hermit crabs

[kfeusse]

does anybody here know anything at all about caring for a hermit crab?  My son thinks he wants one...so I am investigating.

[Goldilocks]

We have two. I know they are supposed to be kept in a warm (and maybe humid) environment and provided with fresh water and salt water. They are supposed to get fresh food daily. 

 

My son started out doing that, but it didn't last long. They have access to fresh water (changed once a week) and there is always food in their bowl (changed once a week.) 

They don't do much. It is hard to tell that they are not dead. We get them out every so often and build block mazes for them to walk around in.  

[Arcadia]

We had a few in a 10 gallon tank as my pets. The hermit crabs are sensitive to temperature and humidity though so they didn't do well at our home as it was too cold at night and too dry all day.

 

They are also nocturnal so my boys were bored when they were observing the crabs.

 

"Temperature: 70° - 80°F

Humidity: 75% - 90% (relative humidity)"

[kfeusse]

I know the little guys are fairly inexpensive, right?  If we were to try this...what sort of thing would we need for 1 crab? How big of a home? what other things?

 

I don't suppose a fish tank that used to house hamsters would be a good idea, would it?  If so, how would clean it out good enough for it to work?  

[mom2scouts]

A fish tank works well for hermit crabs. They need deep sand so they can bury themselves to molt. Many people think they are dead because they can be buried for months. They're harder to keep alive than most people imagine. They need heat, humidity, deep sand, shallow bowls of both declorinated salt water and fresh water, places to hide, room to move around, and fresh food. They like treats like grapes or popcorn too. Oh, and you shouldn't get just one crab. They should be in groups.

 

http://www.hermit-crabs.com/care.html

 

Edited March 30, 2016 by mom2scouts

[Serenade]

We have a hermit crab, and it is the easiest pet to care for ever.  It seems to be indestructible.  We were just gone on vacation for two weeks, and it was still alive when we came home.  We left it water in a tube, along with a large foot pellet, and we made sure the temperature was adequate (they don't like cold), and the crab was just fine when we came home.  He has molted several times and is huge now.  Sadly, nobody pays much attention to him anymore except my DH, who is the one who cares for him because the kids never did.   They do much better with the dog because the dog is in their face and needy, KWIM?  

 

I will say, our crab has his own little personality -- he is a feisty fellow and loves to go exploring when given the chance.  We had another one for about 2 1/2 years, and he was much more shy.

 

 

[*****]

We use an old fish tank and we have coconut substrate instead of sand. We put a heating pad under it, made for this type of thing. 

 

We have had them for several years. Yes, salt water, and fresh water and they don't need to be fed every day. They like slivered almonds, tofu, raw meat, fruit, veggies...PB...but often times, I see very little evidence of eating.

 

We hardly see them...so sometimes I wonder what is the point?  Our exchange student never saw one, so I encouraged my daughter to let her hold one. He died the next day. What?? I have no idea why!  But I will never suggest to my kids to do anything else like that unless it is something of their own doing, I felt so bad!

[Melissa in Australia]

we had some for a while when my older boys were younger.

 

 some died probably because they got too cold and others possibly were molting/hibernating and we thought they were dead and threw them out? ( just thought of this after reading the other posts)

[3 ladybugs]

They are easy to care for once you have the proper set up. Getting the proper set up can cost money though. I think we have spent about $150 - $200 on ours and that is after getting a 40G tank at the buck a gallon sale at Petco. 

 

Hermit crabs properly taken care of can live a very long time. So keep that in mind before getting one. Also they are not bread in captivity (successfully) so they are all caught in the wild. You can find hermit crabs though that need to be rehomed if you are patient. Often these cost the least because people that need to rehome hermies just want them to go to a good home and will give you what you need to start up, or sell it to you for little cost. 

 

Ideally speaking you want at least 2 hermit crabs or more. We have 4 and to me I wouldn't go any less then that. They need 10G per hermit crab for when they are fully grown. Their substrate needs to be deep. We have ours about 8 inches. It is a combination of sand, coconut fiber, and orchid bark. It is mixed to the consistency with water so that you could build a sand castle. In our set up this weighs over 200 lbs! So you need to have it on something sturdy! They love to climb so "toppers" are often on crabitats. We have a 10G tank upside down over part of our tank as a topper. 

 

Hermit crabs have their own personalities. We have a couple that are social, and one that is VERY not social. We have kept ours alive for 15 months now and they are WAY bigger then when we got them. 

 

There is a Facebook group that I would strongly recommend you join if you want to learn more. There you can learn about false bottoms, and more about crabs then you can imagine. They are great creatures but they are like fish. You watch, you don't touch. The crabs need the moist air to breath through their modified gills. To take them into a non humid environment is really not nice. They are fun and we have used our crabitat to talk about science related issues. 

 

Oh and I should point out that your biggest expense after you get your tank set up is shells. Larger shells for them are expensive unless you know where to get them. We were in Key West last November and we were able to get quite a few for our Hermies at a reasonable cost. The lady who sold them to us said MANY people go there for their shells. 

[3 ladybugs]

Here is a look at our set up. It isn't perfect but it is close to ideal. We typically have a blanket over the lower part to help with the heat in the tank. In the summer this isn't needed and it is nice to watch them. :)

 

 

[RKWAcademy]

We've had two (the third died) for almost a year now.  Every so often I make sure they aren't dead, but otherwise we never see them.  Nocturnal doesn't mean every night for our crabs.  We have them in coconut substrate.  They do like to bury themselves, sometimes underneath the water dishes.  You need various sized extra shells so they can pick new ones.  I read those painted shells are bad for them.  All of ours immediately moved out of the painted shells and into normal shells.   They really require very little care.  Of course I'm the one who does that care.  Oh, and I don't provide extra heat.  After the tank and food and all the extras, those cheap crabs picked up on a whim became very expensive, so a heater was out of the budget.

 

My recommendation - get fish.  More interesting to watch.  Some have funny personalities.  But set up is more expensive unless you get a steal of a deal on a 55 gallon tank on craigslist.

[Ellie]

I had hermies for several years, and then they went to live with our own Jann in Texas, and are still doing well. :-)

 

In spite of their name, they do not like to be alone. It's better to get two or three hermies instead of just one.

 

They are escape artists. Be sure that their habitat is covered and that there is *NOTHING* that they can climb to get to the top. You'd be surprised what they can climb. o_0

 

Do not let PetCo or PetSmart be your role model on how to keep hermies. They have to display the hermies so people can actually see them and buy them, but hermies need several inches of substrate to bury into, not half an inch of whatever-that-stuff-is.

 

This web site was very helpful for me when I was just starting. And this one.