The tank used to be sand on one side and coconut fiber substrate on the other, but I just replaced it with about a 50/50 mixture of the two. It is about 1 1/2 inch deep in a 10 gallon tank. It is also damp and fluffy so I imagine it would be comfortable for a crab to dig down into and molt. I have this heating mat directly under it, and it has worked well to keep the tank warm without overheating. It is at 81° F and 81% humidity right now.

I have one crab and I mostly feed it this, or sometimes scrambled eggs or whatever fruits and vegetables I have in my kitchen. I fed him boiled carrots and peach mash today. The illness he had before could very well be from a lack of nutrition, so I will start feeding him more fresh foods more often, rather than relying on the hermit crab meal as a food staple.

Luckily there were no mites when I cleaned the tank out yesterday. Thank you for the link, the little white bugs I saw must have been some sort of food mite larvae. I will refer to that if I ever have a problem with them again. I successfully terminated them when I lost my other crabs (to who knows what, if the mites are harmless) and have not seen any in the crabitat in over a year. I'm glad that's something I don't have to worry about now.

Again, thanks for the help! I will update my main post with pictures.

I know the pet store is garbage, I didn't listen to a single thing they said. I do not use calcium sand. I got my sand from a beach in Florida, then boiled and baked it.

I usually don't use the heating pad at all in the summer so that isn't the problem. I turned it on after it lost the legs. It is off now, I will put it on the side of the tank instead so that won't be a problem next time it molts.

I would never feed my crab pellet food. The pet store gave me a bag when I purchased the crab and I immediately threw it in the trash. Like I said before, I feed it this. Again, I have one crab. I do not have to worry about cannibalism. If you have such a problem with what I'm feeding my crab I will feed it something else. I have plenty of roses so I'll try feeding it them. I have rabbits, but I am not going to throw a pile of animal feces into my brand new tank in my bedroom, mind you.

I do have a fairly deep bowl for freshwater and real saltwater. I live in the middle of the woods and get my water from a well, so what I get from the tap is very good quality water not treated with any chemicals. Unfortunately my crab came in a trashy painted shell when I purchased it. It just changed into a shell I found in Florida but I don't want to take it's old shell away from it, just in case it changes it's mind. I'll just hope it stays in the new one.

Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate your concerns. It sounds like you take very good care of your hermit crabs. I will be sure to check out the website!