Hermit Crab Help Please!?

The sex of the crabs won't matter. Not only will they not reproduce but most people are unable to sex crabs accurately anyway.

As for what you'll need:

--Extra shells that are about the same size and larger. NOT painted. The paint is toxic to the crabs. It flakes off and they will eat it. As soon as a crab moves out of their painted shell, get rid of it.

--2 water bowls. One of fresh water and one of salt water. Make sure they aren't too deep or else the crabs will drown. You can place smaller shells in deeper water dishes so they have something to grab on to. Water needs to be de-chlorinated and you will need marine salt.

--Food dish

--Sand that covers the bottom of the tank by at least a few inches. The sand needs to be kept moist which will make it easier for them to burrow as well as keep the humidity up. Many people like to mix some sort of substrate in with the sand like coconut fiber.

--A temperature gauge and a humidity gauge. Both the temp and the humidity in the cage need to be kept at around 80 degrees at all time.

--Heaters. I have a large terrarium so I have a few under-tank heaters to keep the sand warm as well as a heat lamp that sits on top.

--Items for them to climb on. Driftwood, synthetic vines, etc. are good choices.

Those are just the basics. There are several web sites that can give you more information. Just Google "hermit crabs".

Boys, Girls, mix, it doesn't matter they don't reproduce in captivity.

It is recommended you have an under tank heater.

2 water bowls one for salt and one for fresh

Diet varies the store bought stuff is CRAP...But can sustain them for awhile.

Please don't buy painted shells or paint the shells.Non toxic means non toxic to humans The crabs can and will die if they ingest the paint chips.

Best substrate for them varies from owner to owner I use baked play sand and coconut fiber as you need to keep it humid in their tank.

It's important they have a way to bury themselves completely so they can molt, if they can't molt they will die within a year give or take a few months.

That is if you want them to live any amount of time.

They can live 30+ years if taken proper care of...Not just 6 months like most pet chains will tell you.

They love to climb hemp nets, and cork logs are great.

The links below should help you greatly.

I have six that are all over a year and two that are close to seven.

Kimberly summed up a lot of it.

I would add that you should have your under tank heater attached to the side of the tank instead of under it, because hermies need deeper substrate than reptiles, so it can trap the heat down in the sand. Just be sure to get one rated to heat a tank 3 times your size since side mounting is less effective. And their water (both fresh and salt) needs to be free of chlrorine and heavy metals, so you'll want to invest in a good decholinator for the water.

Also, make sure your substrate (sand or eco earth) is at least twice as deep as your largest crab and wetted down to sand castle consistency. Be sure they get a good variety in their diet and don't put sponges in their water dish. Sponges breed harmful bacteria and serve no purpose to the crabs since crabs don't drink from them (that's a myth) and they are usually too small to affect the humidity much.

Come check out landhermitcrabs.com or hermit-crab.com for a full guide to caring for hermit crabs, including lists of hermie-safe food and tips on how to cut costs when setting up a proper crabitat.

It doesn't matter if you get a boy and girl, they wouldn't be able to reproduce.

I'd say the small rocks sold at stores are best.

They do not need a heater or anything. They will need a wet sponge and food, not much else.

They will need a shallow bowl of water for bathing, not too deep so they don't drown, but not to shallow.

They enjoy things they can easily climb around on. Nettings and such. Huts they can hide under.

Only paint shells that a crab does not inhabit. You'll have to wait for it to molt and put the new shell on as well.

Well i dont think you can tell the difference between gurl and boy crabs so yeah. In my crab encloser i have:

a heat mat

1/2 sand

1/2 gravel

Extra shells

2 crabs

Water bowl

Food bowl

Piece of drift wood

1/2 coconut shell

Hope that helped :p

Sounds like u got all ur bases covered with other people responses, but they do best with watter with natural sponges, they have a tendency to tip water bowls

heres a cool name ViVia it means live long in French don't you want your hermit crabs to live long and strong? well your choice :P