ok i have a hermit crab for the first time help please!?

Question

ok this is my first hermit crab. does any one know anything about them? any advice would be welcome

Answer 1

I'm assuming you mean a land hermit crab and not the ones for salt water tanks. They need a tank that can keep in humidity otherwise they can suffocate. They need both a fresh water and salt water dish. Unlike what their name suggest they are much better with at least 1 more hermit crab. Every day change their food and make sure to offer many different types of foods. They like to climb so make sure you have lots of things in their tank to climb up but make sure they can't climb out of the tank. Have a few different shells close to the size it is in now. I'll just give you a few links to check out too because if I were to tell you everything you should know I would be here all day.

http://www.crabbytalk.com/
http://www.thecrabbagepatch.com/index.html
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/index.php

There are lots more sites if you want to do a web search.

Answer 2

Well.... I don't know much; but hermit crabs are useful marine creatures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_crab

Just go to that link. There's a part where they state: Hermit crabs as pets. If u were unable to open up the link, just go to www.wikipedia.com
type in Hermit crab in the search box by the left side.

Answer 3

Coenobita clypeatus (purple pincer) care sheet:
ID Characteristics:
Multi-colored limbs in shades of red, purple, tan, orange, and yellow. The body is a shade of tan. The pincers are susally purple, but can also be a variety of other colors (reds, purples, tans, oranges, yellows). The eyes are comma shaped and the eyestalks are slender and narrow.

Housing/Crabitat:
no smaller than a 10 gallon glass tank, is preferable. A glass or plexiglass lid is also preferable, to keep proper temperature and humidity.

Temperature: 74-78 degrees F (need thermometer)

Humidity: 70-80% relative (need hygrometer)

Substrate:

Playsand, Forestbedding (Eco-Earth, Bed-a-Beast, etc). Moss and calcisand may also be added to the tank, however it is not recommended as a main substrate.

Diet:
Commercial crab foods, Vegetables (favorites include-carrots, lettuce, parsley, spinach, and corn), Fruits (favorites include-coconut, mango, apples, grapes, and pears), Meats (seafood, silversides and chicken are favorites), Grains, Peanut butter, eggs, seeds, algae and seaveggies. Please see http://www.epicureanhermit.com for a list of other edible foods.

Purple pinchers need both fresh and salt water made with aquarium grade salt like oceanic (dechlorinated).

Shells:
Turbo, pica/magpie, Sharks eye. Shells with circular openings are favorites

Molting:
-Lethargic before and hyper after molting
-Legs tend to be dry and ashy pre-molt
-Will sometimes molt without a molt sac or other pre-molting symptoms
-Are thirsty and hungry pre-molt and post-molt

Other Characteristics:
-Sweet/nice temperament
-Love to climb
-Love to crowd into piles
-Not as active as other species such as the Es
-Like to hide during the day and are most active at night
-More willing to pinch if they feel threatened/scared
-Females seem to have larger eyes than males
-Love to change shells
-Love to eat and climb on wood such as cholla/choya and corkbark


If you have any questions please visit www.hermitcrabassociation.com there is always someone around to answer a question.

Answer 4

Look online to find some useful advice. www.wikipedia.com is a great website for researching! you should try there.