4 Elements Of Basic Hermit Crab Care
Either your kids have convinced you to bring home a cute
, cuddly hermit crab or you wanted them all for yourself as an easy pet. Your hermit crabs are now at your home, but you are just not sure how to properly care for them to keep them as healthy and happy as possible.
There are tons of other parents or hermit crab enthusiasts who are in the same boat you are, and interestingly enough, it seems as if the more hermit crabs you bring home, the easier your duties become, relatively speaking, because hermit crabs are so much happier and healthier in a group than as individuals.
There are four basic elements you will want to pay special attention to when caring for your hermit crabs, including temperature of your hermit crabs environment, humidity of the tank, substrate, and diet.
1. Tank Temperature
It is critical to understand where your hermit crab came from before stopping for a visit at your local pet store and then making his way to your home. Your hermit crabs came from more tropical and warmer regions of the globe, including much of the Caribbean, Central America, and other parts along the equator. These regions have a warmer and more consistent temperature, and are healthier to the hermit crabs.
You will want to recreate similar temperatures in your hermit crab cage to keep your hermit crabs as healthy as possible. Your hermit crabs should never be exposed to temperatures lower than 72 degrees, as it can create huge health issues.
Understandably, you also do not want to have your hermit crab get too hot, so it is best to not keep the cage in direct sunlight. You will notice your crabs are overheating by a musty smell and he will also be discharging a brown liquid.
2. Tank Humidity
Nearly as important as your hermit crabs temperature when caring for your hermit crab is humidity. In order to properly care for your hermit crab, you will want to maintain consistent levels of humidity at levels of at least 70 percent. You can purchase a hydrometer from your local pet store to make sure the humidity levels maintain at such constant levels.
3. Substrate
Most new hermit crab owners are unaware of the importance of substrate in your hermit crabs cage. Simply put, substrate is just a material on the floor of your hermit crab that allows them to dig, crawl around, and bury. Proper substrate is most important when caring for your hermit crab and helps to make them feel comfortable and at home.
Sand is a common choice for substrate since it mimics that of his natural habitat near the water, but make sure to purchase store bought sand specifically for hermit crabs, as it is sterilized unlike playground sand.
Many other owners choose other materials such as pebbles and shredded coconut husk, but never use gravel for your substrate, which can be harmful to your hermit crab. You will also want to make sure your substrate is deep enough so your crab can dig and burrow without reaching the cage heater, usually between 1 to 2 inches of substrate is recommended.
4. Hermit Crab Diet
One final critical element of hermit crab care is your hermit crabs diet. If your hermit crab was in the wild, he would find foods which have fallen to the ground like fruits, plants, and grasses. It is been documented that to properly care for your hermit crabs, diets rich in calcium, carotene, and antioxidants are important.
When crabs are deficient in certain elements, for example, carotene, your hermit crab will actually change color, going from a healthy brown to a gray color. Feeding your hermit crab brightly colored vegetables like carrots can help prevent such issues.
A variety of fruit, vegetables, and even meats and fish can help keep your hermit crabs in great health to live for decades to come.
by: Jessica Peloski
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