Hermit Crab Care – Hints and Tips

Hermit crab care really isn't that difficult as long as you understand their origins and food requirements and endeavour to re-create their natural habitat as much as possible. As with any pet, a good understanding of proper care is essential if they are to remain happy and well nourished. These little critters can live as long as 15 years in captivity, although a more average figure is about 8 years, so looking after your new pet is not a task to be undertaken lightly.

There are four basic elements that you need to get right and these are: providing

Hermits are lively little crustaceans and any crustacean pet fact sheet will tell you that they do not like living on their own, but flourish when living in pairs or small colonies. When supplying a tank, therefore, you need at least a 10 gallon tank size which will hold at best, two of them – don't forget they will grow! If you get really hooked on these little fellows and want to increase the numbers, then you will need a larger tank. Basically, the tank needs to be large enough to house both the critters, water and food bowls and other accessories such as rocks or pieces of driftwood, on which to climb and hide behind.

Because these little buggers originate from tropical climates, one of the most important aspects of proper care is to maintain both the temperature and humidity that is associated with the tropics. Unless your house is particularly hot, you will need to purchase a small heater to keep your pets happily basking in temperatures between 72 – 80o F. and you will need to provide moisture in the form of a water soaked sponge, to produce the necessary humidity level that is required.

Substrate is a strange word but actually refers to the floor covering that is required in your tank. These guys adore burrowing, particularly when they are molting, and so it is essential to provide a layer of substrate which can be sand, coconut fiber or even crushed coral, although this is quite pricey. Proper care in this case is all about making your crab a "home from home" so don't be tempted to line his tank with gravel, as this has the capability of getting inside his shell and damaging his abdomen.

Once your new pets are settled into their own little tropical paradise you will need to address the question of food. As with most of the tips that I have covered in this article, as long as you stick to a few basic rules, feeding is simple. These guys are omnivorous and enjoy a varied and nutritional diet consisting of meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. In the wild they would enjoy food containing tannin such as oak leaves and tree bark. They also like treats such as peanut butter, cheese and popcorn, but be careful not to over indulge your crabs.

Now you've seen how simple hermit crab care can be, you may be tempted to introduce a couple into your household.

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Tod Schaffer is a Hermit Crab enthusiast who has vast experience of raising Hermit Crabs. For more information about Hermit Crab Care,Visit Hermit Crab Cente.