Care for Land Hermit Crabs
ou might have just gotten a land hermit crab, or maybe you have had the little guy for quite some time now. Either way, you want to freshen up on your hermit crab basics and make sure your beloved pet is safe and well. So these few steps will help you perfect your skills!
Steps
- Select an enclosure. The best enclosure to use is a glass aquarium. Size is a very important factor when deciding how many hermit crabs you will keep. A good rule of thumb is: one inch per gallon. to determine how many inches your crabs are, measure across the shell opening. Remember, the habitat (or as many people call "crabitat" or simply "the tat") needs to be able to hold three dishes, climbing toys, shelters, shells and space for the crabs to walk around. You don't want the tank to be crowded, but you don't want it to be too open, either.
- A ten gallon tank usually does nicely for a maximum of six small hermit crabs. You may want to consider starting off with at least a twenty gallon tank. This will ensure all the necessary space needed is fulfilled. A larger tank will allow more climbing toys and more space. You will eventually need to upgrade the tank if you start off with a ten gallon.
- On the other hand, hermit crabs do not grow quickly. You can use a tank that leaks, as it will not be holding any water.
- Select a lid. Hermit crabs are escape artists. If there is any possible way for the crabs to escape, they will almost always find it. Use a glass lid or screen lid with glass rested on the screen if using heat lights. This will ensure no crabs escape and that all the humidity stays in the tank.
- Select a lid with air holes installed on the lid.
- Provide an appropriate substrate. Substrate, or bedding is probably one of the least provided needs a hermit crab can get. Hermit crabs require deep substrate that has to completely cover twice the height of your largest crab, preferably a few inches deeper. Medium crabs (golf ball size) need at least six inches of substrate for molting. Small crabs (quarter size) need {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}, and tiny crabs (often called "micros", the size of a dime) need {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of substrate. These substrate amounts are traditional molting depths.
- Sand is usually the best choice, however, you can also used compressed coconut fiber commonly referred to an sold as "Eco Earth", "Bed-A-Beast" or "Forest Bedding".
- You can also use a mixture of the two. The sand or coco fiber needs to be kept at a good moisture level. It shouldn't be dry, but it shouldn't be dripping wet. Keep the substrate at sandcastle consistency. You should be able to make a hole in it easily, but not get your fingers wet. Substrate with these characteristics will allow your crab to grow (by molting, or shedding its exoskeleton) successfully. Do not use wood chips, gravel or newspaper etc.
- Add decor and toys. Place dishes, toys, and shelters into the tank. Make sure that your shelter has a large enough opening for the crab to easily enter and exit. It's a good idea to place more than one shelter in the tank in case one crab would like to be alone. You can use coconut huts, ceramic flower pots, large shells, reptile caves, fish decor and many other things as shelters, as an option. Hermit crabs like to be hidden during the day so they will spend a great deal of time in these shelters.
- Hermit crabs also love to climb! Provide climbing toys to keep the crabs and you entertained. You can use cholla wood, grapevine, fig wood, driftwood, mopani wood, bog wood, Lego structures, cork bark, fake or live plants, rocks, water stone, large coral, barnacle clusters, fish décor and much more. Providing this step is very easy and your crabs will love you for it!
- When landscaping your dishes, keep one thing in mind: Leave the water dishes away from the heat source. If water is placed near the heating unit bacteria will grow and that is not good. Keep the water on the cool side of the tank. Make sure that the dishes are deep enough to submerge the crab 3/4 of its body size. The dish should be large enough so that the crabs can walk around in the dish so they can fill their shells with water. If housing small and larger crabs crabs, place rocks, sea shells, small pieces of aquatic wood, or fake plants to allow the small crabs to easily exit the dish.
- Although they are social creatures, they sometimes like to be true hermits.
- Prepare the water. Hermit crabs need two types of water. Fresh and saltwater. Hermit crabs also cannot drink tap water. This water is treated with chlorine which can cause permanent blisters on the crabs gills (yes they have gills) which will be very painful for the hermit crabs. For this reason all water (including drinking and misting water) must be unchlorinated.
- Buy a small bottle of tap water conditioner in the fish section of your pet store. Follow the instructions for making a gallon of water. It's a lot easier to have a batch of water ready to use for the next few weeks or so rather than having to make a small amount every day. When choosing a conditioner, do not purchase "Stress Coat" as this is used strictly for bathing your crabs and keeping fish only. Look for a conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine and neutralizes heavy metals. Do not get a conditioner that stimulates a slime coat, other than for baths. After that, you have a batch of freshwater.
- Now simply make another batch of water and add some aquarium salt into the mix. Usually about 8-10 tablespoons of salt is enough. You may hear that only exotic species of hermit crabs need salt water, but this isn't true. All hermit crabs including the purple pincer (Coenobita clypeatus) need this. Many crabs drink saline water for hours prior to molting. And their shell water supply has a specific balance of iron. Providing salt water allows the hermit crab to choose what kind of water it would like to drink. Let the water sit overnight, so it comes to room temperature and the salt dissolves.
- Dish the food. Place the hermit crab food in the dish. Hermit crabs are omnivorous scavengers that take advantage of any available food both in the wild and captivity. Feed your hermit crab basically anything you would eat yourself that isn't sugary, spicy, salty or preservative packed. They love grapes and blueberries, as well as most unsalted nuts. Apples are also a favorite. They enjoy many vegetables, and seafood is an absolute must in their diet. The best way to ensure they get proper nutrients is to feed a varied diet as possible.
