I know you guys will cringe with where they are staying, but I am babysitting some hermit crabs for our neighbors while they are away.

They are in a pretty small container, a large Kritter Keeper (5 gallons maybe?), sand in the bottom, a food dish, a water dish with a sponge, a stick top climb on, a hut to hide in and extra shells to change into. They are pretty small and have lived in this habitat for over a year.

I know these are not ideal conditions, but just wondering if there is anything I could do to help them out while they are in my possession. If I had money I would buy them a larger tank...but anything else?

Well, they need warmth and humidity, that much I know. I'd spritz their "tank" with some misty water a couple times a day, and if they don't have a heater, at least keep them somehwere warm.

Cool, I put them in the bathroom and left the heater lamp on for awhile during the day, and they will be in there for showers. I will spritz them a bit too. :-)

Make sure you spritz the tank sides and sand with warm water!

Are they feeding them those nasty crab pellets? If so, try feeding them fresh veggies and maybe some plain chicken. I don't really know too much else. I'm sure jsrtist or other hermit owners will be here soon.

feed them carrots. i use to have some hermits and they loved carrots.

They are eating some kind of commercial crab food "Crab Island Fruit & Flower Crab Food" that seems to be mostly made of corn and oats, and have something called crab cookies in there too (but I don;t have the package), another commercial food. :-(

I had hermies as a child, and I always fed them fruits and veggies-I don't even know if they HAD commercial crab food back then.

They are also in those painted shells, I know Jen or someone said those were bad for them. They have two larger shells in there to moveinto, and they are not the painted kind, so hopefully they will move into them soon.

They seem ok, fairly active and like I said they have had them for a year or two, but i just wanted to treat them very well while I could! I think all they do is feed them, make sure there is water, change the sand and bathe them -which I understand is not necessary(>). I will try some carrots and/or chicken bits. Thanks! :-)

You're such a good person to animals Jen, I really admire that. Whether they're your pets, some one elses pets, or a grasshopper with a missing leg, you're always so kind to them

Right back at you Kissy!

I agree, you have HUGE heart my dear!!! I don't know if this is a wise one, but when I was a kid my parents had hermies and they'd give them apples with a bit of peanut butter as a treat. They seemed to really like it. Course, that was like 20 years ago.

Apples and peanut butter are good.
You can vary their diet, giving different things daily. They like salty things, like crackers and pretzels. I've fed various fruits, vegetables, parmesian cheese, oatmeal, they seem to really like coconut.

So sorry I got to this so late! Any fresh fruit or veggie is the best for them. Those commercial diets are terrible as they are unhealthy and contain harmful chemicals. The crabs dont like them anyway.

The favorite foods in my crabitat are apples, oats, nuts, carrots, lettuce and grapes (they especially love the grape stems, too!).

As a side note, any water used in the tank needs to be dechlorinated. And you are right, bathing is not necessary NOR recommended.

Thanks everyone, they went home yesterday and did get to eat some good foods while they were here. I made a few suggestions to their owners, so we'll see what happens. :-)

How'd I miss all of this????? You did good Jen.