Hermit Crab Care For Beginners
Hermit crabs are a real phenomenon in the animal world in that they sustain themselves with the shells that snails throw away after use. As they grow through successive stages of moulting, the crabs search and appropriate larger shells to suit the new phase of their life, almost like children buying a larger size of raincoat or shoes as they grow. Because of their intelligent interaction and lively nature, hermit crabs make interesting pets. Though their natural habitat is ocean, they survive well even in captivity. With proper hermit crab care, they can have a life span of about three decades.
These creatures are invertebrates, which mean that they do not have the internal skeleton which helps the vertebrates to be sturdier and larger in size. What they have is an outer skeleton which they shed periodically as part of their growth. This shedding and recreating of the outer skeleton is known as moulting. Gills are left alone during this process while other parts like legs and claws and eyes are regenerated.
They are divided into two groups namely the land crabs and aquatic crabs. Pet crabs are generally land crabs, also called tree crabs, soldier crabs, or purple clawed crabs.
Hermit Crab Care routines
Bathing the crab – Giving the crab a bath at least once in two weeks is an important part of hermit crab care. By way of giving a bath, the crab should be placed in a fresh water tank. It will wash itself and after the bath it should be air-dried. The bathing water should be of room temperature and should not contain chlorine.
Feeding your pet – Pet shops store all types of crab food and these are enough for daily feeding. However, many fruits that humans eat, like grapes, bananas, figs, apples, and raisins, and vegetables like carrot, lettuce, squash, and potatoes are their favorites. Peanut butter, ham, turkey, chicken, and cat foods and dog foods can also be made part of its diet, besides leaf litter, honey, and choya wood. All things have to be finely diced or sliced before feeding it. Providing them access to both fresh water and salt water is also very important.
Supplying enough shells – The shells that they carry around are their homes and their safety armour. Since they cannot manage without these shells, crab tanks should always have a plentiful supply of them. Shells of all colours and shapes can be purchased online or offline. These must of varying sizes as well because as the crab grows older they will need larger shells.
Temperature and humidity maintenance – Since they are cold blooded animals, it is difficult for them to withstand too much temperature fluctuations. To make the animals comfortable, the temperature within the crab tank should be maintained in the range between 75oF and 80oF. The maintenance of right humidity, which should be around 70%, is also a hermit crab care requirement.
Following these rules meticulously will keep the crabs healthy and will ensure them a long life.