Hermit Crabs

Generally, a hermit crab will not leave it's old shell until it has a good option in it's claws. If your crab leaves it's shell and does not pick up a new one right away, there is likely another issue going on that you should be concerned about.

The abdomen of the crab is very delicate and soft. The abdomen also requires moisture to keep it supple and healthy, and the crab keeps water in it's shell just for this. The crab will not risk exposing it's abdomen for long unless there is a very real issue going on.

There are several reasons a crab may leave it's shell and won't pick up a new one.

One reason may be that the crab has been in a shell that has a sharp ridge or an irritant in it that has caused injury to the abdomen over time. If a crab has an injury that prevents if from picking up a new shell, it is likely he will die, as he will think that every shell he puts on has an irritant in it, when actually it is the injury to the abdomen.

Another reason may actually be that an irritant has gotten into the crab's shell, and in this case, you should remove the shell the crab has dropped, boil it for a few minutes in dechlorinated water, rinse and cool it off, then spray a little ocean salt water into the opening and place it with the hole up so he can easily slide in if he chooses. Don't be concerned if he tips the shell over and gets substrate in it, he can clean it out himself at this point.

Please note that while painted shells may be fun to look at, they can be a health hazard for your crab. With the moisture that a crab must keep in his shell, paint that may have gotten inside the shell when it was painted will become wet, then dry, causing the crab's abdomen to be permanently stuck within the shell. This always leads to death. The crabs are always forced into these shells, so there could be an irritant inside that the crab would have avoided to begin with, but he was forced to take the shell he has. Painted shells should be strongly discouraged. Do not purchase painted shells for your crabs. The paint is also possibly toxic for them. It may be non toxic for humans, but has never been tested on crabs.

Another reason he may leave his shell is because he has suffered heat damage at some point in the past few weeks. This can happen by using heat rocks (a definite no-no in a hermit crab tank) as they can heat up to over 100*F, which is a dangerous temperature for a hermit crab. It will also dry him out if he is sitting on it, also killing him. This can also happen if you are using an under tank heater without a thermostat attached to control the temperature. If you use an under tank heater, use a probe type thermometer to take the temperature of the substrate over the center of the heating mat. If it is over 82*F, you should unplug it until you can get a thermostat to maintain the temp below 82*F. A crab burrowed down over a too-hot heating pad will also "cook", and the symptoms may not be apparent for several weeks. A crab does not recover from heat damage, it is permanent and deadly.

Do not try to force your crab into a new shell. If you really must encourage him to take a new shell, place several clean shells spritzed with ocean salt water in the openings into a container and place your crab in the container with them. Then set the container into the crabitat so the temp and humidity are good for him, and just leave him alone. It may be best to cover his part of the tank so that outside movement does not startle him. he is extremely stressed, or he would not be out of his shell without picking up another to begin with.

Land hermit crabs can live many years if properly cared for. I have had one for over 11 years now. If your crab dies after three months- or worse, one week!- then you either bought a sick crab or you're doing something very wrong. something wrong meaning feeding too much or to little not wetting the sponge very often, changing the water every day or giving them baths

and i have one too and it dies lastnight or today. we have him for 5 months.

Marine hermit crabs live underwater and can sometimes be found in tidepools. Land hermit crabs do not live in the water but need fresh and salt water to survive.

Crab's mouths are either in the middle of their head or just under their shell below their eyestalks. Each species has a slightly different mouth, but the majority have mandibles and maxillae that cover other internal mouthparts.

Though it is impossible in captivity, wild land hermit crabs have babies. The female lays eggs in the ocean that hatch into small zoea that live in the tide for several weeks until they emerge on shore and find their first shell.

Moslty marine worms and bivalve mollusks

The shells can be any color. It depends on what they have available to change into. The crab itself can be a variety of colors, depending on what type they are. Some common hermit crab colors are red, pink, brown, and purple.

They shouldn't be too far out. When I was on the beach in Texas, USA they were all over the beach on in shallow water. But you have to look inside the shell. Unless you see them moving you won't know that they are a hermit crab.

Most crabs are omnivorous, meaning they eat whatever they can get. They feed mostly on algae but take other food including worms, molluscs and other crustaceans, bacteria, fungi and other organic waste depending on the species and their availability. Most crabs eat both plant and animal matter, but some are specialized to eat plankton or shellfish, and some actually catch fish.

you need to fill up the food bowl/plate/etc. up whenever it empties, wet the sponge with water every time it dries, keep the crabitat warm and humid, etc, and when it's molting, do whatever the answer to that say. DO NOT GIVE IT BATHS.

Paper nautilus, conch shell, whelk shells, british pearl shells, and scallop shells. :)

Answer: Usually a sea snail's.

in a ten or five gallon tank, you can use one of the lids especially made for those tanks. Those are the only cages hermit crabs can live in, so if you don't have a glass 10 gallon tank, get one! Make sure the lid has airholes

It will either stay out of it's shell or have a shell fight with another crab to take its shell.

I do not recommend letting your crab have no shell for very long though, it makes them very vulnerable and stressed out making them a good target for other crabs to harm.

baby hermit crab is usually 1 and a half inches They start out life in the ocean less than the size of a pinhead and swim around for a time before they settle to the bottom and pick up their first shell and move to land.

If your Hermit Crab has babies then leave them. You would hate it if the mother abandoned the babies and they died. Leave the litter for 2 - 4 months atleast until they get a shell and their skeloton hardens. Look after them propoly.

Pet smart has them I think petco has theme to. or you can try CL someone may have some to re home. do not give your hermit crabs painted shells if you buy a hermit crab with a painted shell it was probly fourced in. sorry about my spilling

Some say they are like snails & can produce with out a mate. Land hermit crabs have them on land & water ones in water.

Hermit crabs need a male & female to make babies. They meet at the shore where they mate. The female then leaves with her fertilized eggs. About a month later, she will return to release her eggs into the ocean where they hatch immediately on contact with the water. The babies float & develop (looking like see-through lobsters for a bit) for about another month or so before coming onshore to have their first molt and shell. Once they have had their first molt on land, they are then unable to be under water for extended periods without drowning & begin their life onshore.

the crab will sooner or later die off DO NOT REMOVE THE HERMIT CRAB SHELL if a crab dies out of it dries out and its a slow death so for the sake of the crab DO NOT REMOVE THE CRAB SHELL

Biologists have identified various species with very limited evidence of aging, like some rockfish, lobsters, etc; which feature they might refer to as "limited senescense." There does exist the suggestion that despite the absence of other limiting factors, size itself may impose a limit on the organism's functionality, at some point they will grow too large and be unable to support their own bulk. Anecdotal evidence exists for a dead crab's shell recovered which was several feet across estimated to have lived for hundreds of years.

In many living organisms including humans, a mechanism exists when cells undergo division, wherein the replicated DNA in the nucleus has a specific amount trimmed off the end (telomere), somewhat like the aglet on the end of a shoelace. After a certain number of replications when the maximum amount has been trimmed off the DNA "unravels" and the cell goes into senescence, or the cell self-destructs (apoptosis).

Answer: About the size of a softball at 15 years old.

Hermit crabs do need a night and day cycle to their lives to remain healthy. If one cannot provide a natural light during the day, one should invest in a light fixture. As for the night cycle one is not needed, but if one needs the extra warmth in the crabitat, one would use a moon glow bulb with a rare phosphorus coating to simulate the moon.

it is sick you should take it too a vet...