Almost Everything You Need to Know About Hermit Crab CareKept properly, the land hermit crab can live for 20+ years in captivity but will live only a few months if certain care requirements are ignored. There is a lot of inaccurate information about hermit crabs, and it doesn't help that they are widely sold as a temporary, easy pet. The majority of pet stores do not provide hermit crabs with proper care, and this is likely the main reason they are widely believed to live a short time. However, if the proper care is taken, this animal can live to its full potential, and be a wonderful, long-term pet that you can enjoy for years to come.
The basic requirements for crab health include: 1. Deep molting medium (at least 3x your crab’s height) 2. Warmth (75-85 degrees Fahrenheit) 3. A dish of fresh water and a dish of salt water 4. Many clean, solid shells that are slightly larger than your crabs’ shells (at least 3 per crab) 5. Moisture (50-90% humidity) 6. Fresh food and a calcium source |
Substrate
Give your crab at least 3x its height in sand, coconut fiber, or a mix of these two to molt and burry in. Deep substrate is important, because without a proper place to molt the weakened crab can be killed by the other crabs, or die from the difficult process of molting. I make a sand, coconut fiber, and crushed coral substrate mixture for my crabs. I prefer Play Sand found at hardware stores over pet store sands found in the reptile section. Always wash play sand first though, as it can contain stuff you don’t want in your crab’s home. Coconut fiber is least expensive at Petco or from www.drsfostersmith.com. I buy the expandable block form, which is cheaper than the loose kind, for a lot more of it. Coconut fiber is helpful as it breaks down wastes in your crab’s tank and when added to sand, can make a mixture which lasts for more than six months, while sand alone may need to be replaced every two months. Crushed oyster shell, found cheaply at feed stores, can be mixed into the crab’s substrate for a good source of calcium.
To keep the cage cleaner for longer, I add common pill bugs (Armadillidium vulgare) to the hermit crabs’ cage. These helpful cage janitors eat food scraps and hermit waste. Many times these little crustaceans can be found in a backyard under rocks or in moist areas, but they can also be ordered online. |
WaterHermit Crabs need water to drink and to fill their snail shell homes with. By providing them with fresh water and salt water, they can choose what they need to refill their shells.
What you will need: Keep a dish of fresh, de-chlorinated water in the tank at all times. As most tap water contains toxic chlorine you will need a plan to remove this from the water. Stress Coat, a product found in the fish department of pet stores, can be used to rid tap water of chlorine. Another option is to purchase reverse osmosis water or distilled water. A dish of marine water is also vital to crab health. Instant Ocean, a synthetic salt mix, is an easy product to create salt water. This can also be found in the fish section of your local pet store. To provide an easy way for your crabs to enter and exit the water dishes you can use a natural sponge. This helpful ‘crab ramp’ also has nutritional qualities beneficial for your crab. Look at Home Depot for the largest, cheapest sponge choice. The sponge can be cut up in pieces to use a piece at a time to last longer. |
ShellsHermit crabs wear the discarded shells of sea mollusks. Since they must replace these as they grow,keeping a quantity of shells in a variety of sizes are very important. Give each crab at least 3 shells slightly larger than the crab's current shell. When looking for shells check for holes, cracks and dents. Hermit crabs will not feel safe in a damaged shell. It is best to avoid painted shells as well since these can cause a variety of problems for the crab. Keeping a good stock of shells allows them to move into ‘larger clothes’ as they need to. Good places to get shells are coastal tourist shops, craft stores, and the web store www.hermitcrabpatch.com.
Glass Hermit Crab Shells Can Be Purchased at
http://www.glassshell.com |
MoistureKeep your crab’s cage very humid. Hermit crabs breathe through gills so the crab needs moist air in order to survive. There are many methods to keep a tank moist. You could simply mist the tank with a spray bottle or could have a bubbler in the crab’s water area; other methods could include setting up a fogging or misting system in the cage. If you decide to go with a spray bottle the best places I have found to buy these are Home Depot and Wal-Mart.
