Basic Land Hermit Crab Care

Land Hermit Crabs aren't as hard to look after as you might first think, and once you have the full set up, they are relatively inexpensive to maintain.

I'll list here some basic Land Hermit Crab care as well as basic Crabitat care.

First of all, please don't buy one or two Land Hermits, I know their name would suggest they are lonesome critter, but they are actually very social and will get lonely without friends, In fact ours split themselves into family groups in different sections of the Crabitat.

Land Hermit Crabs come from tropical regions so need to be kept in warm humid conditions, provided you maintain the right humidity, a substrate they can dig and bury themselves in, fresh water and sea water, food, extra shells of different sizes, hiding places and lots of climbing toys, your Hermit should live a long happy life.

Land Hermit Crabs breath using a type of gill, but not quite like fish as they don't need to be submerged in water to breath, but they do need to be kept moist in order to breath, that's why they need to live in warm humid conditions, without this they will suffocate, this is the number one reason for Hermit Crab deaths. Using a humidity gauge you will need to keep the humidity between (70% and 80%).

You'll also need a temperature gauge, you'll need to keep the Crabitat at around (70-79 oF or 21-27oC) you'll find heat pads from a reptile shop works well for this, we use 2 heat pads for our 2ft tank, but you may need more depending on how warm your house is over night as well as in the winter when the temperatures drop suddenly, you need to try and keep a constant temperature.

Sand is one of the best substrates, we like to use Crabworx land hermit crab gravel by Hagen, the reason for this as it doesn't get too heavy when wet/damp, some sands can get too heavy, and when the hermit buries himself he can find it hard to dig his way out again. Please do not go down the the beach and collect sand, this sand could be contaminated leading to the death of your Crabs.

Extra shells - you will need lots of these of all different sizes, and think ahead at what sizes you will need a few years down the road too.

You will find listed on this site UK Product Suppliers where you maybe be able to purchase shells, or we have ordered some off ebay and some USA suppliers.

We have also bought shells from seaside shops, bags or baskets of shells for under a pound, as long as you boil them for at least 5 mins, leave them cool then wash in clean water, they'll be safe for your Hermits.

Water - you'll need both fresh drinking water and sea water, if you use tap water you'll need to use a dechlorinizer water conditioner to make the water safe for your Hermits, you can buy these at any good tropical fish supplier. Your Hermits will also need salt water, most pet stores forget this but its very important for their well being, Land Hermits use the salt water for bathing and regulating their salinity within their shell, most people don't realize that Land Hermit carry water about with them inside their shells, this stops them dehydrating.

Please NEVER use table salt to make this water up, this will kill your Hermit Crab, use a good marine salt, which you can buy at any good tropical fish supplier. You'll need to put a sea sponge in the water dishes, this has too reasons, one it helps to disperse the water to help with the humidity, it also stops the Hermits getting stuck in the water and drowning, we have found our Hermits also like to drink from the sea sponges.

You can create a sea water bath by adding five tablespoons (5tbspns) of Marine Salt to a Gallon (4 Litres) of water. This equates to roughly 1 1/4 tablespoon per Quart/Litre.

Daily care

• Refill both water dishes.
• empty the food dishes and clean them, and refill.
• check the temperature and the humidity.
• spray the crabitat with water treated with dechlorinizer water conditioner.

Weekly care

• Clean the water dishes and wash the spongers.
• Remove any food or feces from the sand.
• Clean the empty shells and return to the Crabitat.

Monthly or longer.

• If you can give the Crabitat a good clean, change the substrate, clean the wood etc. every 2-6 months.
• Clean the Crabitat walls, because they get covered in water spray etc. every month.
• Any wood, chola, driftwood, bogwood can be put in the microwave for about 2 mins to kill any bacteria and mold.

Material written by marg
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