What Water do Hermit Crabs need?
Hermit crabs that live on land NEED water at all times! They don’t swim, but they drink and bathe in water and it’s an essential part of their life cycle.
All types of land hermit crabs need fresh, detoxified water at all times plus saltwater as well. There are some hermit crabs that can not survive without both at all times. The Caribbean Purple Pincher needs saltwater for their health, but they can survive for periods of time with just freshwater.
Here’s my post to learn more about how to care for Caribbean Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs (the most common type of hermit crabs in the United States).
For healthy, happy, long-living hermit crab pets… provide them with freshwater and saltwater at all times. Your habitat should have two water bowls. If space is limited, the larger bowl can be for freshwater. Here’s my post for water bowl options and ideas here.
Click to learn how to care for Caribbean Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs
Click to learn how to care for Caribbean Purple Pincher Hermit Crabs
The 4 Key Essentials for Water in Hermit Crab Habitats
Here are the 4 most important things to know about water for hermit crabs:
- fresh water must be free of chemicals and available at all times in the habitat
- saltwater (sea water with ocean minerals suitable for reef fish) must be available in the habitat at all times
- water containers must be deep enough for your largest hermit crab to submerge at least 3/4 of it’s shell in the water (preferably full submerge height)
- water containers must have easy, stable access for your hermit crabs to climb in and out (yes, hermit crabs can drown!) via built-in steps or ramp, or create your own
Start with De-Toxified Water
It’s easy to provide fresh and salt water for your hermit crabs. But it’s important to start with fresh water that is free from chemicals. Saltwater is made from the freshwater, so make sure to get the freshwater right!
Three best options for preparing water for your hermit crab pets:
- use distilled water (pure water with no toxins): you can buy a gallon at your grocery store or Walmart for under $1.30
- use RO water (widely considered the most pure form of water): you can buy RO water from many aquarium stores, or buy an RO filtration system for your home)
- use a water conditioner (detoxifying additive/product, find in the aquariums section)
Saltwater for Hermit Crabs
Saltwater needs to start from detoxified freshwater. You’ll need to add ocean salt (NOT kitchen salt!). Look in the reef aquarium section of your local pet store or online for saltwater fish aquariums.
There are also a few products made for hermit crabs, to make their saltwater. The downside is the sizes of the products are small and don’t last as long. Prepare your saltwater according to the directions, and make extra to keep on hand! Here’s my post for more information and ideas on mixing saltwater for your hermit crab pets.
Are Sponges Necessary in a Hermit Crab Water Bowl?
Sponges are NOT necessary and can cause problems.
Three reasons many hermit crab pet owners use sponges in water bowls:
- easy way for hermit crabs to drink water
- helps small hermit crabs not drown
- helps keep humidity in habitat
However, sponges attract and harbor bacteria. Even if you wash the sponge every day with the water bowl, that sponge will be clinging to nastiness throughout the day, and your hermit crabs could be drinking off of it. Yuck!
Rather than rely on a sponge to provide help to climb out of a deep water bowl for your smallest hermit crabs, there are better and more stable options. See my post on water bowl ramp options and ideas here.
As for humidity, does a small little sponge make a difference to the humidity level in the habitat? Absolutely not! You’d need a bunch of big sponges to make any measurable difference.
In my opinion… ditch the sponge! What’s better to do inside your water bowl? Keep reading!
Add Aeration, Bubbles, Filtration!
For under $10 and in less than 10 minutes you can add moving water to your hermit crab water bowls!
There are fantastic mini products that work great in medium and large sized water bowls:
- air stone: adds oxygen when used with air pump and airline tubing
- filter: helps trap debris keeping water cleaner while aerating water
Adding a filter to small bowls won’t work. Most mini filters need at least 1.5″ depth to work.
However, for small bowls you CAN add an air stone! There are mini air pumps that you keep outside of the enclosure. They create air and pump it through thin airline tubing. That tubing plugs into an airstone which sits at the bottom of the water in the bowl. That air stone, when air flows through it, creates thousands of mini bubbles. This aerates the water and keeps it moving.
And guess what? Hermit crabs LOVE moving water! They are naturally attracted to moving water (remember, they come from the ocean’s edge, and the ocean is always moving).
Click below for more options on adding moving water.
Mini Filters also add Aeration!
There are mini filters that can fit into a large sized water bowl. Minimally, the smallest models will need 1.5″ of water depth, more water is better.
If you have a large water pool, having a filter is important! A filter moves the water which aerates it, producing oxygen. This oxygenated water is healthy (standing, stale water is not!).
The filter acts to trap floating debris like food and poop, keeping the water healthy for longer periods of time. When you have a large water pool in your habitat, it takes extra time to take it out, clean it and fill it back up, and place it carefully back in its spot in habitat.
OR you may have a system of siphoning the water out, cleaning, then filling it back up without moving the container itself.
By adding a filter, you can extend the life of the water inside and be confident the water your hermit crabs are drinking and soaking in is much healthier than stale, standing water.
What are Hermit Crab Water Dish Options?
You don’t need to spend lots of money on water bowls. In our 10 gallon hermit crab tank we use a $2 plastic container we found at Target and we LOVE IT!
The trick? Find a safe non-toxic container that is the best size for your hermit crab habitat enclosure, and add your own easy-access ramp to make it safe for you smallest hermies!
Click below for a natural-looking DIY ramp that works for most any water container for your hermit crab pets.
Click for my post with more water bowl options for smaller hermit crab habitats.
Great Water Bowl Options
Types of Water Feature Options
Last update on 2024-04-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API