Learn all about hermit crabs. Crucial hermit crab information, tips and hermit crab facts. Land hermit crabs are not throw-away pets, they have very specific needs and must be properly taken care of or will die prematurely.
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I just last week got a hermit crab as a pet. I read all about it on the internet and well it said there is a process called molting in which it sheds its outter layer replacing it with a new one. well my crab has completely burried itself under the sand and is not visible. Is my crab maybe going through this? How long will it stay burried before resurfacing and will it be okay ? If anyone has ever owned a hermit crab can give me any imformation it would really help… i really havent found a great site on it yet.
He’s probably not molting since you just got him, but he may be de-stressing.
Leave him alone, but change his food and water regularly. If you smooth out the sand around the food and water dish, you may find tracks in the morning because he’s actually coming out at night and crawling around.
http://www.hermit-crabs.com/
But I just brought him home from the pet store yesterday!
A person I know who has had her pet land hermit crabs for about 15 years tells me that when she brings a new crab home, the crab buries itself in the substrate of the tank for about two weeks to ‘acclimate.’ So please do not automatically assume that when you bring a brand-new crab home and he buries himself, that he’s molting! If you bring him home to an ideal environment, you may have saved his life! Like any animal who has been sick (from a dirty pet store), he will do himself may need some time underground in hermit-crab ‘intensive care’ to rest and recuperate in darkness and solitude.
How do I know exactly what he’s up to under there?
If your crab completely buries itself, one way to find out whether it’s molting or just playing hide-and-seek is to smooth out the sand over and around the ‘hidden’ crab. Then if the crab ‘comes up’ at night for a drink or a bite to eat, you’ll be able to tell what’s going on.
Should I mist the spot where he’s buried, or do anything else?
The best advice for dealing with a buried crab is to leave it alone. Note the date your crab buried itself. If it has not surfaced after about four weeks, you can carefully brush back the sand on the crab and make sure it is still alive. If the crab is still alive and appears to have molted, carefully cover it back up with substrate. On the other hand, if you smell a nauseating odor of rotting fish, it means the crab has died, and you should dig up the corpse and dispose of it. To be sanitary, you may just want to scoop the dead crab up along with the sand it was buried in, and dispose of all of it at once. That way, you won’t have the worry of any of your healthy crabs ‘catching’ whatever was possibly ailing the dead crab.
I’m getting a hermit crab. I want to save money on supplies. What all do I need for my crab? Please help.
please check out this site before getting a crab…
http://www.crabbytalk.com
most people have no idea how to care for them… be wary of anyone who’s had a ton of them as you have to ask yourself where are they all now? They should live around 20+ years… clearly if they go through that many crabs, they’re doing something very wrong… they need heat and humidity… they need a varied diet… they need access to fresh water, and depending on the species they may need access to salt water… but most of all, they need you to learn all about them *before* you get them… they won’t have time for you to learn after.
I agree with kathy and would like to add that children should not be “taught responsibility” with a pet. They need to learn how to care for themselves before they can be expected to care for anything else.
Should i get a Big or little hermit crab and have any ideas of anything i need for my hermit crab? (i have a tank,stones, water, food).Im going to petsmart by the way.
I keep both large and small crabs. Personally I like larger ones because they tend to be less timid, easier to find, and they moult less frequntly.
You will need more then one crab. They cannot be kept in isolation
Don’t use stones for substrate please use sand or coconut fibre and make sure you cook it or make it up in boiling water. Hermit crabs need to moult and rocks are hard to dig in.
Pet store hermit crab food is packed with toxic prevervatives it’s cheaper and safer to feed table craps. Fruits, veggies, egg shells and some meats. They LOVE natural peanut butter.
make sure you have salt and fresh dechlorinated water avaliable. And never by painted shells
how do you put a second leven on your hermit crab habitat?? i herd it could be done.
how do you use a shower caddy for one??
I personally use plastic shower caddy’s from target for mine. But depending on the size of your tank you can pretty much use anything that won’t rust or mold. I’m working on a 2nd level right now out of plexiglass and pvc pipe, I’ve seen pics of a tat that had a brand new little step stool in it as a 2nd level and they used hemp string around the legs to make it so the crabs could climb up it. Be creative. To get more ideas you can visit http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com there are alot of choices in the DIY section of our forum, although most of us use the shower caddy’s because they are easy to deal with.
A staghorn hermit crab. Can staghorn hermit crabs live with a pincushion urchin in a 20 gallon long aquarium? Do I need to give them extra shells so the staghorn hermit crab can move into them when it gets too big for it’s old shell? If so, where can I find staghorn shaped shells? Are they difficult to care for? To make it easier, you can provide me with links. Thanks!
