Tips on Choosing an Aquarium for Pet Hermit Crabs

Series Summary

Hermit crabs are relatively small crustaceans that are usually found in or near the ocean. Unlike true crabs, they are known for the practice of using abandoned shells for their homes. They do this because of their soft underbellies, and not because they are antisocial, as implied by the name. The truth is quite to the contrary; hermit crabs tend to live in groups of 100 or more. As they get bigger, hermit crabs must trade their smaller shells for bigger ones. Since there is a relative scarcity to the number of viable shells, and there are many crabs potentially vying for a new home, often times hermit crabs must fight each other for the bigger shell.

As pets, hermit crabs usually occupy fish tanks for the purposes of eating algae and performing general tank cleaning. They can also be in a dry aquarium on their own, or with other hermit crabs. Whatever the configuration you choose, learn some basic tips and techniques for caring for your hermit crab. Our expert will teach you specifically about dry land hermit crabs in this free video series. Lessons include bathing your crab, cleaning the tank, learning about the anatomy, essential supplies you’ll need, and how to feed a hermit crab.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I am Debbie with expertvillage.com and we are here today to talk about having hermit crabs as pets, all the ins and outs and things you need to supply for your hermit crabs and where to buy them. Right now, we are going to talk about your aquarium or your habitat for your hermit crabs. Depending on how many crabs you want to keep, you can get up to like a ten-gallon aquarium, if you want a whole colony of hermit crabs; or you can get the smaller variety like you see right here there is in the plastic, but the important thing is you need a lid that snaps on tight. With a glass aquarium you need a glass lid so your hermit crabs are not going to escape and it helps with providing humidity in the aquarium. This one has a plastic snap on lid that you can open like this, so you can get in and clean things out and it also has just a smaller lower lid that pops up. So, you can just reach your hand down in there and get your hermit crabs out. You can buy these crabs at any pet store or discount stores, in lot of times in your malls, they have kiosks in the middle of the mall that has all kinds of things for hermit crabs. "