Hermit Crab Habitat Ideas for Landscaping!
Hermit crab habitat ideas for landscaping for a more natural, stimulating environment
Hermit crab habitat ideas for landscaping include ways to create a more natural, stimulating environment for your hermit crab pets to enjoy. In the wild, they are surrounded by the ocean, bright green vegetation, trees and rock formations. They love climbing, exploring and foraging for food and crave stimulation.
By adding landscaping, you’ll be providing more natural looking elements for your hermit crabs to climb on, explore, study and probably try to knock over and destroy (that’s what they do!).
While adding live plants can be a real challenge (hermit crabs LOVE to dig into them, climb all over and destroy them) here are some ideas that will stimulate and make your hermit crabs happy, make your crabitat more attractive, and hopefully withstand hermit crab destruction!
Ideas for Landscaping elements to add to your hermit crab habitat:
- live plants (microgreens, bromeliads, air plants…)
- fake plants (succulents, bromeliads, vines, flowers, grasses…)
- rocks and stones
- wood bridge or ladder
- moss
- fun elements like signs, wood structures, alligators and sea creatures
- creative lighting
Thinking about adding Live Plants?
Adding live plants to a hermit crab habitat can look great, and make hermit crabs happy! If you’ve ever tried it, you’ve probably also experienced that within 24 hours of adding a live plant, your hermit crabs have destroyed it completely!
Hermit crabs LOVE live plants. They will dig into it, try to climb it, crawl all over it. Don’t believe it? See Microgreens in a Hermit Crab Habitat, with photo proof of what happens!
Since keeping live plants in this environment is a challenge, it’s much easier (and cleaner) to add fake plants! And guess what? Hermit crabs don’t seem to treat them any differently than live plants!
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Add Fake Plants!
Fake plants add color and a fantastic, more natural look to any hermit crab habitat. And hermit crabs seem to love the extra stimulation as well!
Which fake plants work best?
Aquarium-safe Plastic Plants with Weighted Bottoms
Aquarium-safe plants with weighted bottoms are a great choice because they can be placed in water bowls and stand upright by themselves. And since they are for aquarium use, they are non-toxic when kept in water.
Note: even WITH the weighted bottom, your hermit crabs WILL try to climb on the plants and will probably succeed in knocking them over at some point.
There are so many different varieties and colors to choose from, including beautiful bright green bushes, tall grass, purple flowers and lots more.
We found the largest, best selection to be on Amazon. We always suggest supporting small businesses that are selling on Amazon. Or visit your local pet store, but look at the aquarium section for plants instead of the hermit crab section.
Aquarium safe plants are inexpensive, a great way to add color and attractiveness to your crabitat! We have a few different types of fake plants and we change them periodically.
We’ve found that our hermit crabs are happiest when we add new things regularly to their habitat. It’s part of their nature to explore, climb, inspect and study new things… and they enjoy doing this with any new landscaping you add to their home!
Add Plastic Succulents, Bromeliads, Air Plants and Flowers!
Outside of the aquarium-safe products, there are nice-looking and safe plastic air plants with flowers, bromeliads and succulents. These can all look great, and as long as they are clean, without any unsafe parts that your hermit crabs can eat… they should work fine.
These small plastic fake plants are usually found in the craft supply stores or sections of large box stores. There’s a large selection on Amazon as well, but try to purchase from the small businesses selling on Amazon… support small business!
The fake plants we use are all on sticks. This makes them more stable and resistant to hermies knocking them over. Stick them in some sheet moss, sand, rock formations etc.
If you don’t plan to rearrange periodically and want to add the plant permanently, use aquarium-safe caulk to adhere plant in place. You can also use a hot glue gun with non-toxic glue sticks, though they don’t usually hold as well (a good semi-permanent solution).
We stuck a bunch of bright succulents right into our fake rock formations because they are made from a styrofoam product and coated with cement. See Make Fake Rock for Hermit Crab Habitats here.
Add rocks and stones for a more natural look
Rocks and stones can make attractive additions to a hermit crab habitat. Flat stones make a great path or walkway, or bottom to a deeper water bowl or pool.
Coral rock is a favorite of hermies to climb all over. Making fake rock is a fun, crafty way of customizing a larger “rock” element or level in a habitat.
And the aquarium section of your local pet store will have a bunch of resin or plastic rocks and stone formations that may be suitable.
Just remember, your hermit crabs WILL climb all over whatever you place in their habitat. So the taller an element is, the more likely it can fall over. Secure EVERYTHING inside the habitat that could topple over and cause injury or harm!
Add a wood bridge or ladder
Hermit crabs LOVE climbing… especially climbing UP (most especially Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs)! If you have space vertically in the enclosure, add another level, connect two levels with a bridge or add a hanging coconut hideaway! These elements can make your habitat look great and give your hermies lots of extra fun and stimulation.
We’ve found some wood bridges made specifically for hamsters and small animals to be bad in a hermit crab habitat and we don’t recommend using them. Why?
With the higher humidity levels plus periodic misting (which we recommend doing) some of them grow mold very easily (yuck! bad! no!).
We always have hanging coconut hideaways with wood ladders in our crabitats and have never seen any mold or mildew growth on those.
Adding Moss is awesome (if it's the right kind!)
There are multiple types of moss you can add to your crabitat. There’s all-natural and dyed green types. Make sure it’s non-toxic and safe! If you bring some in from your backyard, make sure to wash it thoroughly more than once.
Don’t put any type of moss inside a water bowl. And make sure none of the moss will land inside the water bowl because it will suck up the water (and the bowl could end up empty quickly!).
We’ve used the same type for many years. It’s a reptile-safe sheet moss that is dyed and bright green. Our hermit crabs love it, it adds lots of color to the crabitat and adds a nice soft natural look.
We replace the sheet moss 1-2 times per year or as needed.
Here’s more information on types of moss that are safe to add to your hermit crab habitat: Add Moss to your Hermit Crab Tank.
Add some fun elements too!
Hermit crab habitat ideas for landscaping aren’t limited to plants and moss! What about adding a fun alligator or sea creature to your water bowl or pool! It will peak the interest of your hermit crabs, they’ll climb in wanting to see what this new thing is!
We rotate sea creatures in this water bowl regularly, from the alligator and fish to lobster and a shark! Add some fun stuff, your hermit crabs will love it!
Make some custom signs for your crabitat! We created these signs (see photo) that point to the sea water bowl and a rock cave on an upper level.
You can make signs for upcoming holidays, the names of your hermit crabs, or name your hermit crab habitat!
WHAT LANDSCAPING HAVE YOU ADDED TO YOUR HABITAT TO MAKE IT MORE NATURAL-LOOKING AND STIMULATING FOR YOUR HERMIT CRABS?
Last update on 2024-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API