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FeedingHermit crabs are scavengers in the wild. They eat many different types of food including seeds, nuts, flowers, decaying matter, algae, fruit, leaves, eggs, and the remains of dead animal life. In captivity it is good to give them variety. Feed unprocessed, fresh foods avoiding preservatives and exposure to soaps or household cleaners. Good foods include but are not limited to: leafy greens, seeds, nuts or all natural nut butters, raw honey, kelp, spirolina algae, cooked meats, fruit such as banana, mango and coconut, cheeses such as feta and parmesan, veggies such as cooked sweet potato, whole grains such as ground corn (you could use all natural tortilla chips), sprouted chia seeds, and whole grain crackers. You can also feed foods like frozen fish food (such as adult brine shrimp), freeze dried insects for feeding pet reptiles, washed pansy flowers, washed brown oak leaves (collect from an area free of pesticides, try freshly fallen ones), or you could even try feeding worm castings. A commercial hermit crab diet such as Jurassi Diet is a helpful thing to have on hand. Feed five hermit crabs about a tablespoon of food each feeding as hermit crabs eat very small amounts. Be sure a source of calcium such as cuttlebone or crushed oyster shell is always in the crabs’ home, as they need calcium to grow strong exoskeletons.
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Cage SizeHermit crabs are social animals, and need social interaction to stay healthy. However, without enough ‘personal space’ hermit crabs will become aggressive, and even cannibalistic. So plan ahead on how many crabs you want to keep, and get a cage to match. Usually a good rule is a crab per five gallons, and maybe a few more if the crabs are small ones. It is important to remember that hermit crabs never stop growing, and will get to be larger than a baseball in their adulthood. For this reason, it is much more cost effective to get them a large cage from the start, because they will quickly outgrow smaller setups.
My different setups below and to right. |
New Pet Hermit CrabsHermit crabs are collected from the wild and there are yet no captive breeding programs because of their difficulty to breed. For this reason you must be very careful when choosing a pet hermit crab. It is easy to bring home a sickly crab because they have been through a lot of stress getting to the pet store and usually have to cope with living in poor conditions when they arrive. One way to avoid the possibility of unhealthy crabs is to purchase your crabs from www.hermitcrabpatch.com. This is the best place I have discovered for buying pet crabs as these hermit crabs have already had a successful molt in captivity and are very tame by the time they are sold. However it is costly to have these crabs shipped.
Due to the lesser price tag pet store hermits may be more tempting for you. The most common problem in pet store environments is the lack of deep soil, causing the crabs to try to molt without having the protection of a burrow, which usually results in their death. Sickly hermit crabs will not live very long, even if given a better place to live, so it is best to avoid unhealthy crabs. The best method I have found for choosing a healthy crab is to have a pet store associate pick up all the ornaments in the tank. Most of the crabs are usually hidden underneath these, and they will either scuttle away to find a new place to hide, or stay in their shells and not react. The healthiest crabs are usually the ones that move first, and scuttle the fastest. If you do decide to buy a crab, have the pet store worker put a damp paper towel in the carrier they supply, or bring you own travel carrier. With some extra moisture, the crab’s ride home will be cozier. Caring for the New Arrival: When you get your new crab home it is a good idea to give it a salt bath to make sure it is clean and has no mites on its exoskeleton. If you already have crabs and are getting another, give the new crab an additional bath with all your other crabs (except ones that are molting) so that all your crabs smell the same. This keeps the old crabs from picking on the newbie due to his different smell. Do not leave a hermit crab in a bath too long as they can drown. Five minutes is the maximum amount of time to leave a crab in the bath water and be sure to keep an eye on them while they are underwater. You will know they have been under way too long if they begin to slow down and look lethargic. Usually a healthy hermit will crawl about excitedly when submerged. |
Handling Your Hermit CrabIt is important to know how to properly handle pet hermit crabs. Hermit crabs can give a painful pinch and larger crabs can cause serious damage. Not only do you need to be careful for your own safety when handling your crab, you must be aware of you crab’s safety as well. Despite their appearance, hermit crabs are delicate.
