Can someone tell me about hermet crabs?Are they good pets?Do you have one?

Question

Just wondering.................

PLEASE answer my other questions!

Answer 1

Exotic Pets Site
Denise Lacazette
BellaOnline's Exotic Pets Editor




Hermit crabs


Hermit crabs are one of the most interesting and inexpensive exotic pets available today. Using some careful thought and creativity, you can turn their new home into a miniature replica of their natural habitat and create a great learning tool for children. The ecology of hermit crab keeping is extremely important in keeping them healthy and stimulated and increases their chances of living their natural life span.

Hermit crabs in the wild can be found near the ocean or in tropical areas. The common denominator here is humidity. This is the single most important aspect to consider when setting up the habitat. You will need to set up a nice humid environment, but one that does not promote fungus or bacteria. Monitoring their environment through the use of a humidity and temperature gauge is highly recommended. No matter which species of hermit crab you own a proper setup should satisfy the needs of all.

With hermit crab habitats bigger is better. Always select the largest size covered aquarium you can afford. The minimum size should be 20 gallons. Because hermit crabs are normally social creatures, the size of your habitat should be big enough to allow everyone their own hiding place as well as accommodate the communal swimming, drinking, exercise and feeding areas. Ideally you will have things they can climb on, hide behind, and play with.

To set up the habitat you start with the aquarium. Place it on a reptile heating pad for aquariums (it should measure ½ the length of the tank so there is a choice of temperature for the crabs). Add wetted substrate (play sand is recommended) to the aquarium (about 4-5 inches depth). Dig out 4 spaces. The swimming bowl will have a cut natural sponge simulating a ramp, several sponge “stepping stones”, and salt water. (It is imperative that the crab be able to easily get out of the water.) The second bowl will be very shallow and contain salt water for drinking. The third very shallow bowl should contain fresh water and the final bowl will be for food.

The next step is creating entertainment and hiding places. This is where your imagination plays a large part. Tree branches, margarine containers, plastic blocks, and other things can be used to create hiding places. Add salt water, wetted, natural moss to your hiding places to increase humidity and create additional camouflage. Make sure you leave a large enough exercise area bare so they can run or sit around together being social. Add differing size shells so they are readily available when the crabs start new home shopping.

Dos & Don’ts of hermit crab care

• Do - Maintain a temperature and humidity of 75-84 degrees/percent
• Do – De-chlorinate all water used in the habitat
• Do – Rearrange the habitat monthly to break up the monotony
• Do – Monitor interactions between hermit crabs when adding new members. Remember they are individuals and not everyone will necessarily get along.
• Don’t – Deep clean the habitat when a crab is in molt
• Don’t - Offer painted shells. Many contain harmful toxins.
• Do – Clean habitat regularly to prevent bacterial and fungal problems.
• Don’t – Bathe your hermit crab. Proper humidity, swimming, and water bowls should provide enough moisture for your hermit crab’s exoskeleton.
• Don’t – Bother your hermit crab during a molt. They are extremely fragile during this time and will likely die if disturbed.
• Don’t – Remove the exoskeleton after a molt. The hermit crab will eat the exoskeleton to regain lost calcium during the molt.

At first glance keeping hermit crabs seems a more daunting task than you may have been led to believe when you were handed the crab in a little plastic box at the beach, but the pros outweigh the cons quite quickly. Hermit crabs are highly entertaining and can live up to 20 years in captivity.

Answer 2

I've had them off and on over the years. They are rather boring pets, kind of like having fish but you can take them out of the tank and watch them slowly walk around.

They aren't exactly what I'd call friendly, but you can put them in your hand (clean your hands first or you'll get pinched...that hurts a lot). They spend most of the day hiding in their shells and then make a lot of clanky noises at night while wandering around the tank....so have a place for the tank far away from the bedroom if you get one.

They are an okay pet for adults (better than a goldfish) and good for kids as a first pet. They are also cheap since they don't eat very much...one bottle of hermit crab food will last months and they can also eat things like apples and cheerios for treats. Their cage also doesn't have to be cleaned as often as you'd clean a fish tank or change bedding for mice. So, if you want something low maintenance and easy to care for, they are good. But, if you want something that you can play with they aren't that great.

Answer 3

I had hermit crabs although I enjoyed them I would not pick them as a pet again. They have to have constant heat from a light, a sand bottomed home, water in a resavoir, bigger shells to grow into and the food for them smells. They are not loving pets yet they are somewhat amusing to watch. For someone with little time they would be cool, after you set them up it's pretty much clean out and replace the food and water and that's it.

Answer 4

It's awfully hard to teach them to sit up and speak. Oh wait! That's dogs.
Hermit crabs really aren't great pets because they don't respond. They simply exist. They're great in an aquarium, though, where they can scuttle around and keep the bottom of the acquarium clean, but you have to provide a way for them to get out of the water, just as you would for a turtle, as they don't live submerged full time.

Answer 5

They are alot of work, they need 60-70 percent humidity, a proper thermal gradient with 85 degrees on the hot end, a substrate they can bury themselves in like shredded coconut fiber mixed with sand. 3 or more empty shells PER crab, more is always better because them changing shells is a never ending process. A varied diet consisting of dead fish, fruits and veggies, and a good quality prepared hermit crab diet, and a tank of atleast 10 gallons or more because they are active and like to climb and run around. They also need crabby buddies of the same species. Ive noticed the carribean crabs being aggressive towards the ecuadorians. The ecuadorians need a dish of salt water aswell as a dish of freshwater because they come from the shores. Whereas the purple clawed carribeans are from inland away from the beach and the saltwater dish isnt needed but its always good to offer them because it provides electrolytes and minerals. They are super sensitive to chemicals so you need to make sure thier water is cleaned daily and the new water is dechlorinated. They also dont tolerate high amounts of iron in their water and they dont like metal dishes. In my opinion they are fun to watch and very interesting and cute but they are alot of work but well worth it.

Answer 6

We have had our since Dec and we love them (3). They do better when there is more than one, and they are more active at night or at least when it is darker. My son loves his so much instead of our cat or dog he took them to pet day at school. We have built their habitat up so they have lots of things to climb and places to hid. We also have never been pinched by them either. We read up on them and learned how to handle them such as palm tight so they can't pinch you. Oh we do not use a heat pad but we leave the tank light on for the entire day and it stay at the right temp.Read up on them and then decide if they are for you.

Answer 7

yes I have four.. they have lived about 6 years.. you need more than one.. cause they like company..and you need an aquarium and fill about 5 inches in the bottom full of sand.. because they will burry themselves in it to molt.. (shed their skin) they crawl out of their shells to do this so do not assume they are dead..also they like a warm climate so I put a heating pad under the aquarium on low... always make sure they have sponges with plenty of water.. mine like carrots and celery leaves..tiny pieces of fruit are good too.. I also feed them hermit crab food.. anyway as far as a pet.. they don't require much care.. but I do reccommend daily handleing them daily so they get used to you.. if they pinch you turn on the faucet and put them directly under the hottest water.. they will let go... for fun my kids make mazes out of wooden blocks and race them every now and then.. and my kids like showing them off.. hope this helps..

Answer 8

they are sooooo boring not noly that they never come out of their shell so whats the point in the money you mine as well draw a hermit crab and put it into the tank. you might even get more action out o f paper sorry

Answer 9

I had some before. In my opinion they aren't good pets. They are pinchy and boring. You can't teach them tricks and they lack discernable facial expressions. On the upside, they are easy to care for and not noisy.

Answer 10

Depends what u want out of your pet? It's sure not gonna jump up in your lap and let u pet it lol