Does he need a tankmate too? He seems to love being played with or being let explore around my table or bed so I thought he might not really require another hermit crab. Thanks! (Part 2)
Hello! First I'm going to set you up with set you up with some links. I have a shopping list here and a basic guide here. I also have a more indepth guide here, but I would recommend you mastering the first guide before moving to the more in depth guide as hermit crabs can have a bit of a learning curve and it is easy to get discouraged and hard to take in all the information.Â
A 29g tank is a GREAT size to start out. You mentioned 6 inches of coco bedding, but what you really need is 6 inches of a 5:1 ratio(1 50lb bag to 1/2 brick of eco earth) of playground sand to eco earth/coco bedding. Unbleached playground sand can be found in hardware stores in 50lb bags and is very cheap (~$5). Using all coco bedding increases the acidity to unsafe levels, it decomposes and will have to replaced while the 5:1 ratio will not. I've heard of several molting issues with an all eco earth substrate occurring as well. With the pools, make sure they are deep enough for the crab to fully submerge.
You also need to make sure the heat is between 80-85 F and humidity is atleast at 80% (over is okay for the crab, but may present molding issues). Â These are important because the crab is cold blooded and has modified gills and needs a certain moisture level in the air to breathe properly.
He defiantly needs a friend. Hermit crabs need social interaction with other hermit crabs and can die from lack of social interaction. For a 29 gallon you could fit 3 hermit crabs comfortable for a long while. Â Personally, I do not recommend handling/playing with a hermit crab. Some crabbers do, but most of the long time crabbers generally regard against it. All hermit crabs are wild caught (they are extremely difficult and costly to breed in captivity) and view us as possible predators. Plus they cannot breathe properly when they are taken from their crabitat. Many believe handling is stressful to hermit crabs and hermit crabs are very sensitive to stress. If you choice to handle your crab I would suggest to at least wait till your crab molts with you. Many 'new' crabs can develop pps (post purchase syndrome) and need to be left alone for a while to recover.Â
If you have any more questions feel free to ask. I'd also like to plug in a link to the hermit crab association. This is a website filled with crabbers who can help you and they have many forum guides available for stuff like safe foods, shells, etc. It is a plethora of information .Â
Thank you for trying to improve the quality of care for your hermit crab!