The best way to hold a hermit crab is to grasp the crab’s shell so that the crab cannot reach you with its claws. Hold them high up on the shell (see below left). This method keeps the crab from being able to reach over and grab you. It is best to handle your crabs above a soft surface so that if one is dropped accidentally it is not harmed in the fall. It is preferable to let your pet hermit crabs crawl around in an enclosed area while you handle them in order to prevent escape. Pick up a crab that has become attached to a surface very carefully. One of your hermits is bound to attach itself to something and hold on. The best thing to do is to allow the crab to crawl off the object before picking him up, but if this doesn't work, gently unhook his walking legs from the object. This could become impossible to do if the hermit crab locks on with its claws, so as a last resort the hermit crab can be submersed under water. Only do this in an emergency. |
Sexing Pet Hermit CrabsFemale hermit crabs have noticeable circular 'holes' on their third leg segments called gonopores. Males lack these. Females also have long appendages that hang off their abdomens called pleopods. These are used to carry eggs when the hermit is 'pregnant'.
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Breeding Hermit CrabsHermit crabs are extremely difficult to breed. Only a lucky few have successfully done it. The reason? Hermit crabs go through a larval stage where they drift as plankton in the ocean. Thus, to breed them, you not only need to keep the adults in near perfect 'breeding optimal' conditions, you will have to set up a marine water tank to raise the larvae in. Currently, I have a ten gallon marine aquarium, complete with live rock and sponge filter, set up in my hermit crab cage in hopes of 'getting the point' to my hermit crabs.
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Decorating a Hermit Crab CageHermit crabs enjoy climbing, burrowing, and hiding. In their natural environment many hermit crab species live in trees, travel miles with other crabs, and make deep burrows. With this in mind, creating an entertaining hermit home includes lots of climbing and hiding opportunities.
Twisty vines made for reptiles are fun to use as well as driftwood, aquarium decorations, decorative fish netting, and silk plants. I have homemade climbing sticks made out of thin PVC pipes with hemp rope twisted around them. Hermit crabs love having a background that can be climbed and there are numerous options for creating one. Anything from the simple coconut fiber mat to a naturalistic background made from spray foam and coconut fiber could be used. For a hide, there are many options. Many hermit owners use coconut huts, but there are countless different aquarium decorations and reptile hides to choose from as well; a broken clay pot could even suffice. The main thing with a hermit cage is to make it something that you will enjoy looking at and will be easy for you to maintain. The possibilities are endless! |
Daily Care Checklist:o Mist the cage thoroughly
o Check the crab’s food for mold o Keep an eye on the temperature and humidity in your cage. For example, if your cage is constantly too warm, you may need a lower wattage heat lamp. |
Monthly Care Checklist:o Clean all three dishes with hot tap water (no soap!)
o If you have sponges in the dishes, rinse these too as this will make them last longer (they will smell when they have gone bad). o Rearrange the tank decorations, hides and shells. (This actually excites the crabs and keeps them from becoming lethargic- in the wild they travel, and this fools them into thinking they are in a new place.) o Refill the food dish and the water dishes o Check the cage for any hidden bits of food. Hermit crabs are hoarders and will often hide a tidbit and then forget about it. |
Some Extra Notes on Hermit crabs
Hermit crabs can grow to be rather large. An aged hermit crab can wear a shell the size of large orange!
Specialty glass shells are sold for hermit crabs. At www.glassshell.com, you can purchase your own ‘glass slipper’ for your hermit crab.
Never try to dig up a buried crab. If it is molting, which is most likely, this disturbance might kill your crab.
