More of Our Critters
Another critter we have is hermit crabs.
We have had hermit crabs for the last few years now. We had several that passed away a couple years ago, then about a year to a year & 1/2 ago, we got a few more. The crabs we had previously lived a couple years. Of course, I have no idea how old they were.
Although relatively easy to care for, hermit crabs do have a couple of needs that are required in order for their survival. The require a relatively high humidity, but you have be careful not to get too high, or you'll be growing bacterias too! Yuck! I give my crabs 2 water dishes. . . in one dish is "regular" water - they need it dechlorinated, etc, like fish. In the other dish, they get that water (dechlorinated, etc) with 1/4 tsp of "salt" - not table salt, but hermit crab salt. The amount you add depends on the size of your water dish. But this gives them some "oceany" type water & they can choose the type of water they need to regulate their bodies. Hermit crabs store water in their shell to help keep their humidity up and all that.
One of the BEST hermit crab pages I have found is:
She has an awesome page with lots & lots of info!
I've not had a hermit crab that molted before, but just today (05/24/07), this am, I found one of my crabs molted during the nite! I found him at the water dish & actually inititally thought I had 2 dead crabs! ("His" skeleton was on the other side of the cage. I took him out carefully & placed him into a seperate cage to allow his new skeleton time to harden in safety, just in case any of the others decided to get a little feisty or mean!
I took some pics to share.
On another note, although I did take a few pics, hermit crabs that molted should not be disturbed! They are very stressed due to their high vulnerablity at this time.
View our Hermie pics HERE. These pics were all taken on May 24th & May 28th, 2007. (New pics added 05/28/07)
Hermit crab books I have:
Land Hermit Crabs by Philippe de Vosjoli