Crabzilla.net - Frequently Asked Questions

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Are hermit crabs exotic?

In the continental United States, there is only one native species of land hermit crab, the purple pincher, or C. clypeatus. Most people do not consider that species, at least, exotic. However, many people do refer to less commonly found species, like strawberries (C. perlatus) or indos (C. brevimanus) as exotics - and since they're not found natively in the US, they are!

Can a hermit crab live alone?

While a hermit crab can live alone, they do fare much better if they're kept at least in pairs. In the wild, hermit crabs gather in large numbers, and they do appear to engage in at leat some basic social activity when kept together in captivity.

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Can aquarium sand be used for hermit crabs?

Yes, aquarium sand (as opposed to aquarium gravel) makes a very good substrate for hermit crabs. It does tend to be expensive though, so if you do want to use aquarium sand, you may want to buy some play sand from your local hardware store as well, and mix them together, especially if you have a large tank!

Do hermit crabs mate?

They do mate, in a manner of speaking, but they cannot breed in captivity, so this should not be a major concern for hermit crab owners. When hermit crabs mate, the male hermit crab positions the female hermit crab in front of him and passes spermatophore packets into her gonopores, where the female hermit crab's eggs are fertilized. In the wild when a female hermit crab is ready to release her eggs, she releases them into the ocean. Up to this point, scientists have successfully kept hermit crab larvae in captivity, unfortunately they've never (to my knowledge) successfully raised hermit crabs through all their larval stages due to the difficulty in recreating just the right conditions.

Do hermit crabs have blood?

Hermit crabs do have blood of a sort, but it is not like mamallian blood because their physiology is so different. It is very unlikely you'll ever see blood on your hermit crab because any time a wound is bad enough that it doesn't quickly clot, the hermit crab tends to drop the wounded limb to avoid bleeding to death.

Do hermit crabs eat fish flakes?

Land hermit crabs can eat fish flakes and various other fish foods, like bloodworms, krill, or algae wafers. These foods, however, should not be the only food that a hermit crab is fed. Hermit crabs need a wider variety of food than most fish, though they do have certain favorites in common.

Finding shells the right size for my hermit crabs is impossible! Help!

One of the best places I know of to find shells in a specific size is Naples Sea Shell Company.

If you aren't sure what size to buy, you can even email them for help!

How do I make homemade hermit crab food?

I don't have my own recipe for a staple hermit crab food, but here are a few resources:

crabstreetjournal.com

has a section filled with recipes for staple foods as well as recipes for supplimental foods. You may have to register to access this feature.

The Yahoo group Epicurean_Hermit

also has a lot of good food ideas, research, and recipes.

If you'd rather come up with your own recipes, the safe food list can be found here.

How do you get rid of mites on hermit crabs?

Mites can certainly be hard to get rid of. The most common method is to completely remove any substrate, and very thoroughly clean the crab tank, especially any corners or trim where they may be hiding. Substrate should be temporarily replaced by a thin layer of sand or another inorganic substance. All crabs in the affected tank should be bathed in a solution of double strength salt water at least daily, and any mites found on crabs after they've been bathed should be removed manually with a q-tip or similar and drowned. This bathing process should be continued daily until no mites have been found for a few weeks. Similar tank cleaning should be done as often as possible until the mites are gone.

Obviously, this method for getting rid of mites is both labor intensive and stressful for the crabs. There is one other option I know of, the introduction of another species of mite that will prey on the larvae of the mites that infect a hermit crab tank. This process is described here.

While pricier, this method is both easier on the infected hermit crabs and their human owners.

How do you keep a crabitat humid?

There are several ways to make a crabitat more humid, the easiest of which is probably misting the crabitat. The only problem with misting is that it tends to cause a temporary spike in humidity, followed by a return to lower humidity. To help prevent rapid loss of humidity it helps to mist items in the crabitat that will absorb the water and slowly wick moisture into the air, such as items made from wood or terra cotta. Another easy way to keep the crabitat humid on a more steady basis is to dampen the substrate. Another possibility is to use air stones to make bubble pools or to put other water features in your crabitat. Even if you don't choose to make your water dishes into bubble pools, putting a damp sponge into each pool can promote evaporation and improve humidity slightly. Using dampened coconut fiber substrate is probably the most effective and long lasting way to keep a dry crabitat humid, though it may end up causing too much humidity if it is used as the sole substrate, especially when it's freshly made and very damp.

How can I tell whether my hermit crabs are male or female?

It isn't easy to tell whether hermit crabs are male or female. The only real distinguishing outward feature, the gonopores found on female hermit crabs, are usually hidden by the shell a hermit crab is wearing. If your hermit crab stretches very far out of its shell, though, they may be visible.

My hermit crab changed color! What happened?

Hermit crabs will almost always change color, at least a little, throughout the course of their lifetime. Hermit crab coloration is determined by species, nutrition, and genetics. The most dramatic and long lasting hermit crab color changes are caused by long term nutrition. For more information, see the section of crabzilla.net that talks about color enhancing foods. In addition, almost all hermit crabs are ashy looking just before they molt and paler than normal just afterward, though these changes fade fairly quickly back to normal after the molt is complete.

What are hermit crabs' favorite foods?

Like humans, all hermit crabs are going to like different things, but here are some of our crabs' favorites: natural honey, raisins, sweet potatoes, tahini (sesame seed paste), rose petals, shrimp, and coconut. They are also big fans of freeze dried crickets and krill.

What are some hermit crab feeding behaviors?

Hermit crabs find food largely by smell, so they tend to find smelly foods faster than other foods. Since they smell with their antennas, you'll often see a hermit crab checking out food antennae first. Usually then they will use their larger claw to break off pieces or hold chunks of food and their smaller claw to bring pieces to their mouth parts. Hermit crabs are scavengers in the wild, and are "hard wired" to vary their diet, and they will not readily feed on the same food meal after meal, so providing a variety of foods is really important. Hermit crabs will often try to get territorial about the food dish as well, trying to push all the other hermit crabs away from the food. Usually this is fairly harmless pushing and the territorial hermit crab loses interest and gives the other crabs a chance to eat in short order.

What are some safe foods for hermit crabs?

What do I do if my hermit crab is holding onto something and won't let go?

Under most circumstances, I would recommend waiting. Eventually the hermit crab will move/let go. However, sometimes waiting is not an option - for instance if the something the hermit crab is holding onto happens to be a finger! In cases where you just can't wait for your hermit crab to let go of something of its own accord, the best way to try to get it to let go is to slowly pour some lukewarm water on the claw, making sure the crab is on a steady surface so it feels safe if possible. Generally this makes the crab open its claw, but this method can be somewhat stressful for the hermit crab. Think of it as the equivalent of suddenly having a bucket of water dropped on your head. Surprise!

What fresh vegetables do hermit crabs like?

All hermit crabs are going to have different favorites, but our hermit crabs really love sweet potatoes, yams, carrots, peas, and eggplant.

Where do they sell hermit crabs?

In the US you can find hermit crabs for sale in almost all pet stores (chains and independent stores alike), as well as in kiosks in malls. Depending on their supplier, different stores may carry different species (and they may even carry different species different times of the year), so it pays to shop around and check back occasionally!

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