Crushed Coral Sand in the Hermit Crab Crabitat
On March 29th I went on a shopping trip with Vicki and Mary from the Hermit Crab Association board. We met Mary out in her neck of the woods, hit some stores and then went to her home to meet her crabs and check out her crabitats. She uses crushed coral sand in her tank and it’s beautiful. I had already been reading about this “expensive” alternative to play sand on the Land Hermit Crabs board; some of the members were discussing play sand getting wet and too heavy. This was causing problems for post-molters tunneling back up to the surface when they complete their molt. I really liked the crushed coral in Mary’s tanks; while her humidity ranged from 75-80% in all of her tanks, the sand was not wet. She has been using the coral for a couple of years and hasn’t had problems with molters.
So I bought a bag of crushed coral, went home and cleaned out the tank. I found my tiny straw buried in the sand; she seemed trapped with no tunnels around her so I was very thankful that I cleaned the tank out.
My humidity in the tank is still between 78-80% and the coral is dry. The crabs really seem to love it, they’re all very active. It’s also beautiful, but you do REALLY notice the crab poops! Here you can see the coral and a couple of cute ruggies.
While I was out and about with the girls I also found a small turtle dock that I’m now using as a second level in the tank. I’m using moss for the first time in the tank and the crabs love it! Of course that’s also making a mess on the white sand, but who cares, they enjoy it!
