Care Sheet Information: | Hermit crabs are becoming more popular as pets than years ago. This crustaceans are not true crabs because they use a marine snail shell to tuck their abdomen for protection. These little guys live in beaches(away from the waves), in tropical rainforests, and occacionally, in mangrove swamps.
To sex a hermit crab is easy. If you spray water to the hermit crabs, and if you look under their appendages, the female has bare holes in the second pair of legs. This are called the gonopores. Males don’t have them, but their legs are a little bit more hairy than the female.
The temperature in the terrarium should be between 70F-75F. Never use a full spectrum lamp. These creatures are nocturnal, and the light will disturb their photoperiod, and die of dehydration. If you live in a cold climate, and you want to heat the terrarium, use an undertank heater, and it should be safe with plastic.
Water is vital for this fellows. Use a shallow, nonmetalic container, or a big, deep seashell to us as a bowl. The bowl should be large. Take your crabs out of the terrarium, and bathe them in a separate container twice a week. The water should be shallow since they cannot swim, and if you keep them in deep water for too long, they’ll drown. Treat the water with a solution specialized for hermit crabs, since chlorine and other heavy metals will kill the creature.
The best substrate to use are sand and gravel. The substrate should be deep enough, since the crabs like to dig. Place a "hermie hut", so they can hide in the daytime.
The best types of enclosures are the glass aquarium, and the plastic critter cage. If you keep jumbo crabs, definetly keep them in a 20gallon aquarium. Use a x-large critter cage for small, medium and large crabs. Provide spare seashells, since they need them as they grow. You can place a piece of choya wood, since they love to climb on it.
Hermit crabs are omnivorous and scavengers. Most of their diet should be commercial hermit crab food. You can feed them popcorn(without butter), crackers, veggies, fruits, coconut, and peanut butter. Place the food in a seashell.
Like other crabs, hermit crabs molt as they grow. Signs of molting are a lethargic crab, not eating, and be buried for weeks, or even months. LEAVE THEM ALONE. If you disturb them, they will come out, dehydrate, and die.
The hermit crab is not a hermit atall. You should keep them in groups. They are social animals. NEVER attempt to pull a crab out of its seashell. It will rather die than give its home |
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