Hermit Crab DIY Wood Dock and Crab Shack Project

This DIY Wood Dock and Crab Shack Project can be made in any size and shape, and adds a second level to your hermit crab habitat. It also adds customized FUN!

No matter what size enclosure, add levels to give your hermit crab pets the climbing and exploring opportunities they crave!

Get creative and crafty! This DIY project is pretty inexpensive and easy. We show what we did, but maybe yours will turn out even better!!! GO FOR IT!! This project took us about 2 hours (mostly because we had no plan, we were winging it!). We spent less than $20, and found everything we used in our craft room, garage and on Amazon.

DIY Wood Dock and Crab Shack Food Stand Project

If you’re looking to add a 2nd level to your hermit crab habitat, a wood dock (platform) is a GREAT option.

Make sure any second level you add, rises above the top of your substrate. Why? Levels added ABOVE the top of the substrate give your hermit crabs the space below, for burrowing and molting.

And don’t forget to add a ladder so your littlest hermit crabs can easily climb up onto the platform! The wood ladder we used was from an old bird cage we had, now repurposed. Because the rungs are too far apart for our smallest hermit crabs, we connected this dock/platform/ladder to a climbing tree branch.

Even your smallest hermit crabs CAN (and will love to) climb tree branches. That’s what they do in the wild!

Hint: your hermit crabs will LOVE climbing up onto a wood platform. We place a mineral block and snacks like seaweed or other dry food crumbles onto the platform to help stimulate the exploring nature of our hermit crabs.

While we made our own wood dock platform to fit the dimensions we needed, you CAN buy one to make things easier!

There are moisture-resistant wood platforms made for hamsters in multiple sizes. Make sure to measure well, and order the best size for the empty space you’re looking to fill! Best height is over 7-10″ high and depending on how much substrate you have. Our platform rises

DO YOU HAVE TOO MUCH HUMIDITY IN YOUR HERMIT CRAB HABITAT? More on Heat and Humidity here!

Supplies

Use non-toxic, safe supplies and wood that stands up to moisture and humidity as much as possible. Note: wood is ALWAYS susceptible water, and there SHOULD be some humidity and moisture in your crabitat. So use a type of wood like bamboo when possible that helps resist, and seal the wood with a non-toxic sealant to help protect it further. Wood structures in a hermit crab habitat won’t last forever, so be prepared to change them every year or two or as needed.

Supplies for wood structure (like our purple and blue Crab Shack Food Stand):

bamboo wood strips: 15.7″ long, 3/8″ wide, .078″ thick
acrylic waterbase non-toxic paint
Mod Podge waterbase sealer, glue and finish (non-toxic)

Supplies to secure (glue) structure to glass inside terrarium:

aquarium caulk (clear or black, depending on your habitat)
and/or
Great Stuff Pond & Stone (comes in black)

Additional supplies for Wood Dock / Platform:

4 wood dowels: 12″ tall, 1/2″ in diameter
dense styrofoam for base

Tools

hand wood cutter or strong scissors
glue gun, glue sticks
paint brushes
ruler

4 wood dowels: 12″ tall, 1/2″ in diameter
dense styrofoam for base

The size of wood dowels you use should depend on the size of your enclosure and dimensions of your custom dock/platform. For smaller spaces you’ll want to use smaller and/or shorter dowels. Note: 1/2″ wood dowels will need a stronger tool to cut if you don’t want to use the full 12″ length.

Keep the project easy and cheap! We used styrofoam (packing we kept from a recent delivery),, acrylic paint colors we already had, an old birdcage ladder. Measure, sketch it out, then measure again! And don’t worry if you change the plan in the middle, we did (you’ll see!).

This project can be as perfect or imperfect as you want! We like to wing it with these DIY hermit crab habitat projects! But if you are a perfectionist… draw it out, measure twice and make sure it’s glued and braced so it won’t fall apart. Your hermit crabs WILL try to climb on it!

If you’ve never made anything like this before… don’t worry! Make the inside/back as ugly as it needs to be. Hot glue pieces as braces to other pieces, as many as you need to keep it solid.

We secured the structure to the back glass with Great Stuff Pond and Stone, because we wanted to build it into the rock/mountain/cave look we have throughout the habitat. Great Stuff is expandable foam and adheres to glass, and the “Pond & Stone” version is non-toxic (made for fish ponds and waterfalls). See more at Make Fake Rock for Hermit Crab Habitat – Hermit Crab Pets. You can also secure the wood structure with aquarium caulk/sealer, which is also non-toxic and comes in clear or black.

Once the Crab Shack was secured in place, it seemed too dark in that corner of the habitat. So we changed the plan slightly and decided to create windows for backlighting to shine through. We used a hole saw kit attached to our electric drill to drill two holes for windows.

We had some clear mailing labels, so we cut two pieces and put them over the new window holes we just drilled out. Then we added “shutters” over the clear “windows”, to cover up the mess we made! When we add lights in the back of the habitat, it will shine through the windows for a nice glow.

Custom signage adds FUN to the habitat! We decided the “Crab Shack” sign needed to be enlarged to “Crab Shack Food Stand”! We designed the sign on Canva.com, printed it in color on thicker glossy brochure paper and glued (clear Elmer’s glue) it to a thin piece of craft wood. We sealed it with Mod Podge (glossy) and then glued it to the Crab Shack above the door. Both Elmer’s glue and Mod Podge are non-toxic and will help protect the paper and wood against the moisture and humidity of the hermit crab habitat.

Your Crab Shack (or whatever structure you choose to create!) can rest on a piece of driftwood, a rock, or you can create a DIY Wood Dock (platform) like we did! We used styrofoam, an old wood birdcage ladder we had in the garage, covered the dock with bamboo craft sticks and secured to a climbing tree branch. To see the DIY Dock project steps, so you can create your own… click here (coming!).