Building Your Hermit Crabs Habitats & Setting Up His Tank
First you must be thinking, “a hermit crab needs a home?” Well yes and no. The hermit crabs habitats don’t need a fancy home like a hamster or chinchilla, but the new tank or cage should be as appealing and enjoyable as possible, since this will be his new home for life. Aside from dumping your hermit crab in an enclosure, how do you create a happy and healthy environment for your hermit crab?
It’s safe to assume that your hermit crabs habitats was a tropical and humid environment. That being said, you will want to add items to the environment to make it as close to a tropical paradise as possible.
Many question what kind of tank to purchase for their hermit crabs. If you have a glass or plastic tank already, that works just fine! Always remember that your hermit crabs are sneaky and they are known as escape artists, which mean you’ll need to ensure a safe environment by placing a lid on the top of the tank. Otherwise you will be searching around the home for hours.
If you are perusing your local pet store, you’ll likely notice little lightweight plastic enclosures marketed as “hermit crab kits.” It’s best to not purchase these kinds of kits, as they are way too small for your hermit crab.
As a good rule of thumb, try to purchase a tank or terrarium which is at least 10 gallons or larger. You will want ample space not only for your hermit crab, but also for all the cool and exciting accessories as well as water and food bowls.
Adding Substrate – The Floor Covering
You can envision the substrate of your hermit crabs habitat as the carpeting. To closely match its natural environment in the wild, your first choice should be sand, which is also a great substance for your little guy to bury himself. Hermit crabs love to dig and burrow, which is a natural behavior of theirs.
Oftentimes it is easier to purchase special sand from the pet store for your hermit crabs habitats. If you want to use regular sand for playgrounds found at local home improvement stores, you will want to sterilize the sand by rinsing, drying, and then baking (300°F) the sand.
There are obviously other options for your substrate. Certain types of substrate material consist of a coconut-based fiber. This substrate is ground and crushed so finely it looks similar to soil, which makes good burrowing material. You can also consider crushed coral. Two substrate materials you will want to avoid is gravel and wood shavings, like what would be used in a hamster cage.
What Temperature Does My Crab Prefer?
If you want to keep your little guy happy, you will want to maintain a cage or tank temperature of between 72 and 80° F. If the temperature drops below 72 with any type of regularity, your hermit crab may show signs of stress and weakness and would be more susceptible to illness.
Unless you live in a tropical climate, you will want to use a heater to keep the environment of your hermit crab happy and healthy. Many hermit crab owners use both a heater and heating lights to maintain proper temperature.
Humidity
Keeping just the proper temperature won’t keep your hermit crab healthy and happy, but you will also want to consider the humidity of the cage. Crabs are land animals for the most part, and they breathe using gills. The proper amount of oxygen in the air is dependant on the humidity in the air. Should the air be too dry, the crab essentially suffocates.
Crabs require between 70 and 80 percent humidity in order to breathe properly. There are a few steps you can take to increase the humidity of your hermit crab environment, including adding a water dish and using a natural sea sponge in the dish as well.
The sponge holds quite a bit of water, and in addition, had more surface area than the water dish alone to increasing the level of evaporation.
Now you have the basic essentials to maintaining a happy and healthy hermit crab who will provide fun and love for years to come.
