Habitat For Hermit Crabs

The hermit-crab habitat is very important to the life and well being of the land hermit crab. It will need to be clean and roomy. A great one to start with is a ten gallon glass aquarium that can be purchased for a reasonable price at a pet store or at some of the department stores. Keep in mind how many hermit crabs you are going keep so you will be able to provide enough room for them to roam around. Also consider the hermit-crab-supplies you will need such as the food dish, water dish and of course they will need something to climb on like some driftwood. Be advised the hermit crab will roam around and climb out of the aquarium so make sure you have a lid to prevent their great escape. Also keep in mind the small plastic boxes that your crab may have came in is really to small. This will make a good temporary home or even a hospital hermit crab cage if needed.

The hermit crabs do not need what is referred to as hermit crab gravel. A substrate will need to be placed in the tank. Land hermit crabs do like to tunnel. A few of the best substrates available is sand or coconut fiber also known as Eco-Earth® , Bed-A-Beast or Forest Bedding®. There is many different types of sand available even a small, expensive bag named "hermit crab sand". But almost any type of sand can be used as long as it is clean. A fifty pound bag of play sand can be purchased a lot cheaper then the smaller bags of the hermit crab sand. These can be bought at your local builders supply center. Just make sure the sand is dry, no insects and does not have any funny orders that might indicate contamination. While the coconut fiber or forest bedding or FB, is processed very fine and then pressed into a hard brick that you have to soak in water to soften, this seems to be a little bit better of the molting period of the hermit crabs. This seems to keep the humidity at a better level. You can make the coconut fiber special and healthier for the crabs by soaking in saltwater. The crabs will eat the fiber and and this will increase the needed minerals in their diet. Always follow directions on the package.

A mixture of both sand and FB. Prepare the FB as usual and mix in sand. The consistency needs to be like what you might make sand castles, not too dry but not soaking wet. Your little friends do like to tunnel and dig. Sometimes you will find shells that they have buried. Digging is very important to the hermit crab. This could be one of the hermit crab behavior that indicates it is about to molt. Take notice because this could be a sign of the wrong temperature is off, either to cool or too hot. The hermit crab will dig a "micro-habitat" to insulate from unwanted or non agreeable conditions.

New hermit crabs will sometimes hid when introduced to a new habitat. Pet stores are not always the best conditions for the crabs and the little fellow may just need to rest. Also, he really may be molting. So just give him some time to acclimate and things should be okay for the new guy too. Remember that the hermit crab is really not a hermit, but does travel in packs, so if you can keep more than a couple of crabs, it will be best for all the crabs.