The crabarium is pretty important, as its where you keep your hermits. Buying crabs is the easy part, maintaining that health is the hard part.
First things first you need to buy the tank and have it setup before you buy the crabs. Its totally up to you as to what size a tank you buy but if your expecting alot of activity then you should think of buying a 10 gallon tank that will offer the crabs space to entertain themselves and you...
Lots of tanks and cages are available, so what to choose. I find there is nothing that really compares with the glass tank designed for fish keeping. It keeps a good humidity level and its easy to clean and often, when decorated correctly, pleasant to look at. You could choose a plastic critter keeper which is OK but they dont really offer an awful lot of room for crabs, toys and bowls etc.
The other option is the wire cage designed for the likes of hamsters. I wouldnt advise these unless you are in a particular place that has a high natural humditity all the time..like florida. Wire cages are near to useless at keeping any sort of humidity. They do however provide ample climbing opportunity.
Now you need to decide on a substrate or lining of the tank. Once again you have a number of options.
1, Sand: Good for digging. Nice and natural. Looks nice. Gets every where. Hard to wash/clean and might get expensive replacing it all the time.
2, Gravel: Needs to be fine grain. Can sometimes scratch the crabs. Looks well(can be purchased in an array of pretty colours)A bit hard to clean and wash and might get expensive when it comes to replacing.
3, Bark/Woodchips: Looks ok. Extremely drying on crabs(can be fatal) Cheap. Can be messy. Needs changed ALOT as the woodchips get rotten and stanky very easily and quickly.
4, Calci-Sand: Looks nice. Contains good amount of calcium for crabs that they need. Rather expensive.
So it would seem the choice really is sand(playsand) gravel or calci-sand. Id just leave out the woodchips all together. They are nothing but trouble. I personally use playsand but its totally up to you what you use. Also avoid copying what some do and use newspaper...this is asking for trouble. Inks and everything run in the humidity.
Now the tank is lined you have to strat thinking about what is going to fill it. Think of the basics first and what you will NEED to go in the tank then you can start filling in with the 'Optionals' You need to have a food and water dish. You can use clam shells upturned as good food and water containers. Make sure that the water you offer your crabs is de-chlorinated. See the 'Water' page for more info. You will also need some sort of stimulus in the form of climbing toys. This can be anything from choya wood which is very inexpensive, to coral which can cost quite a bit depending. Bendy branches.. ornaments...whatever tickles your fancy just make sure that anything you put in the tank has been sterilized and it cant harm the crabs(ie/ nothing that is not aquarium proved:sometimes ornaments leak dies etc..)
Its a good idea to buy a small inexpensive strip thermometer and humidity gauge too for the tank. This will help you regulate humidity.
Thats it your done and your ready to purchase some quality crabs that are deserving of the wonderful home youve made them!
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