hermit crab care

[wiz-fiz]

OK, what are the things that you need to supply if you keeping them?
can you just tell me everything you know and what I need to supply for them so that they don't die?

Cheers,
Will

 

[Wild_Storm]

I know NOTHING about Hermit Crabs... But I think you would need water in a dish (depth- fairly shallow???), substrate (small rocks like in a fish aquarium, an aquarium. Food is unknown, but suspect it could be fish, some vegetables, dried foods and maybe even a pellet form. All this I have seen in my local pet store every time I had walked past to get to the rats so I could feed my snake!!!

Oh and for some reason they have a lid on at the pet store... I don't know why!!

 

[Dipcdame]

a tank, to start with............. we used shellgrit for the floor, dish of sea/salt water, somethig to climb up and something to hide under. For food, they are scavengers, and so will eat a few small scraps, but to maintain a decent diet for them wiht all the minerals and stuff that they need, you can buy special food for them.

Good luck, they're fascinating little creatures, and so funny at times.

OH, and you'll need an empty shell, one just a tad larger than the one it's in now, so it can grow into it. I once saw one suss an empty shell out for a while, and was lucky enough to be watching to see it wuickly grab the edges of the new shell, haul itself out of the old one and plonk it's back end in the new one. GROSS! it looked like an alien!!!!

 

[wiz-fiz]

OK, I think I might just ask my local pet store cuase they have them.
thanks anyway.


Will

 

[amy5189]

Hey,

I shall describe my hermie crab set up for you. I have them in a glass fishtank with shell grit as the substrate. but you can get hermit crab sand that comes in pretty colours. then i hae a shallow corner dish for water, with pebbles in the bottom so the crabs can get out. then i have a shallow round dish for food. then i have a little hermie hut that you can get from pet shops. then i have a wooden ladder from a birdcage for them to climb on, which i threaded plastic aquarium plants through the rungs, so they can cling on. then ih ave a few spare shells scattered around.

I feed them fruit, nuts, crushed up wheatbix, dessicated coconut, popcorn, hermit crab pellets.

Um, thats about it. I will take a pic and post if you like. my description is pretty terrible.

Amy

 

[amy5189]

oh, and you could also get hermit crab salt, and give them a salt bath once a week. cuz they like that.

 

[wiz-fiz]

I pic would be great, and with the hermit salt stuff can you just like, mix it with water and put it in a shallow dish? and what is "shallow" for a hermit crab? less than an inch?
thanks


Will

 

[amy5189]

There are the pics. My dishes are about an inch, maybe just under. but ive bunched the substrate up around the dishes so its kind of like a ramp. and like i said i put aquarium pebbles in the bottom of the water one, so the water is too deep and they don't get stuck in.

Yeah you mix the hermie salt with water, it tells you how much on the container. then i put that in a little tupperware container and take my hermies once a week and watch them run around.

 

[wiz-fiz]

how big is your tank?


Will

 

[amy5189]

how big is your tank?


Will

About 45cm long and 20cm wide. then 30cm high. and i have 2 little hermies in there.

 

[wiz-fiz]

do myou mind if I copy your setup completly?


Will

 

[amy5189]

do myou mind if I copy your setup completly?


Will

no not at all. i've found its worked quite good. ive had my hermies for exactly one year now. and they are still alive and kicking.
maybe i should design hermie crab enclosures for a living.....

 

[wiz-fiz]

I don't recon you should do it as a living, but as an on the side thing to make a little extra cash, like kids washing cars.
ohh, and thanks for letting me copy .

cheers,
will

 

[Kirby]

keep them warm, they will love you for a 40watt lamp.

a shallow salt water dish, and a shallow fresh. every week dunk them in salt water (hermit crab salt only)

feed them a varied diet.

sands, sawdust shavings, etc. to burrow in. mist them when they are shedding (mostly burrowing for long perdiods of time) dotn disturb them.. they are real good handlers for stress reasons.

they LOVE climbing, some will climb over 2 feet in the air soaking up warm rays... they come from the tropics remember.

 

[amy5189]

yeah i forgot about the warmth, depending on where you live. i live in brissie and right now its like 40000000 degrees so all of my animals are without heat sources at the moment. someone should invent an ice lamp..

 

[wiz-fiz]

what temp(C) do they like?


Will

 

[amy5189]

what temp(C) do they like?


Will

Well, I've never used any heat with mine cuz its always hot up here. but around 25 degrees upwards. if its really cold all the time they will die, but they are generally pretty hardy. so anywhere between 25 - 30 i would say.

 

[Wrasse]

What pet shops don't tell you and most keepers don't know ( however Kirby clearly understands ) is that Hermit Crabs need to find a safe secure dark spot to hide in come shedding time. They are very vulnerable then to stress and attack from other hermit crabs in their enclosures so a good spot to hide is important.

My daughter was keeping hers on shallow substrate, such as you see in petshops, and they were dying regularly, so after a bit of online research she totally rebuilt their cage. She put in beach sand, to a depth of six inches, moistened it down often to keep the humidity up and allow them to dig holes that didn't cave in on them and stuck the whole lot on a heat cord to keep their temps about 30 in the sand. She has had the same 3 crabs for multiple years now.

They like a variety of food and are scavengers. They love chop bones and chicken bones with meaty scraps still on them. But clean the food out often so it doesn't rot in there.

Don't stress when they dig themselves down in the sand and stay hidden for days at a time, it is quite normal for them and if you go digging them out, you may upset a shed cycle and cause them to stress to death.

Dig around online, there is some information out there about them. One lady has a pair she has kept for around 25 years !

 

[Kirby]

Wrasse is onto it..

they can live up and over 50 yrs i beleive..

a lady came into the store the other day, hers was about 35. and larger then her fist. she had to buy a super large decorative shell from a jewlery shop (store display) as the were NO shells available anywere in Sydney that were large enough.

 

[wiz-fiz]

where I live, gets snow about 1 time a year, and can get very cold. would I heat all he cage or just half, to create a hot/cool end?


WIll