Have fresh water in one bowl for drinking, and in another bowl have sea water for bathing. Sea water can be made up with Hermit Crab Salt and water follow the measurements on the packet for the correct ratio. Use heavy, solid bowls for the water as hermit crabs love to climb and can tip over the water if a lightweight container is used. Food Hermit crabs need to be fed daily and in little amounts at a time to ensure the food is fresh. Suitable foods to feed your hermit crab are fish pellets, breads, cereals, apples and other fruits, and shredded coconut.
Moulting Hermit crabs moult their outer skin usually twice a year. The old skins that your hermit crab moults off are usually eaten. Allow them to eat their old skins as this is a rich source of calcium. Shells Usually after moulting, hermit crabs will change the shell they the live in. Provide the hermit crabs with some spare shells in the aquarium. It is essential you provide shells that are slightly larger than the previous one as your hermit crabs are continuously growing.
Fighting Fighting can be an issue if your aquarium is over populated and crowed. You might need to get a larger aquarium if too many crabs live together, and add more climbing ornaments to space the crabs out.
Some hermit crabs might get aggressive and pull other crabs out of their shells to steal. It is important to have enough spare shells to avoid this happening. Health Common health problems with hermit crabs include stress and poisoning, so make sure you keep a close eye on them.
Signs of stress include inactiveness, sluggish, and leaving their shells. Stress can be caused from overcrowding and bullying, living alone, being dropped on their shells, or extreme temperatures either too hot, or too cold. Hermit crabs can be easily poisoned from cleaning sprays and detergents used around the house, and only a small amount can be fatal.
A study in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found that around , hermit crabs die annually from getting caught in plastic debris on two tropical islands in the South Pacific.
When these trapped crabs die, they release a pheromone signal to other crabs that there may be a shell available, which lures even more crabs into a death trap. All rights reserved.
Common Name: Hermit crabs. Scientific Name: Paguroidea. Type: Invertebrates. Diet: Omnivore. Weight: 1. Share Tweet Email. Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London.
Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help. Hermit Crabs require saltwater for bathing. This should be provided in a separate bowl to their fresh drinking water. Hermit Crabs live in other creatures discarded shells. As they grow they will leave their old shell and find another larger one to move into.
A few spare shells, which should be only slightly larger than their current one, should be kept in the enclosure for such occasions. Like other crabs, as they grow hermit crabs need to cast off their outer skeleton, this usually occurs about twice a year.
After the crab has moulted it needs to be left alone for several weeks until its new skeleton hardens. After moulting, the skin is usually left on the floor. Crabs will eat this skin as it is rich in calcium. They may eat this discarded old skin before you know they have actually moulted. Crabs will usually bury in the substrate for a week or so while their skin hardens up.
Make sure there is plenty of food and water in their enclosure even if they are inactive. Hermit crabs are opportunistic, scavenging omnivores that feed upon a wide variety of foods such as fruit, vegetables, insects and even carrion. In captivity, food should be available to hermit crabs at all times and placed in shallow dishes to prevent fouling of the tank.
A dry commercial hermit crab flake or pellet can be used as the primary source of food. Fresh fruits and vegetables such as apple, carrot, kale and banana should be offered times per week. Hermit crabs will also readily accept dead insects such as dried mealworms, and crickets which can be coated with a calcium and vitamin supplement.
Some species of hermit crabs such as the strawberry hermit crab may develop bright red and orange colouration when fed foods that are high in carotenes such as cooked carrot, sweet potato and papaya. Many crabs fall victim to poisoning without their owners realizing it.
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