pythonmum
Very Well-Known Member
Hermit crabs at school - very basic setup
I've been keeping hermit crabs in my high school science lab this year. They are fun to watch and seem to have very individual temperaments/personalities. We've got 5 little crabs - 3 of which were donated by kids who got sick of them. My students have a roster of which year 7 is on carb care duty for the week. Students have to make sure the crabs have crab chow, clean (deionised) water and spray once or twice for humidity. On Fridays we give the crabs a saltwater bath. The housing isn't fancy - a cracked aquarium by a big sunny window. I'm using sand as a substrate (they enjoy burrowing) with wood, rocks and coconut shell for climbing with a clamshell food dish and a selection of spare shells. In winter I put on a better lid and 40W globe for warmth. Weekends I take the crabs home in a smaller plastic cage and put it on top of the snake cage - nice and warm over the basking side. When they are at home I give the crabs other foods. Wholegrain bread and apples are big hits.
I've had 2 different care sheets which did not agree with each other. The main things I'm careful about are using only deionised water (they are sensitive to chemicals), keeping reasonable humidity and not letting them get too cold. It certainly seems to be working well.
I've been keeping hermit crabs in my high school science lab this year. They are fun to watch and seem to have very individual temperaments/personalities. We've got 5 little crabs - 3 of which were donated by kids who got sick of them. My students have a roster of which year 7 is on carb care duty for the week. Students have to make sure the crabs have crab chow, clean (deionised) water and spray once or twice for humidity. On Fridays we give the crabs a saltwater bath. The housing isn't fancy - a cracked aquarium by a big sunny window. I'm using sand as a substrate (they enjoy burrowing) with wood, rocks and coconut shell for climbing with a clamshell food dish and a selection of spare shells. In winter I put on a better lid and 40W globe for warmth. Weekends I take the crabs home in a smaller plastic cage and put it on top of the snake cage - nice and warm over the basking side. When they are at home I give the crabs other foods. Wholegrain bread and apples are big hits.
I've had 2 different care sheets which did not agree with each other. The main things I'm careful about are using only deionised water (they are sensitive to chemicals), keeping reasonable humidity and not letting them get too cold. It certainly seems to be working well.
