Article reprinted here with exclusive permission to Marie (ladybug15057) for use on the Crab Street Journal and, by author's stipulations, may not be reprinted elsewhere. You are always welcome to link to this article.

There is a newer product on the market called Crayola play sand. It comes in 4 vibrant colors pink, purple, green and blue which means some form of coloring additive is used. From past research I have done, I had learned that just because it is FDA, OHSA, EPA, etc. approved or within their standards, or considered safe for children does this necessarily mean it is safe for one to put within the crabitat where our hermit crabs live their whole lives while living in captivity with us.

Compilation of information by Vanessa Pike-Russell and Stacy Griffith

To keep your hermit crabs healthy and happy their environment should be kept in optimum temperature and humidity levels. If you are not able to keep the environment stable then your crabs will weaken and become stressed which will lead to death.

Whether your hermit crabs like to be handled a lot will depend on the nature of the crab's personality, previous experience with handling and whether it trusts you or not. Whenever handling hermies you should make sure your hands are cleaned before and after interaction, both to prevent the chemicals, oils and perfumes to transfer from you to the hermit crabs, and the potential transfer of contaminated shell water (gunky with foodstuff, wastes etc). We always wash our hands after interactions with dogs, cats, rats, rabbits etc so it is only common sense to do the same with hermit crab

by Vanessa Pike-Russell

There are many things you can do when playing with your crab. Why not set up an obstacle course of driftwood, rocks or plastic tubing? Hermit crabs just love to climb and exhibit their acrobatic skills. In the wild some hermit crabs live in trees, so it is a good idea to have something for them to climb on!

At times, crabbers become concerned due to certain actions their hermit crabs are beginning to display. Often, they are concerned that the hermit crab is ill, or has another form of complication happening that needs attention. Where, as on occasions, the symptoms they are observing may be due to a stressful situation, whether it be from their past or current living conditions, there are many times that the hermit crab is displaying premolt symptoms. If one knows that he/she has provided the hermit crab with the essentials it needs to thrive (proper humidity level, proper temperature, proper diet, bacteria/mold and a pest-free environment, etc.), what you are beginning to observe may very well be premolt symptoms that the hermit crab is displaying. With the numerous molts we have had, I would like to share some of the premolt symptoms I have observed with our hermit crabs and hope it can be of some help to ease other crabbers’ concerns.