Hermit Crab care
 

So I just got a hermit crab today, pretty excited about that! So far, I think he's awesome. He came with a habitat and everything, but the man I bought him from spoke pretty broken engrish so I don't know if I fully understand how to take care of him. I got home and immediately looked up info on crab care.

I'm hoping someone here has experience that can verify this.

So far for my setup, I have the actual tank, filled with a dish with a sea sponge soaking in salt water (home made as I'm near fresh water), with a fresh water filled bottle cap beside that for drinking. I've got some crab food with some calcium scraped into it for eating with a bit of lettuce beside that. He's got a coconut shell to live in and a little palm tree for shade with some rocks to climb on. I think I have that stuff actually down pat.

However, I'm not sure about the specifics. Such as, how often do I feed him? Are painted shells actually safe (if he decides to live in one). I have a lamp pretty close over the top of the tank right now, so will that provide ample heat and humidity with the sponge?

Any other tips I may not have covered would also be great. Thanks a lot everyone!

And here's a picture of him :) http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=xcq681&s=5

I'd stay away from painted shells. If he knocks off any paint flakes, they could get ingested later.

My sons each got one, One lived for two years, the other for like 2 months. I think my younger son stressed it out. The one who lived longer changed shells almost immediately, like 3 days after we got it. I had purchased a bag of decorative shells from Dollar Tree, we washed them and put 3 or 4 in the cage, he picked the one he liked.
We misted them and kept a damp sponge in the water dish.
Keep it away from cool drafts too

The 2 month'er might've just been molting. Hermit crabs crawl out of their shells and burrow in the sand for a long period (or if no sand, they act dead.) Then they emerge and need a bigger shell. Most people trash hermit crabs thinking they're dead but they're only doing their hermit thing.

You know, they make a special shampoo for that.