After a year of having a hermit crab I decided to change its sand just for freshness. I purchased this sand and made it deep enough for my hermit crab to burry. I immediately could tell something was NOT right. It was desperately trying to get out of its tank and would only sit on his stick (out of the sand). I watched him, after a while of trying to escape, get on his stick and immediately wipe off all of the sand on his legs, which I had never seen him do before. He spent many days on the stick not getting down or eating. I thought he just wasn’t used to the sand so I gave him a few weeks to get adjusted. Nothing changed and he never moved. I was afraid he would die so I bought just regular play sand and mixed in coconut fiber and changed the tank sand. I could tell IMMEDIATELY he was much happier. He wasnt trying to escape and he was moving about his tank normally and eating again. There were some old shells I took out of the tank when I changed it and a few days later this sand that was on them was like concrete!!! I can tell now why he didn’t like it! I did not mix anything into this sand! This is horrible for hermit crabs and I can’t believe it is being sold for them.

Absolutely do not use this sand for hermit crabs! It will suffocate your hermit crabs. It (along with another brand of calcium sand) killed one of mine and now my other one is displaying the same symptoms. I've since replaced the substrate with Quickcrete Play Sand and Coco Fiber, fingers crossed she can make a recovery. If you want your hermit crabs to live, do not buy any type of Calcium sand!!!

I've been using this for years with our hermit crabs. I think they like it; I see their little tracks all over the sand. They also burrow in it too.

This sand is safe your hermit crabs. However, please do NOT purchase the pretty, colorful calcium sand. The calcium sand, when wet, can get inside of your crabs shell and basically turn to cement. A cheaper alternative to the Hermit Beach sand is to buy the Eco Earth substrate from here, and go to any big box hardware store and buy play sand. Mix 5 cups of play sand to 1 cup of Eco Earth until its at a minimum of 6in deep in your tank. You're welcome!!!

I have 3 Hermit Crabs and they love their new sand. They immediately started digging and making themselves a home.

Love the sand looks great ! The crabs love walking in it .

In response to smartshopper2, that is a lie... chewy is the exact same price. I do wish this came in bigger bags. I have a 29 gallon long terrarium and it took 10 bags, plus some forest floor mulch mixed in to get about 6 inches of depth, which is required for them to properly molt. The forest floor mulch mixed in, made a huge difference in holding humidity better.

Can buy right now from chewy for under $3. I find petco to be a bit pricey. My hermit crabs seem to enjoy this sand. It’s moist when you purchase it which is nice to help with humidity. Truly doesn’t stick to crab as much as calcium sand.