Ikea Milsbo Hermit Crabitat Hack!

The Ikea Milsbo is a tall, sleek glass and metal display cabinet that can be transformed into an incredible hermit crab habitat.

At around $350, it’s often more affordable than large aquariums or reptile enclosures from pet stores, while offering even more flexibility for building a creative, multi-level space.

Hermit crabs are natural climbers and explorers. They don’t just move across the ground. They love to climb, hide, and explore upward. A vertical setup like the Milsbo gives them the space to do exactly that.

So what makes the Ikea Milsbo such a great hermit crab habitat hack?

By Fred (and Chris) | Updated 04/12/26

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Tall Glass Display Cabinet (Ikea Milsbo) Crabitat
Add lighting with just a few easy modifications
Build levels and a healthy habitat environment
Your hermit crabs will live long healthy, happy lives

Why the Ikea Milsbo?

The Ikea Milsbo cabinet is a great option to convert into a hermit crab habitat (often called a “crabitat”). It has a sturdy metal frame with glass on all four sides, giving you full visibility and a clean, contained environment.

One of the biggest advantages is the open interior. Since there’s no fixed middle shelf, you have the flexibility to build multiple levels and create both horizontal and vertical climbing space.

That said, you don’t have to use a Milsbo. Many glass or wood display cabinets can work just as well. If you’re exploring other options, look for one with removable glass shelves. These can be repurposed to:

Line the bottom of the cabinet
Build up the front and sides
Help hold in the deep substrate your hermit crabs need (at least 8 inches for healthy burrowing and growth)

An Easy No-Cutting-Needed Build

One of the best parts of this setup is that it requires no glass or metal cutting. Everything was built using the materials that come with the cabinet.

The only tool used was a drill with a hole bit to create small openings in the metal top (and bottom, if needed). These holes allow you to:

Run cords for LED lighting
Add accessories like a water filter

This step is optional, but adding overhead lighting inside the tank can really enhance visibility and aesthetics. If you prefer not to drill, you can still achieve great lighting by adding backlighting to the outside rear of the cabinet.

Durable and Humidity-Friendly

The Milsbo’s powder-coated metal frame holds up well in the warm, humid conditions hermit crabs need. While it’s fairly resistant to rust, it’s still a good idea to take a few extra precautions during setup to prevent corrosion over time (covered in the assembly steps below).

Built for Climbing and Exploration

Because the cabinet is tall, it’s perfect for creating a more natural, enriching environment. With a little creativity, you can add:

Multiple levels
Climbing branches
Faux rock structures

This gives your hermit crabs the vertical space they love and better mimics their natural habitat.

Supplies Included Lots of Styrofoam, Tree Branches, and Pond Foam

Built for Climbing and Exploration

Because the cabinet is tall, it’s perfect for creating a more natural, enriching environment. With a little creativity, you can add:

Multiple levels
Climbing branches
Faux rock structures

This gives your hermit crabs the vertical space they love and better mimics their natural habitat.

Supplies and Build Overview

Hermit crabs love to climb, and this setup is designed to give them plenty of vertical space to explore. In the wild, they climb trees, branches, and rock formations, so the goal here is to recreate that kind of environment inside the cabinet.

This build took a couple of months because we planned it out and added levels gradually. You can absolutely move faster, but taking your time helps you create a more stable and creative layout.

Structure and Materials

To build out the levels and climbing areas, we used:

Dense styrofoam for platforms and base structures
Handmade faux rock caves and “mountains”
Natural wood climbing pieces (we currently have two, with plans to add a third on the top level)

This combination creates a mix of textures and climbing surfaces, which keeps things interesting for your crabs.

Supplies and Build Overview

We hope this project inspires you to give your hermit crab pets more space to climb and explore and thrive for many years to come!

Free stuff often found around the house that can be used for Hermit Crab Habitat Hacks!

