Crab Habitat
A Quick Guide to Hermit Crab Habitat
You may think that keeping your new hermit crab in a little box is going to be fine, but if that’s the case you are in for a surprise, because it won’t be long before you will be heading back to the pet store to get a real hermit crab habitat. May pet stores do not even have salespeople who can give you proper hermit crab care instructions, and many don’t know exactly what kind of crab habitat your hermit crab is going to need for a long, healthy life.
To begin, hermit crabs are cute, friendly, and not hard to take care of, but initially you will need to plan on spending some money to get all of the proper equipment to responsibly care for a hermit crab. You will need an enclosure, preferably at least a ten-gallon glass aquarium, two bowls or saucers for water and one for food, a substrate like sand for the bottom of the tank, a tank lid, a thermometer, a hydrometer for measuring humidity, warming lights or under-tank warmer, wooden or plastic shelters, an assortment of shells for use after molting, and something for the hermit crabs to climb on, such as rocks or plants.
Once you have all of these items you need to put together a hermit crab habitat, and you need to do it before you bring your crab or crabs home from the pet store. First of all, you should never buy one single hermit crab. The minimum should be two to three. Hermit crabs are not hermits at all but actually very social and need the stimulation and company they get from other crabs.
The very first tank you buy should be glass and the size that holds ten gallons of water. You will need a cover. A mesh lid will do but if you have a dry house, you will need an enclosed cover to keep moisture inside. Crabs die if they have insufficient humidity. Both the temperature and the humidity will need to have gauges you can check daily.
Crab habitat needs substrate for the crabs to dig in and make tunnels and caves. You can buy special sand for crabs but any old sand, such as the kind from a hardware store will work just as well and be cheaper. Crabs can’t have wood chips or gravel but there is a coconut fiber substrate that works very well.
Your crab habitat needs to have two water dishes, one with salt water and one with regular water. Both should be big enough for the crabs to cover themselves with water. Do not use tap water unless you have a way to remove the chlorine as it can kill a crab. You also need to have salt water but table salt also won’t do. Go to the fish section of your pet store ad get a mix for making salt water.
Your temperature and humidity levels in a hermit crab habitat must always be in the 75-85 degree range. If your home is not this warm or humid, you are going to want to get an under-the-tank heater or a special warming bulb you can get at the pet store. You should also get three extra shells for each crab so that they can choose a new one after molting.