- Feed meats when given the opportunity, and you can also feed them plain cereals, rice, pasta and rolled oats. Many hermies love T-Rex brand Fruit and Flower Food. The fun thing about feeding these critters is that you can record and experiment with what they like and what they don't like.
- Hermit crabs eat very little and in small amounts. To put it in perspective, most hermit crabs take a few hours to eat half a cheerio. So don't think that your hermit crabs are starving, because they aren't! Make sure to remove foods after 24 hours to prevent rapid fouling of the tank.
- Select a heat source. Hermit crabs are tropical creatures that come from places like the Caribbean and the Florida Keys. They require temperatures between 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) and 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). Your home is most likely not warm enough to provide the heat these creatures need without an external heat source.
- When using a ten gallon tank, the best way to heat the tank is with an under the tank heater (usually referred to as a UTH). These are small pads that stick to the outside glass of the enclosure and usually raise the temperature up between 4 and 6 degrees, which is perfect. Try placing the unit on the bottom of the tank. Even with the thick layer of substrate the UTH will be effective. Placing it on the side of the tank simply heats the air around the tank, and not the air in it.
- You can also use heat lights, which work great on larger enclosures and can usually heat the tank to any wanted temperature. Heat lights have one major drawback: They dry out the tank very quickly. When using lights be sure to select the right wattage of light, a 40 watt will do nicely on a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} tank. Make sure that the heat source is placed on one side of the tank, and not in the middle. This is so the tank has a warm and cool side so they can be around whatever temperature they want as needed. Whatever heat source you use, be sure to purchase a thermometer/hydrometer to determine the ambient air temperature in the tank.
- Add shells. Hermit crabs do not grow their own shell. They take them from dead gastropods like snails. In captivity, you need to ensure that there is a wide variety of shells to choose from. You can tell if a hermit crab's shell fits if it can seal the opening of the shell with its large claw and armor leg (back left).
- If its legs stick out a bit and you can still see its eyes, the hermit crab will be on the market for a new shell. Simply drop the shells in the tank and the hermit crab will change when ready. Purple pincers like shells with a round opening, while Ecuadorian hermit crabs like shells with a wider opening. You can dip the shells in salt water periodically to draw the crabs attention to them if you wish.
- Prepare and wait. Take a small misting bottle and spray the substrate and the walls of the tank with conditioned water. Turn on the heat source and wait at least forty five minutes. The moist parts of the tank will evaporate with the heat source on, raising the humidity. Hermit crabs breathe through hardened gills that only function properly if the air is moist. Hermit crabs seem to enjoy a humidity range of 77% - 88%, but absolutely under no circumstances should it be below 70%.
- With the sand moist and dishes full, the humidity should stay at a tolerable range. If not, you can lightly mist the tank some more. Once the temperature and humidity reach a desirable range, proceed to the final step.
- Get the hermit crabs! Hermit crabs are not actual hermits. They are very social creatures that like another hermit crabs to keep it company. Its best off to get around five hermit crabs so that you can witness its social behaviors. Hermit crabs of all sizes, species and gender can happily be housed together. Try to get an active crab. Any crab that has antennae that flutters at varying speeds is generally healthy. Crabs that hang loosely when held are usually near death.
- A healthy hermit crab withdraws quickly when picked up. Sometimes, hermit crabs do emerge when held, with antennae fluttering. This means the hermit crab is social and healthy. Try to pick these crabs. All you have to do now is add the crabs to the tank and you're all set!
Tips
- Don't use sponges to humidify the tank. Sponges need to be cleaned frequently. Use moss to humidify. It works great and doesn't need to be cleaned.
- Add lots of fake plants that stick to the walls of the tank to create a natural look. The hermit crabs love climbing them as well!
- Put the under tank heater on the SIDE.
- Keep a sheet of plastic over lid of enclosure to prevent any great escapes.
- Join a hermit crab forum or message board. Then you can chat with other fellow "crabbers" about anything you like!
- Let your hermit crab get loose every once in a while. Take it out of it's aquarium.
- You can add live plants to the tank which the hermit crabs can eat.
- Create a second level by using a shower caddy stuck to the glass walls of the tank. Then you can fill with moss or coconut fibre. Add a branch to act as a ladder and there you go!
- Prop up a large branch into a corner and drape it with fake plants so that it acts as a tree which the hermit crab will enjoy hiding in. Hermit crabs are also called Tree Crabs!
- Never take away the exoskeleton of a hermit crab, it has lots on calcium and other nutrients and it will take longer for their exoskeleton to grow back.
- Choose shells carefully. Painted shells contain harmful toxins.
- Do not touch your hermit crab while it is molting or changing shells, it will come out when it's ready.
Warnings
- Do not use table salt to make the salt water. It contains harmful iodine.
- Don't use painted shells, the paint will chip off and can be ingested by the crabs.
- Make sure you have a lid so that no hermit crabs can escape.
- Never use any coniferous woods in the tank. These are a natural repellent to arthropods which isn't safe for hermit crabs.
- Never try to force a hermit crab out of its shell. These creatures are very strong and you will end up ripping the crab in two.
- Puddles of water or muddy substrate means you are misting too much.
Things You'll Need
- A glass tank of at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}
- You DO NOT need a cover for the crabs
- Sand or coconut fiber
- A thermometer
- food and drink bowls
- toys for your crabs
- A hygrometer (humidity gauge)
- Spray bottle that mists, not squirts
- Two water dishes
- Heat lights or under tank heater
- One food dish
- Tap Water Conditioner
- Aquarium salt water mix
- Various climbing branches or rocks
- Shelter(s) for the crabs to hide in
- Plenty of extra, natural sea shells
- Hermit crabs
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