The Anatomy of the Land Hermit Crab

Video Transcript

"Hi! I am Debbie with expertvillage.com and we are talking about having hermit crabs for pets. Right now we are starting to talk about the anatomy of your crabs, so you kind of know what he is doing and how he is staying in the shell and the kinds of things that he does with his claws. Crabs are known as decapods, which means they have ten legs, five sets of legs. The first two sets are their claws, now the left one is the bigger of the claws that is used mainly for defense and it is also used for closing off the shell to keep moisture inside the shell and also is a defense mechanism. That is the larger one. On the right side, we have the smaller claw, which is used mainly for eating and for climbing. Now, the other sets of legs, they have four more sets behind those. The second set and third set are used for walking and then the fifth set is mainly used for holding the body entire inside the shell. Unlike other kinds of crabs, a hermit crab is not attached to the shell so he uses those back two legs to hold himself into the shell. He also has a pliable abdomen that also curves around into the shell and holds himself in. He has two sets of antennas, a long set and a short set. Hermit crabs do not have good eyesight, so they depend on their antenna for smelling where their food is. So, you will see those antennas and they almost look like they are talking to you, but they are mainly using them for smell. Crabs are nocturnal creatures, which means they are more active at nighttime. So your kids, they might be a little frustrated or you might be a little frustrated if they are not coming out as much as the daytime, but in the nighttime you will hear them, weaving around and clinking around and I will tell my kids are having a little crab parties at nighttime and that is when often they are switching shells. So the next morning you come in and your Mr. Hermit Crab may be in a new shell because they are looking constantly for new shells and getting one that is larger as they grow. "