Hermit Crab Care While on Vacation
Hermit Crab Care while on vacation is easy, as long as you create a good system. What are the elements that need extra planning?
- food
- water
- temperature/humidity
- safety
I found these dry foods on Etsy, my hermit crabs loved it all!
Spray millet makes a GREAT snack food, especially for vacation times
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Don’t be afraid to go on vacation and leave your hermit crabs behind. Just have a good system in place!
Hermit crabs are low maintenance; it's one reason we love them!
Tips for FOOD AND NUTRITION while away on vacation
- Add a second food bowl… and put it on the other side of the crabitat. Why? If the first food bowl flips over, if the food molds, if it all gets eaten early… no matter what might possibly happen, a second bowl ensures there’s another food source JUST IN CASE.
- Leave DRY FOOD ONLY if you’ll be gone a while…. because any food that is fresh, moist or wet will rot and mold which cans spread quickly
- Leave some extra snack foods… dry snack foods like spray millet and chia seeds make great vacation snacks. See my post (and photos) on feeding spray millet to your hermit crabs (hint: they love the mundane picking activity PLUS they like eating the seeds)
- Fish flood flakes and sushi wrap sheets (natural dried seaweed)… are good to leave as extra snack foods.
- Add a clump of live microgreens! Fast and super easy to grow (they start sprouting in just 2-3 days on a sunny windowsill) and provide a healthy snack for your hermit crabs and a great backup snack food when you go on vacation. BUT dont expect it to live more than a few days. First, they need watering and you won’t be there… but also, your hermit crabs will destroy them within a couple of days. They’ll dig into the roots, take naps in the middle of the clump, and eat some when they’re hungry.
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Most pellet food isn't food at all... test it way ahead of time
Most hermit crabs do NOT recognize dry pellet “food” as… food.
If you’re going to buy a dry food to leave for your hermit crabs while you’re away on vacation… test it way head of time to make sure they like it!
The most common pellet foods sold as hermit crab food will be rejected by most hermit crabs. Here’s my post comparing common store bought hermit crab foods, which shows ingredients and more.
Fresh, moist foods
Moist fresh food rots in just a couple of days. The above photo shows banana after a couple of days, and the rot which spread to coconut flakes in the same dish. Mold will begin to grow and spread quickly to everything it touches.
It’s best to provide TWO different, separate dishes of food while on vacation. Use one for dry food, and one for fresh foods for nutrition like coconut, salad greens, etc. Avoid feeding moist foods like banana, strawberry and other fruits that rot quickly.
The dry food pellets in the above photo are NOT recommended! I tried feeding this very common brand to my hermit crabs and they didn’t recognize it as food. There are plenty of healthy REAL dried foods you can provide instead of these fake food hard brown pellets!
Also, no need to spend money buying a second food dish! Use a flat shell (pictured) or plastic bottle cap!
Tips for WATER while away on vacation
- Add a second fresh water bowl. IF you have a saltwater bowl and have limited space, it’s FINE to temporarily use the saltwater bowl as a second fresh water bowl while you’re on vacation (depending on the type of hermit crabs you have). Caribbean Purple Pincher hermit crabs are the most common in the U.S., and they are FINE for a few days without saltwater. It’s most important they have CLEAN FRESH WATER at all times while you are away. If the water gets corroded by food or poop, they won’t drink it and they will dehydrate. A second fresh water bowl helps mitigate the risk that the bowl flips over, the water gets dirty, evaporation, etc.
Click for water bowl options from $2 to $27!
Tips for TEMPERATURE and HUMIDITY
- Your hermit crabs are used to a particular temperature and humidity. Try to keep the normal parameters the same. Don’t make any unnecessary changes to the lighting or heating lamps. See my post Do Hermit Crabs Need Heat for recommended thermometer/hygrometer and tips.
- Put lights and/or heat pad on a timer if they aren’t already, to avoid any overheating… and test, test, test days before to make sure your settings are working well.
- Add some sheet moss for extra humidity if needed. Soak some sheet moss in water, and place it around your water bowls or other strategic location
- Don’t make changes to anything you don’t have to.
I use the Fluker’s thermometer/hygrometer in my hermit crab habitat. It comes with adhesive backing, but it doesn’t hold for long. Instead, I use double-sided clear acrylic removable tape. It’s strong, holds indefinitely and can be removed off the glass when you need to remove it. These 1″ square pieces are super inexpensive and work great (see the reviews!).
Test Your Vacation System Early!
Feed the vacation food, add the extra bowls, etc. starting the week before you leave for vacation. Why?
This gives you time to watch your hermit crabs and make sure they like the food, get in and out of the water bowls safely, watch for anything tipping over or causing possible injuries.
Watch them for a week before you go to make sure you mitigate any possible issues.
Watch the temperature and humidity especially if you live in a cold climate, and use timers or relocate the crabitat to a better location while gone.
Do everything the week before and watch the behaviors of your hermit crabs so you can anticipate any possible issues while you’re gone.
The good news? Hermit Crabs (especially purple pinchers) are FINE being left alone for a while and forgive you when you get back! Just plan ahead and have a smart system in place.
Last update on 2024-12-21 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API