As a soon to be hermit crab owner, any advice?

Question

i have done a lot of research, post something that is helpful and that i didn't know, you get the best answer! pretty easy..i will have a few hermie questions up so please answer!! (if you can of course)

Answer 1

WE will be very happy to help you.. we have owned and worked with hermies for 10 years and have researched and studied them for 15 yrs.

We have a site... http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/
And it is full of tips and care sheets.. but since you have been researching I am sure it will repeat what you know already.. depending on what sites you visit of course.

Basically if you have the temps(76-85degreesF), humidity(78%-86%Relative), proper foods( no artifical, presevatives,, human grade foods no commercial foods) and waters(both fresh and marine/oceanic de-chlorinated water) and substrate (clean play sand deep enough for the largest crab to burry in and moist cocofiber bedding) then you will have a good chance of succeeding. Here are the basics http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/areyouready.html

It is quite simple to find out the sex of you crab.. ulink what others state... we have a page dedicated to it! http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/girlorboy.html

Land Hermits breathe through modified gills therfor you must keep their tank humid like stated above.. but misting is NOT good because it only lasts a short time and spikes the levels then can also cause mold, mildew and bacteria.. one must never mist inside of their tank. Once you get the humidity within range by useing moist cocofiber..large water pools with optional ubbler stones and even moist moss their tank will be at a constant helthy level and they will thrive.

UNLIKE what others say.. Hermit crabs live for up to 30 years in captivity... our eldest hermit crab is 15 years old! So be prepared for long living crabs IF you take proper care of them.. when some one does not take good care of them and doesnt provide for them the proper environment they only live a year or less. That is why they are novelty. throw away pets that people do not take good care of because they assume that they do not live long.. they live upwards of 50 years in the wild.

There are many websites out there that people will give you links to.. but the majority are terribly outdated and missinformed... that is why their crabs are dying within weeks or months. Books that are on the market are even more out-dated and a waste of time excpet for cross-referencing.

You must have either a glass or plexi-glass lid with lights.. 12 hours on and 12 off so the crabs can have a somewhat normal exsistance in captivity. It is a must for lighting for both heat and so their metabloisim stays in check.. and their molting cycles are not thrown off. http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/molting.html

When you first get your crabs.. they may go through a de-stressing time and decide to burry themselves for a while.. it can be a few weeks to a month before they re-surface... do not be alarmed or worry.. they will come up when ready.. just always offer fresh food and water daily and remember to sift the sand once a day for droppings and spilled food to keep bacteria down.

Also about once a month plan on doing a deep clean. removing all crabs and decorations throwing out old substrate, washing the tank with warm de-chlor water and vinegar, rising and drying well and then adding new clean sand.. replacing the decorations after they have been cleaned and then the crabs, food and water.. also those extra shells. http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/carechecklistupkeep.html

Extra shells are a must at very least 3 extra per crab.. we do about 4 per crab and rotate them often so we can boil and clean them to keep them fresh which the crabs like. You need to have one a slight bit smaller, the same and somewhat bigger than what the crab is in now. Pay attention to the openings.. Purple Pinchers like round openings.. so turbo, whale eye, shark, eye and japanese snail shells are the best choises.

A hermit crab should never be fed things like meat balls.. they must never have table salt or spices.. that is terrible for them, the table salt is toxic... only fresh beef, chicken and fish are acceptable either raw OR cooked but plain!

Never give them anything with added salt OR sugar therfore crackers, regular peanut butter and most snack foods are not an option IF you want your crabs to be healthy and live long.

Organic natural foods are best.. check our food lists.. http://www.geocities.com/hermitcrab_rescue/foodlistforbeginners.html

Answer 2

Hermit crabs can live to 6 to 15 years, but many live only to 6 to 12 months.

2. Hermit crabs will eat apples, grapes, cheese, steak, and meatballs.

3. A hermit crab with a purple claw may snap a pencil in two.

4. Hermit crabs have 5 pairs of legs. This means they have 10 legs!

5. There are 800 species of hermit crabs and 6000 species of regular crabs.

6. The second and third pairs of legs are used for walking.

7. Hermit crabs in the wild spend their days under tree roots, leaves, burrows, branches, and rocks.

8. The relatives of hermit crabs are spiders and lobsters.

9. Hermit crabs are a type of arthropod, which is one of the largest groups of animals.

10. If hermit crabs are kept underwater too long, they will drown.

11. A purple claw crab weighs about one-fourth of a pound.

12. They like a temperature that is warm.

13. They have a hard outside covering called an exoskeleton.

14. Hermit crabs live in the deep sea to the shoreline.

15. Hermit crab is not a true crab.

16. Hermit crabs have gill that must be keep moist or wet to survive.

17. There are five main parts of a hermit crab – the cheliped which is in big claw, the fifth leg, the abdomen, the soft part, the eye, and the antenna.

18. When the hermit crab gets too big for its shell, it moves to another one.

19. A hermit crab needs a shell to protect it from animals. It is the home of the hermit crab.

20. A hermit crab drags his/her home along the water.

21. It is not easy to detect if a hermit crab is a boy or a girl.

Answer 3

I have had a lot of hermit crabs for a long time and that is an ok way to pick them up. Just don't let them dangle in midair and if you don't scare them when their on your hand and they shouldn't pinch. Try to keep your hand pretty much flat so they don't find any interesting folds of skin that they might want. (its happened to me with my crazy crab to many times except he was after a mole) Oh and if you notice their little mouth parts rubbing all over you finger kinda like their licking you, don't be freaked out.

Answer 4

BE SURE TO KEEP A LID ( Like from a peanut butter jar) in the cage with him so that he can always get water. It doesn't have to be filled to the top. They like this more than the conventional wet sponge .

Answer 5

i used to own three of them when i was younger, i enjoyed bringing them out of thier cage ad watchign them crawl around. do becareful of the big claws.
another thing we had to keep an eye on them from burying themselves under the sand and dying.
i guess we gave them too big of a cage with too much sand and one of them kept digging and while we were gone at school the poor thing died. make sure to use a sponge in a small water dish for them to drink the water.

Answer 6

Keep a shell bigger than theirs in the cage, I lost a few that way, they all went into smaller shells. And they pinch, so don't put anything in front of them that you don't mind getting hurt. . .

Answer 7

They Are Escape Artists.

Answer 8

sure wait...
http://www2.tltc.ttu.edu/thomas/classPet/1999/HermitCrab/student.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/~pal/hermit.htm
http://www.hermit-crabs.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_crab
http://seashells.com/hermitcrabs/hermitcrab.htm
i know all these sites cuz i got some too!
fun fact:did you know they got gills they need to be moist?be sure to spray them and ther home and sand so humidy can happen.also do you know you got to keep a water dish with a special hermit sponge?hope you got one cuz its neccecery.u will see why when you read these sites.good luck