LOL
Yes they will live together
They are not staghorn shaped shells they are stag horn coral that the crab cuts an opening in and then lives in
I won a hermit crab at a carnival and it’s in those crappy tanks, tomorrow I’m going to buy another shell, and a better tank! I bought the substate\soil thing for it. So, I heard they need humidity about 80% my parents always have the house cold!!!! So where can I buy a hermit crab tank heater and will that make it more humid? I’m also planning on buying another crab so it’s not lonely.
There are several brands.But most of people recommend Zoomed.You can check for any local store or online stores like Amazon of Ebay.Hope this helps
http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_li_qf_sp_sr_tl?ie=UTF8&keywords=hermit%20crab%20tank%20heater&tag=minimini2-20&index=aps&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325
I have had two hermit crabs die in the past month. I think the first one was handled too much; fell a couple of times. We went and bought two more at the pet store. The one hermit crab seemed less active eventually stopped climbing and slowed down quite a bit dragging his legs. I am assuming he died as he stopped moving all together and fell out of his shell. He never dug under the sand; just liked to climb. The other crab seemed attached to him and would often be by his side; he even was there with him when he died. Now, the living one must have buried himself in the sand which he never did before. Could he be sad?
The tank temp is between 75-85 and the humidity about 75%. We also provide spring water and conditioned ocean water as well as crab food. We have a one bigger crab from the start who is doing fine and buries himself everyday and comes out at night to eat/drink. I read on here that bathing crabs isn’t necessary. Any help would be great!
When they fall out of their shell, that means they’re dead.
Sorry. One thing you should do is fill up a squirt bottle with water and squirt it on their shells. It helps cool them down and keep them moist.
My Hermit Crab has been acting really weird since we got home! I’m wondering if she is pregnant because since about 3 days ago she’s been with other hermit crabs. Well wat do you think?
The chances of your crab being pregnant are a zillion to one. She would have eggs and want to lay them in water.
Hermit crabs as a rule d not mate in captivity. Some experienced crabbers have had their crabs mate but the offspring do not survive.
She’s probably just destressing. She’s getting settled in to her new habitat. Keep the humidity and temp where they should be, fresh food, salt and fresh water, and some hermy friends and she’ll be fine.
I have 2 Hermit crabs right now. I say one is a girl, and the other is a boy. How do I know for sure? How do they reproduce? Anyway, my new hermit crab has bee-stinger like things on the end of her feet. Plus, she is very pale. I just got her today, and those conditions could mean that your hermit crab molted. Do you think she did? Plz answer all the q’s. Thanks.
Those bee-stinger things are just her (his?) “nails”. They wear down over time so they will get less noticeable in the next few months. And yes, she probably just molted if she has nice sharp nails like that. Make sure that you have sufficiently deep sand in your setup so the other one can molt too if he is so inclined — if his nails are all worn off, he is probably due for a molt soon himself.
I don’t find it that hard to tell the difference between males and females. Yes, you do need to coax them to stretch themselves out (not all the way out of course, they won’t do that) so you can see their underside. I just hold them near a surface they want to grab and they will reach to get it. Looking at the underside, the last pair of legs closest to the shell are attached to the body with a pair of rounded segments. If it is a girl, there will be a dot on each segment. These are her gonopores, the sexual openings. Males will have no dots. Here are some good photos so you can see what I mean:
http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modules/smartfaq/faq.php?faqid=128
Hermit crabs kept as pets do not reproduce. Hermit crabs in the wild reproduce by gathering on the shore in a large group and then going into the water, without their shells, to mate. The eggs hatch in the ocean and the immature crabs swim in the ocean for a while before leaving the ocean to live on land.
Even though they don’t reproduce, they love company and will become very sluggish and may even die if you keep them alone. I think you should try to keep about 4 at a time to make sure that at least two are above ground (not molting) at any given point in time. Make sure they have plenty of sand/substrate and food and they should get along just fine.
How can I make a hermit crab home (not with a coconut if possible) and toys? How important is salt water? Where can I find hermit crab shells that are neat, safe, and inexpensive? I’ve been having the most trouble with the shells (I don’t trust ebay with the safety of my credit card).. Thanks in advance!
If you don’t want a coconut hut, you can use a dark tupperware container and just turn it upside down and cut a hole in it. I also use small flower pots and turn them on their sides. Your Hermit Crabs need a place that’s dark where they can hide if they want to, so anything that will do that can work.
Salt Water is very important. You can get the salt mix at the pet store in the fish section.
You can get neat, inexpensive shells at Wal Mart. Just go to the section where the fake flowers are, and they have bags of sea shells. You can also get them at Micheals or any craft store really. When you buy them, make sure you boil them for about 3 minutes in dechlorinated water to kill any germs that might be on them.