How to Care for Hermit/Tree Crabs

FAIR WARNING: Hermit crabs are highly addictive pets!!!! We bit the bullet and bought us a couple hermit crab kits for Christmas, and nearly a year later, I've managed to talk two other households into buying them, and my husband and I are currently in collaboration to expand our own Crabby Bottom. They are wonderful pets, easy to care for, and an awesome WOW factor pet for your kids!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Hermit crabs
• A tank
• A heat source
• Spray bottle
• Gravel/Sand/Rock
• Food/Water Dishes
• Extra Shells
• Climbing Apparatus
• Food and Water

1. Okay, hermit crabs have got to be the all time best pets we've ever had. And we've gone the fair standard range of pets. They are ridiculously easy to keep, fun to watch, and make great conversation pieces for your children. I'm definitely on the hermit crab bandwagon!
2. First thing's first: find a hermit crab dealer. Hermit, or Tree Crabs, have become a much more popular pet lately than one might think. Most of your pet stores, if they're worth their salt, will carry a hermit crab tank, with all the necessary start up items. You can also check the local malls, some of the kiosks have started carrying hermit crabs, and my all time favorite store, EarthBound Trading Company, carries them too.
3. When you first get your crabs, you'll have to buy a kit. I do NOT recommend keeping the kit as your permanent home for your crabs. Hermits require much more humidity than the kits can provide, seeing as how their covers are slotted.
   
   If the pet store/hermit crab dealer is worth anything, they'll set up your kit for you, placing the sand and dishes appropriately, along with the crabs, inside the tank. They should give you a basic rundown on care. Here's what I've learned...toss about 50% of what they tell you. They make it sound sooo much more difficult than it really is.
4. After about the first week, I determined the little kit wasn't working out well. For one, my daughter and I both had crabs, and they were lonely being in one tiny little plastic box. And for two, I couldn't keep the humidity without covering the lid, which defeated the whole purpose.
5. A trip to the local Walmart produced a basic ten gallon tank, no pumps or heaters, for about twelve bucks. A heat lamp hood for another ten, and voila! our hermies had their new home. A quick rinse to get rid of dust, a LOT more sand and ten minutes later their home was done. I'd like to see an actual fish tank set up as fast.
6. Just so you know, the initial monetary contribution to the hermit crabs will be somewhat steep. When you consider the cost of the first kit w/crabs, the actual tank, sand, dishes, food, shells, and climbing junk, you'll run just shy of $80 at first. However, the only maintenance cost on these little guys is a jar of food every two or three months, and that's maybe five bucks a jar. Not bad.
7. The gravel or sand is some what debatable. It's what you prefer more than anything. I use sand, because it's softer on the glass, and the hermies can bury easier if they so choose. This becomes much more important when they molt. I use a mixture of sand, fishtank gravel, and shells. You can use whatever you prefer, just make sure it's safe for crabs. Your pet store employee can help you make sure you've got the right stuff.
8. Because hermit crabs are ground dwelling creatures, they don function as well as some might expect with climbing. They climb fine, but only surfaces that are not smooth, or low enough to hook limbs over. Because of this, hermit crabs have specialized dishes for food and water. While you don't have to use these exact dishes (I use tubberware lids) make sure the dishes have low enough edges that the crabs can easily climb in and out of them.
9. You'll need extra shells. Have a wide variety of shells, both of the same size as the crabs are using now, and larger ones. Basic rule of thumb is the opening to the shell should be as large or large than the crab's largest claw.
10. My particular tank is set up with a water dish on the side, surrounded by actual seashells, a food dish is the middle, and fishtank gravel on the other end. The extra shells, some banyan wood, and the little palm trees that came with the kit are just scattered at that point.
11. Here comes the fun part...the food. I used the stuff that came with the kit for a while, and found the hermies did NOT like the pellets. They ate the soft bits, and left the pellets. Well, why not? They've got tiny mouths! I found this food, and I especially like it because it's a nice blend of the foods they like most.
12. Set up the food and water dishes, add the crabs, and you're done. Seriously. That's it. For the water, if you wont drink it, they wont. In most cases, though, tap water is fine. Cover the lid, and watch the crabs re-arrange all your careful organizing as they familiarize themselves with the new home. I've woken up some mornings to find the water dish halfway across the tank, and I've long since given up on setting the palm trees up. They just knock them down.
13. Hermit crabs are social creatures. The more, the merrier. And they LOVE to climb. The same sort of wood you'd buy for snakes or lizards is safe for hermies, and the more porous the better. They LOVE to climb.
14. Every couple of days, empty the food and water dishes and replace with fresh stuff. If you keep your house moderately cold - summer - or warm - winter - then make sure you spritz the crabs daily with a spray bottle to keep humidity in the tank.
15. Once every couple of weeks, give the crabs a bath. Just get a deep bowl, put a thin dish towel or rag in the bottom, and run luke warm water over it until the towel is thoroughly soaked and there's a marginal amount of water covering the top. Place the crabs in the bowl, and let them roam until the water turns cold.
    
    While in the bowl, take each crab, and spritz the opening with water until the bottom of the shell is full of water. Basically, keep spritzing until you see water gather at the opening. Hold the crab like this for thirty seconds or so, turn the opening upside down and drain the water, and then place the crab back inside the bowl.
16. The only major event you'll need to watch for is molting. Larger crabs molt once a year, smaller ones can molt several times a year. When they molt, they shed their entire exoskeleton, and regrow a new one. This means they are VERY vulnerable, and will need isolation while they redevelop. This is where those initial kits come in handy. Place the crab, with molted shell, inside the kit, spray, and cover. And then leave it alone. The less stress, the better.
    
    The crab will eat the molted shell for nutrients, and then harden in about two weeks. You'll need to refresh water and food during this time, and every couple of days spritz directly into the shell to keep moisture, but otherwise, leave him alone. When he's hard again, you can put him back in the general tank.
17. It's alot of steps, I know, but I promise it's way easier than it looks. After the initial set up, you just watch them play and have fun watching the cats (if you have them) try to figure out what the crawling thing on the carpet it. I give hermit crabs an enthusiastic high five!!!

Tips & Warnings

• Crabs will learn to recognize the sound of your voice. Talk to the crabs when you bath them, or swap their food, and they'll eventually start to come out of their shells when you call them.
• Hermies talk to each other! They chitter when in groups, and especially when you give them baths.
• Crabs love to switch homes. The more shells you have, the more they'll switch. It's actually pretty cool to see them move.
• They do pinch. DON'T pick up two crabs and place them face to face in your hand at the same time. This can turn aggressive, and they pinch down for anchor, which in this case, would be your palm.
• When the crabs are investigating a new shell, leave them alone. They get territorial over a new prospective home, and will pinch if they think you're threatening it.