Hermit Crab Toys: Keeping Your Curious Crustaceans Happy
While hermit crabs don’t play with toys in the traditional sense, they are naturally curious creatures that require stimulation and enrichment in their habitat.
Providing them with the right “toys” in their habitat can greatly improve their good health and well-being. These toys can include items they can climb on, inspect, crawl over and into, and can even be foods to meticulously pick at.
Store-bought hermit crab toys are readily available online and in most local pet stores. They are typically made from safe, non-toxic materials like plastic and resin.
There are also natural “toys” (my personal preference) including climbing wood, rope ladders, fishing net and coconut hideaways. I’ve also included 2 healthy food snack items that hermit crabs love to sit and meticulously pick at, which is an activity they love to do.
1. Bendable Vines: Safe PVC product that can be found in green, grey or brown or with artificial leaves that bends, offering your hermit crabs great climbing opportunities. Great for using empty vertical spaces in the habitat. Find them in the reptile section of your pet store, and Amazon has a few sellers offering them in green, brown, grey and with artificial leaves, sold for hermit crabs.
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2. Flying Saucer Hamster Wheel: Many hermit crab owners love these hermit crab toys, even though they are made for hamsters! Safe plastic product made for small hamsters can also be used for hermit crabs. This type of exercise wheel works for hermies because it’s an open wheel and doesn’t require speed to turn easily. Usually around $7-15 and found in the small pet section of pet stores, and on Amazon several sellers are marketing them for hermit crabs specifically.
3. Hanging Coconut Hideaway with Rope Ladder: Natural coconut with an opening big enough for large hermit crabs with a wooden rope ladder that hermit crabs love to climb. Make sure to buy one that has the last ladder rung very close to the coconut so it’s easy for hermit crabs to get inside. Price range from $12-20, found in the bird section of pet stores. The one in these photos is the Niteangel product sold on Amazon.
*This is my personal favorite hermit crab “toy”, I use this same one in all my hermit crab habitats for several reasons. 1: the last step into the coconut is close enough for small hermit crabs to crawl inside. 2: each wood step in the rope ladder is close enough that climbing them can be done by all sizes of hermit crabs. 3: I’ve never had any issues with mold or mildew on these 4: the hole into the coconut is large enough for my large, old hermit crabs to climb inside (and they do, most every day!).
4. Climbing Wood: Driftwood, cholla, tree branches make great additions to a hermit crab habitat because it allows them to climb. Most pet stores carry natural wood pieces as well as artificial, found in the reptile and aquarium sections. On Amazon there are all different sizes of natural driftwood and cholla, but make sure to measure your habitat and look at the dimension closely on the listing… sometimes the pieces will be much smaller or much larger than they appear online. Measure measure measure!
4. Fishing Net : When secured, fish net makes a great “hermit crab toy”! They LOVE to climb on fishing net! And it’s easy to cut to the size and shape you need for your habitat. Make sure to wash it with mild dish soap and water before placing in the habitat. The fish net in these photos is this Decorative Fish Net on Amazon. You’ll see reviews of other hermit crab owners that also use this in their habitats with success.
In the photo below, you can see some fishing net. It is secured to a climbing branch.
5. Millet Seed Sprays: Hermit crabs have very serious attention spans… they enjoy ripping apart styrofoam and corkboard like humans enjoy popping bubble wrap!
Millet seed sprays (sold for birds) are an excellent activity for hermit crabs because it not only keeps them entertained BUT it’s also a healthy snack! They enjoy the meticulousness of picking each tiny seed off of the spray and they’ll (probably) eat most of it eventually.
Remember… hermit crabs get bored! So try placing a spray in the habitat just for a couple of days, then take it out for a week, then put another full one back in, and so on. This will prevent them from getting bored with it (and yes, hermit crabs DO get bored!). Make sure it’s 100% natural with no preservatives or additives. For more on this, see my article “Hermit Crabs Eat Millet Seed Spray” with photos!
See hermit crabs eating millet spray seed on my YouTube video here:
6. Cuttlebone: Another healthy snack food that acts more like a hermit crab toy is CUTTLEBONE! It’s a natural product that comes from the ocean and is an excellent source of calcium (needed for hermit crabs to grow strong exoskeletons and get through moltings successfully). Hermit crabs may sit there picking off tiny bits for an hour (then they’ll go take a nap). For more on this, see my article “Hermit Crabs Love Cuttlebone But What Is It Really?“.
Conclusion
Hermit crab toys are elements you add to the crabitat that provide stimulation and activity. The most successful “toys” will be those that are safe and allow your hermit crabs climb, inspect, pick at, crawl on. These are activities that stimulate hermit crabs, which is very important to their good health and happiness. Hermit crabs DO get bored, and can become listless when there’s nothing to do and no stimulation in their habitat.
Get creative and look in the aquarium, small animal, bird and reptile sections of your local pet store for ideas and safe products that your hermit crabs may love. And remember, because they DO get bored, replace and move around elements of the habitat periodically to stimulate and get them a little excited with these small changes.
FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
Q1:** How often should I change the toys in my hermit crab’s habitat?
A1:** It’s a good practice to change the toys, or at least rearrange them, every few weeks to prevent boredom and provide mental stimulation.
Q2:** Can I use items from the beach as hermit crab toys?
A2:** While beachcombing for items like shells and driftwood can be an excellent way to find natural toys, make sure they are cleaned thoroughly to remove any potential contaminants.
Last update on 2024-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API