Natural Habitat of the Land Hermit Crab
Many hermit crab owners wonder just what life their little crustaceans live when they are in the wild in their natural habitat. Land hermit crabs are definitely one of the most interesting, exciting, and exotic pets you can own, and understanding more about their natural habitat will benefit you and your hermit crab, and will keep your hermit crab happy and healthy for the long term.
Land hermit crabs in their natural environment are most always found in proximity to the ocean, usually in tropical areas, but given their name, spend most of their time on land. This is their ideal environment because land hermit crabs crave humidity. Although hermit crabs are land animals, they breathe through gills by taking moisture from the air.
Like countless other people, you may have thought that hermit crabs are “crabby” animals when around others, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Despite their name and title, hermit crabs are really quite social animals. Hermit crabs are so social that when you adopt one, you will want to adopt two or three more if possible.
We know some hermit crab lovers who bring home a dozen hermit crabs at a time, but make sure you have a large enough tank.
The Amazing Burrowing Land Hermit Crabs!
One natural tendency of land hermit crabs is that they love to dig and burrow! Hermit crabs are very curious too and investigative. When they are traveling and bump into an object or another crab, they don’t always know how to go around so they end up crawling right over top or underneath the obstacle. Sometime this causes some hilarious “problems” when the object is another land hermit crab.
An unfamiliar fact of the hermit crabs is that they are born in the ocean. Once mama hermit crab lays her eggs in the sand on the shore, the tide comes in and sweeps the eggs into the ocean where they hatch with very small baby hermit crabs.
Due to the fact that the baby hermit crabs are born in the ocean, they are able to naturally survive because they have gills similar to the gills on fish. The baby hermit crabs just extract oxygen from the water to breathe.
After a period of time, these little creatures make their way back to the shore. The baby hermit crabs are only 5 mm long at this point, and once they get to land, their first instinct is to seek out a tiny shell to make their first home.
Why is Humidity Important?
In these initial stages of the hermit crab’s life, a humid environment is critically important. High humidity is required for further gill development, which needs to be kept moist. Hermit crabs also rely on this humidity on land as opposed to the ocean for drinking too.
If you have ever been to the beach in the evening, you may have seen small baby hermit crabs migrating to the water line. It is in this place these land hermit crabs can breathe the air of the dew that surrounds the beach at night.
The shell that the hermit crab occupies is the shelter and protection of the crab. When the hermit crab is out of his shell, he is very vulnerable to predators. When the crab is out of his shell, he is very inactive to the point you’ll think there is a health concern. However, the most activity you will see a “naked” crab complete is to burrow himself in the sand.
Now that you have a good understanding of the needs and desires of your land hermit crab, you can taken even better care of him!