Hermit crabs can become quite tame- and even hand fed! At www.hermitcrabpatch.com you can purchase a special hermit crab “spoon” for hand feeding.
There are over 35 species of land hermit crabs. Varieties come in red, blue, purple, grey, orange, white and even pink! The most common hermit crab found at pet stores is the Caribbean or “Purple Pincher” hermit crabs, which are widely sold due to their hardy nature. The scientific name for the Caribbean hermit crab is ‘Coenobita clypeatus’, pronounced (seen-óh-bit-a cly-pe-aít-us). I own Caribbean hermit crabs and Ecuadorian hermit crabs. Caribbean hermit crabs have a large, purple claw, ruddy coloring and tubular eyes, while Ecuadorians have triangular eyestalks and a red-orange or gray-brown coloring.
Hermit Crabs are very vocal. Many people are shocked to hear this, but my crabs frequently grunt, chirp and even screech to each other. You know when one crab is crawling over another because the annoyed crab will make a loud Cha-cha-cha-cha-tha-tha-tha noise.
In conclusion, a hermit crab can make a great pet but only with proper care will they live a long, healthy life. Your hermits depend on you, don’t let them down!
Specialty glass shells are sold for hermit crabs. At www.glassshell.com, you can purchase your own ‘glass slipper’ for your hermit crab.
Never try to dig up a buried crab. If it is molting, which is most likely, this disturbance might kill your crab.
Hermit crabs can become quite tame- and even hand fed! At www.hermitcrabpatch.com you can purchase a special hermit crab “spoon” for hand feeding.
There are over 35 species of land hermit crabs. Varieties come in red, blue, purple, grey, orange, white and even pink! The most common hermit crab found at pet stores is the Caribbean or “Purple Pincher” hermit crabs, which are widely sold due to their hardy nature. The scientific name for the Caribbean hermit crab is ‘Coenobita clypeatus’, pronounced (seen-óh-bit-a cly-pe-aít-us). I own Caribbean hermit crabs and Ecuadorian hermit crabs. Caribbean hermit crabs have a large, purple claw, ruddy coloring and tubular eyes, while Ecuadorians have triangular eyestalks and a red-orange or gray-brown coloring.
Hermit Crabs are very vocal. Many people are shocked to hear this, but my crabs frequently grunt, chirp and even screech to each other. You know when one crab is crawling over another because the annoyed crab will make a loud Cha-cha-cha-cha-tha-tha-tha noise.
In conclusion, a hermit crab can make a great pet but only with proper care will they live a long, healthy life. Your hermits depend on you, don’t let them down!
Great Hermit Crab Web Links
· www.hermitcrabpatch.com My personal favorite- this site is chock full of information!
· www.crabstreetjournal.com Forum and more in-depth hermit crab info.
· www.hermit-crabs.com A care info site.
· http://hermitcrabcuisine.com/ This is a site that focuses exclusively on hermit crab feeding
· http://coenobitaspecies.com/ This site is all about identifying different species of hermit crabs
http://alaskahermit.com/ An info site and a neat food shop.
http://www.livehermitcrabs.com/ A place to purchase exotic hermit crabs... I haven't tried out this store yet.
http://www.glassshell.com/Site_3/Home.html Purchase amazing glass shells for hermit crabs here.
· www.crabstreetjournal.com Forum and more in-depth hermit crab info.
· www.hermit-crabs.com A care info site.
· http://hermitcrabcuisine.com/ This is a site that focuses exclusively on hermit crab feeding
· http://coenobitaspecies.com/ This site is all about identifying different species of hermit crabs
http://alaskahermit.com/ An info site and a neat food shop.
http://www.livehermitcrabs.com/ A place to purchase exotic hermit crabs... I haven't tried out this store yet.
http://www.glassshell.com/Site_3/Home.html Purchase amazing glass shells for hermit crabs here.
Some Good books on this subject:
- Hermit Crabs by Sue Fox
- Land Hermit Crabs by Philippe De Vosjoli