QuestionQUESTION: Hello,
I have two Ecuadorian crabs. I have had them for about 2 months and have just been giving them treated water to drink. I just saw online tonight that I am supposed to be giving them salt water. Will it hurt them if they don't get it since they have been doing fine so far without it? Or should I start giving them it. If so, what type of mixture should I use, and will it hurt them going from a change of regular to salt?
Another question, one of my hermits are molting, do you think my other one will get too lonely while the other one is under the sand?
Thanks.
ANSWER: They need to have access to both actually, they should have a bowl of fresh water that's big enough to get in and a salt water one that's big enough to sit in. Equadorian crabs come from an area that is much closer to the ocean than purple pinchers, so they need access to ocean (style) water daily in order to maintain natural chemistry like they were made for. It will hurt them in the long run for them to not have salt water, it may not seem like it at first, but their lifespan will be a lot shorter and they will not be as happy or as comfortable without access to salt water. And no, the other crab knows that the molting crab is still there, they communicate with each other with high frequency noises we can't hear (and some we can hear) and they are still able to "talk" even if the one is molting, he won't be lonely while he's buried.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your answer. It really helped. What type of mixture should I make for the salt water?
AnswerWell I generally use freshwater aquarium salt (which is still salt, it just didn't come form the ocean, but from the salt lakes and salt flats, so is weaker concentration) I generally just mix the salt until it tastes fairly salty to my tongue, and then add a little (half teaspoon or so) more to the cup. There is also marine salt, which you can follow the directions on the package directly. Either way works great.
