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Summary: Hermit crabs change their own shells, but need their owner to find spiral or rams-horn shells with cavities. Choose shells that have a cavity bigger than the pincher of a hermit crab with insight from a pet enthusiast in this free video on pet care.
Cordell Jacques has worked in the pet industry for more than 10 years. He is also a reptile hobbyist in one form or another. Jacques keeps more than 20 various reptiles, frogs, fish...read more
Hermit crabs typically live life in the intertidal zone, better known as tide pools. Hermit crabs use discarded shells as a means of protection against predators. Its need to find second hand shells as their body grows is how they acquired the name hermit crabs. There are over 500 species of hermit crabs worldwide, with most being aquatic, and they live in colonies of up to 100 at a time. In this free video series, learn what it takes to keep hermit crabs as pets from a pet enthusiast. First, he talks about changing a hermit crabs shell and how to feed them. Next, discover how to make a hermit crab cage and sustain a livable habitat. Finally, he discusses hermit crab mating and how to tell a male from a female hermit crab.
"How do you change a hermit crab shell? You don't change your hermit crab shell, he changes it. What you can do is choose shells that you like and find aesthetically pleasing that will encourage him to use that shell. So what you want to do is you want to find a local store or if you have to you can order them off line as well, that has a selection of shells. And we're looking for shells like this that have cavities inside them, be they just spiral shells like this or rams-horn shells or whatever. It's all up to you and your, your, what you think looks good and what you like. These are doing you no good; just ignore any shell like that. Though sometimes people do use them for a food bowls. But, so what you want to do is you want to find a shell that looks good to you, you like. The opening on the shell has to be bigger than the pincher of the crab. So let's say we have crab here, see how his big pincher is right there? This opening needs to be bigger than that big pincher. Now this shell's about the same size, same size as this shell here so that's not a problem. But what you need to so is offer him a wide, wide range of shells. One shell isn't going to do it. So you need to find a couple different shells of different sizes and shapes. See this one's maybe a little bit smaller opening. But it's still big enough. And a little bit more interesting maybe. This one's got a bit bigger opening. You, you got to kind of get a wide range of different ones to put in there because only he knows what really meets his requirements. So you have to give them the options."
eHow Article: Changing a Hermit Crab Shell
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