subject: How To Build Thriving Hermit Crab Habitats [print this page] Gone are the days when typical pets included only dogs and cats. Today, pet owners have a more exotic and diverse collection of household pets including parrots, chinchillas, and even hermit crabs. Pet crabs can be an extremely easy and fun pet to care for. They are playful, social, and have unique attributes which make them extremely entertaining.
Amongst the unusual list of pets, are the unique and colorful creatures, known as the hermit crabs. They are getting to be more popular to have as household pets. Pet crabs are associated with the crustacean family. As opposed to normal crabs found in the wilderness, pet hermit crabs have a vulnerable soft underbelly. To protect themselves from predators in nature, they reside in abandoned animal shells like sea snails and because they are so unique, it is a more natural habitat for them for the long term.
All these pet crabs require is a few critical elements to ensure they are safe and well cared for to maintain optimal health. There are both aquatic and terrestrial crabs in the wild. Crabs found on land are usually found in the tropics and water or aquatic crabs reside in more shallow waters.
Under regular and proper hermit crab habitat conditions that hermit crabs have the ability to live upwards of 30 years. To help maintain this longevity in health and life, there are a few aspects to consider below.
* Pet crabs are very curious and creative by nature and will want to do lots of climbing in their terrarium. You will want to prevent crowding by giving your crabs plenty of room to crawl and move around.
* The specific hermit crab habitat can vary greatly in the ones you find in the pet stores. The type of terrarium you choose will also be dictated by the number of hermit crabs you wish to keep. Remember, since they are so social creatures, more is better.
* Generally speaking, a 10 gallon glass aquarium tank is spacious enough for two medium sized crabs.
* The lid of the terrarium needs to be closed as tightly as possible to prevent their curious escape.
* It is good to consider the temperature of the terrarium as well as humidity. Good rule of thumb is that the proper temperature for the habitat is not lower than 72 degrees with a humidity level of approximately 70 percent.
* Substrate is an additional and important component of the terrarium which special attention should be made. Typically your choices are shredded coconut shells or special sand to replicate the beach setting.
