How to Care for Hermit Crabs
How to care for hermit crabs so they’ll live a happy and healthy life? Hermit crabs are relatively easy to care for and low-maintenance. But because they come from tropical or sub-tropical coastal environments, they aren’t your typical pet! Hermit crabs are social creatures that live in shells, burrow in sand, and love to climb and explore. They have some unique needs and behaviors that are important to provide for and understand!
Five most important things when caring for hermit crabs:
- Species: what type of hermit crab do you have?
- Enclosure: choose the best habitat enclosure
- 8 basic supplies: set up the 8 basic supplies needed
- Basic needs: understand and provide basic needs
- Behaviors: watch for and understand basic hermit crab behaviors
Species: What Type of Hermit Crab Do you Have?
There are many different types of hermit crabs, and each species has varying needs. Some species require higher temperatures, more humidity, will die without saltwater, live very long lives or just a few short years. Here’s more on the most common types of hermit crabs.
Enclosure: choose the best habitat
Hermit crabs are primarily found in tropical and subtropical
regions, inhabiting coastal areas. They are known for their ability to scavenge for food and their inclination to explore their surroundings. These curious creatures require a habitat that closely mimics their natural environment to thrive.
Best habitat enclosures for long term healthy, happy hermit crabs are glass aquariums and reptile terrariums. For 2-3 very small hermit crabs, the minimum aquarium size is 20 gallons. Though keep in mind hermit crabs grow and require more space as they get larger so starting off with a 29 gallon tank or larger reptile terrarium is always a great idea.
Here’s more on types of hermit crab habitat enclosures.
Tip: once you understand how to care for hermit crabs and they are thriving and growing and happy, consider providing them with a large, beautiful hermit crab habitat hack! If you’re creative and a little handy, you can convert some glass display cases into a fantastic hermit crab habitat: less money for a much larger habitat! This gives them lots more space for exploring and climbing (two things they LOVE and NEED TO DO EVERY DAY). Here are two ideas:
– Ikea Detolf $79 hermit crab habitat hack
– Ikea Milsbo $249 hermit crab habitat hack
8 Basic Supplies for Set-up
After choosing a good habitat enclosure, there are 8 supplies you’ll need to set up:
- 2 water bowls: one for freshwater, one for saltwater
- food dish
- extra shells
- substrate
- thermometer/humidity gauge
- climbing elements
- hiding spots
Basic Needs: Food, Water...
Proper nutrition plays a vital role in the overall health
and well-being of hermit crabs. Providing a varied and balanced diet is essential. Hermit crabs are omnivores and scavengers. Part of their natural instinct is to explore for food, and eat all different types including fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, seaweed and seafood (fish, shrimp, etc.), and meat!
Behaviors to watch for
Hermit crabs aren’t complicated creatures. Once you understand their basic needs and behaviors, it becomes easy to provide the care they need.
Here are some basic behaviors to understand:
- they are very active, and need to explore and climb
- they are social, and are happiest with a few friends of the same species
- they are nocturnal, most active at night and take naps during the day (if your habitat doesn’t have lighting, here are some ideas on providing lighting so your hermit crabs have a consistent day and night environment)
- they burrow into sand/substrate when they are stressed, too hot, too cold, or need to molt (here’s more information on molting, a crucial part of their life cycle that happens periodically in order for them to grow)
- they like to hide in dark, quiet spots during the day
- if they look weak, lethargic, are missing leg segments or their coloring becomes very light… most likely something is wrong, and it’s time to trouble-shoot their basic needs and make sure you’ve got the 8 essentials, that there’s no bullying happening, and that they aren’t depressed. Yes, hermit crabs can show signs of depression! Here’s more on hermit crab behaviors to watch for.
Wondering how long your hermit crab pets will live?
Different types of hermit crabs have different life spans.
The most common type of hermit crab sold/found in the U.S. is the Caribbean (Purple Pincher) hermit crab. And great news if this is the type of hermit crabs you have! This is the most resilient of all the species, and very often live more than 20 years as pets! Yes, if you take good care of your hermit crab pets they will live longer than your dog! Here’s more on the lifespan of hermit crabs.
Last update on 2024-05-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API