5in deep x
21in tall
Volume of Crabitat: 55 gallon
Description of Substrate: Sand
Description of Tank Items: large cholla branch, two
hemp nets, lots of plants, two reptile hammocks, two
coconut huts, large salt water pool, half log, sand cave,
feeder shells and water dish, hiding house and shells
as well as UTH on back side and humidity and temp
gauges inside.
Check out the awesome prize package donated by
Jedi_sena for the June Crabitat of the Month contest:
Visit www.crabstreetjournal.com to enter today!
May 2007 Winner: Epitome_Scalare
Did you know?
A study of intersexuality in land hermit crabs found that 2 out of 100
male C. Rugosus displayed both sex
organs, male and female.
Observation of intersexuality in land hermit crabs
(Anomura: Coenobitidae)
Oleg Gusev and yaroslave Zabotin
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Kazan State University
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