There are lots of items you can find around your home for free, to help create a fantastic hermit crab habitat! Some ideas:

Styrofoam

Tree branches

Rocks

Bamboo skewers

Toothpicks

Artificial plants

We always go through our shed and garage first, looking for any miscellaneous wood or unused pet supplies, rocks or shells from a trip to the beach or kayaking down the Suwannee River.

When we go on these outdoor short trips, we always try to collect a nice piece of driftwood or a couple of cool rocks or shells that we might want to use for our hermit crabs at some point.

Then, think of the levels you want to add. Do you want to create shelves to sit elements like food/water bowls, plants, shells on? Do you want to add a mountain or branches or hanging coconut hideaways?

We try to collect dense pieces of styrofoam packing sheets when we get it, the strongest kind usually comes with furniture or breakables. Flat dense styrofoam sheets, corners, planks make GREAT bases for the structures and levels you want to build.

And ALWAYS make sure whatever materials you use are free from harmful toxic chemicals or toxins!!! Make sure to always use non-toxic glue, aquarium sealant (non-toxic, made safe for fish/water) and non-toxic sealers for any protection or waterproofing you do to the elements or structures you are building or using.

A word about styrofoam

Styrofoam sheets, planks and corners (most often found as packing material for furniture and breakable items) makes GREAT foundations for multi-level habitat elements and structures. Styrofoam is waterproof, incredibly easy to work with and super lightweight making it the ideal choice when compared to wood, cardboard or metal.

Update: we JUST finished (July 22nd!) and are now uploading posts and photos with ideas and step-by-step instructions. Check back often and watch for the “click!” captions at the bottom of buttons that shows a new post/instructions now up!

Update 2: we just added 2 of our hermit crabs to this new habitat. The two we moved were out in the open, so it was safe. We still have more that are buried, so we are leaving them with food and water and when we see them come out, we’ll move them.

How’d they do in their new habitat? It was AMAZING to watch and so much fun!!! Hermit crabs like anything new. They are natural explorers. So when you put them in a cool new environment they get excited!

Within two hours, one of them changed shells… even though the same exact extra shells were in the old habitat for years! Within 4 hours (and when the lights went out) they immediately climbed UP to the top of the habitat and within 24 hours they’ve been in every cave, and climbed to every level.

They were in our Ikea Detolf Hermit Crab Habitat Hack for about 5 years, so this new habitat move was apparently overdue!

UPDATE 04/20/26: Hermies still alive… larger and as happy as ever, still all over their Ikea Milsbo Crabitat Hack daily. I recently changed the bottom from one big pool to a new lagoon and they’re loving it! But now… it’s time for an overdue full habitat renovation! I’ve been saving up cool pieces of wood and styrofoam shapes, I’ve got the theme in my head… I’m hoping to start soon! Watch for new photos, coming soon! : )

Supplies we use, with average costs:

$12-15 Great Stuff Pond & Stone foam
$6 aquarium sealant (clear or black)
$10-20 pre-mixed cement
$5-10 cement dye (we’re using black for Milsbo, but used wine for Detolf)
$8-25 cement sealer (we used wet look patio sealer, but you can also use Mod Podge etc)
$10-20 coco fiber brick (see link below)
$10 play sand from Home Depot
$10-20 under cabinet puck lighting with timer
$10 grow lights (if you want to add live plants or microgreens)
$7-10 two inch grommett (to cover holes for lighting and wiring)

*chances are you’ll find some of this stuff (or good substitutes) in your garage, shed, or ask a handy family member or neighbor! You won’t need that much of most of these items, so “leftovers” others aren’t using might save you money! Can’t hurt to ask!

You may not need or want to use all of these items! These are the items we’ve used with good results, but try to find leftovers in your garage or your friend’s shed to save money!

Everything we are using on this project, we’ve documented in detail. Read through the steps, see what we’ve done, and maybe you can figure out better solutions to what you want your habitat to look like!

We hope our projects inspire you to create bigger, better enclosures for your hermit crab pets to explore and climb. Hermit crabs LOVE VERTICAL SPACE and love climbing UP UP UP!!!