How to Care for Hermit Crabs

Want a pet that's easy to care for and fun to watch? Hermit crabs as pets are great for kids, apartments, and anywhere else low- maintenance.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Habitat/reptile tank
• Food dish
• Water dish (roughly bigger than the food dish)
• Sponge for water dish
• Sand recommended for bottom
• Bark wood and climbing structures
• Extra shells (open for fitting in) lying around the habitat
• Skillet
• Special food or your own
• If you want, plants, real or fake

1. Go to any petstore and get everything you need for hermit crabs. This is the time to talk to the people there if you do not know a lot about this animal and its care. Get a habitat, food, sponge, waterdish, food dish, sand and etc. It is important to know that hermit crabs like to live in a community, so you should get at least 3 or 4. They like friends! You should be able to hear clicking noises once in a while, and this is them talking to each other.

2. Once you have bought everything you need and you have your little critters, it is time to bring them home! Establish a place to keep them that has a decent temperature, such as a laundry room or on a counter in the kitchen. If it gets too cold or too hot it is dangerous for them, but they do need 70% of humidity for the tropical atmosphere they are used to. The proper humidity is the single most important source to keeping your friends alive and healthy. Put together the little home for them and watch them explore and get to know it.

3. Hermit crabs need a sponge for their water dish, so they cannot drown, as these are land hermit crabs. Be sure to check it every day to see if it needs more water in the dish. You don't want them to dehydrate. Do not have any chlorine-based water and be sure you do not use this. Keep the water high enough so they can climb in and get bathed but not too much so that they could drown. Make sure they have a way to climb out.

4. You should set aside a little food dish so your crabs know where to find food. Put some of the pet sore food on there, and the more crabs you have, the more you will need to supply. Hermit crabs also can eat things you have around the house! Cut up little bits of bananas, apples, carrots and lettuce and even smear some peanut butter on the side! You can be creative and have a variety and your crabs will enjoy it. Clean off any old food that wasn't eaten so it doesn't mold and gross up the home.

5. Hermit crabs may seem like slow moving animals, but they are actually very active! Climbing structures in the habitat are crucial, and the more the better, depending on the size you have.
   Once in a while you should take your crabs out of their home and let them explore a new area. Since they are not that fast, you do not have to worry about losing them or them running away. Have them trek across your carpet and watch them tumble and climb around the pillows on your couch. Not only is this entertaining for you, but it is good for them to get more exercise and they will like it. You will be surprised how quick these little buggers can be.

6. Keeping more shells is also very important. Your hermit crabs will grow and they will need more homes to move into. When your crab gets too big for its shell, it will leave it and search for another one! Get shells of different sizes to give your crabs the variety they need. Get ones of unique styles and coloring that are easy to spot and so you know where your crabs are.

7. You have to watch the habitat and get it cleaned when necessary. Most people have sand for easy cleaning and keep a bag for fresh refills. First you have to put your crabs somewhere while you clean their home. The bathtub is a good place (um, not filled with water) to put them as they cannot climb out. Rinse their climbing toys and food and water things and place them in with them, if you want. A little dish soap wouldn't hurt and scrub out excess amounts of waste. After you've washed the tank clean, you can put them back in and then the rest of the stuff. If you neglect to clean the tank for too long your crabs could get sick and die. You could also give your crabs a gentle spray of water for a bath.

8. While crabs are leaving their shells and looking for new ones, sometimes you may come across a crab that has decided to go streaking for quite some time. This can happen for a couple reasons, among them being a shell fight with another crab and the environment being too hot. Take a glass cup and scoop your little friend, then very VERY gently dab and sprinkle some water on it and rinse out its old shell. Put it in an area of isolation and leave it alone. This puts it in close contact with its shell and doesn't allow it to run around frantically as naked crabs tend to do. The best thing to do is leave your crab alone after this until the stress has gone down.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do handle one and you get pinched, they will hang on, it is not a little squeeze and then that is it. Run the pinched area under water immediately, most likely water on the warmer side. I know you don't want to scold yourself so here's another tip if this is not working. Take a pencil or toothpick and stick it in the pincher that's got a hold on you. The crab may see this as a new threat and go for the toothpick immediately. Tickle it a little bit if you must. Then wash the infected area with soap and water.
• Of course this is not to say that you absolutely CANNOT handle your hermit crabs. You can let them crawl down the palms of your hands as long as you watch them carefully, or on your jeans. They are a fun creature!
• If you hear scuttling or digging, your crabs could be looking for somewhere cool to stay. This is common and don't panic if you can't find them.
• Do not handle the hermit crabs too much, as they have pinchers and they WILL pinch. If you must pick one up do so by the back of its shell, most likely it will recognize that it is being handled and go back in its little back house so it doesn't fall out. But if it tries to come out, that means it is looking for something to land on. Be sure to have great caution and care while handling the crabs.
• If you see something that looks like the crab's skin, that is because it is. It is called its exoskeleton and don't mistake it for a dead crab and throw it out. If a crab appears to be dead and you pick it up, and it looks like the dead crab falls out, check inside the shell. If you see a pale pink claw, then it is its exoskeleton! The crab is only dead if you smell a strong fishy odor. They shed their exoskeleton and believe it or not, snack on it for protein. So keep it in there and if they want to eat their dead skin, that's their business. Your crabs will also have a very pale complexion, as they are in a molting phase. This means they will be inactive for a while, and do not be worried as they are needing time to rest and grow skin back. Leave them be and when they want to come out, they will.

Resources

• The Hermit Crab Page

[toffee73]

on 3/6/2009 PAINTED SHELLS ARE BAD!! They can eat the paint off the shell and it poisons them.. Also GRAVEL IS NOT APPROPRIATE substrate, they can not bury in it, you need sand or coconut fibre..Jackie Sonnenberg you need to get your facts right instead of causing hermit crab deaths through your innacurate advice.