Hermit Crabs

the hermit crab will either eat or use an empty snail shell that would then be abandoned. all thx to mrs. perrins enviormental science class :)

Answer - Commensalistic .

It's likely... also if you hold it up and gently wiggle it, and it's loose or it falls out of the shell, maybe, but try leaving it in the cage more cause it might be molting(shedding).

It depends on how many hermit crabs you are getting. It needs enough space for a food and water bowl, a small toy, and atleast five feet of free crawl space. You also need two or three shells for when it gets bigger as it ages and grows.

No, hermit crab mites are specific to hermit crabs and will not harm you or your pets.

hermit crabs never actually live with their parents. the female carries the eggs until they are ready to hatch and then cast them off into the sea. they hatch in the water and live as free floating plankton for a while, before getting on land and finding a shell, quite possibly nowhere near their parents.

No, unfortunately they can't... Hermit crabs lay their eggs in the ocean, they are born without shells, and eat plankton. If you have a very large aquarium, and can manage to make a mini-saltwater ocean inside as well as dry land, it could be possible... Remember that the ocean must have a proper amount of salt! (table salt is harmful to hermit crabs too...)

The conditions may not be right for the crab.

Make sure the humidity levels are at 70-80% and that the heat is at about 75-80 degrees.

Sometimes though crabs will stay in there shells for a long time to de-stress from being moved from the pet store to your house. Some crabs take months to de-stress and other only take a day or two. Your crab may also come out at night while you're not around.

its brenda the hermit crab i own it it was so expensive

Hermit crabs are scavengers and will eat anything. You can feed them any veggie as long as it's organic.

Hermit crabs can eat all fruits and veggies, sea salted nuts, egg shells, egg yolk, egg whites, even lean (not fatty) meats.

Stay AWAY from human food like twinkies and seasoned foods, it has harmful ingredients to the hermies.

Try to handle your crabs as often as you can. Let them walk on the palm of your hand, make your hand flat and stretch out your hand, so no excess skin is there for the crab to picnch on if he gets scared.

Play with your crab, let them walk around on your bedroom floor, but watch them carefully. You can also hand feed your hermit crab, if you want to buy the kit, it is at

thehermitcrabpatch.com (:

well you will have to really do nothing a crab dosent die from simple things in the wild its just a part of nature.

In the wild hermit crabs are scavengers, so whenever they can! In captivity mine eat every night as soon as I cut the lights. Hermit crabs, like most other sea creatures, spend most of their day constantly foraging for food. They don't have set mealtimes.

The horseshoe crab habitat is shallow coastal waters with soft sandy or muddy bottoms; occasionally they come ashore to mate. Geographically they can be found in locations including the east coast of North America, Japan, and Thailand.

Well, if crabs have big enough tanks they are fine for a while but if not you can let them crawl on clean, safe, low surfaces and some even clamp to the tips of your fingure! Anything safe will do, they're shells arren't the strongest so be sure that it's safe. Let them crawl on your hands and what not. I own 5 hermit's of my own X) Good luck!

They are crabs. They are known as ghost crabs because some have transparent bodies, while others, like the Atlantic ghost crab are yellowish. They can scuttle around at about 10 mph, thus making them run away so fast it seems as if they disappear like a ghost.

No. Only vertebrates have spines. Crabs are invertebrates.

By itself maybe 1 year. But with friends they can live up to 15 years but there was one woman who raised her hermit crabs for over 30 years

They drink water but NOT tap water. it have chlorne in it that burns the hermit crabs gills. give them distilled or spring water. they also need a salt water dish, so that can bath in it, the salt heals them. Never use table salt. use Sea Salt instead. :)

A hermit crab would seldom find a strawberry, since crabs live in the ocean and strawberries grow on the land, however, I am sure that they would eat them if the opportunity arose; they are quite omnivorous.

An adult coconut crab has few predators, humans are responsible for killing the majority (either indirectly through habitat destruction or directly for food). Juvenile crabs are preyed on by gulls and other bird, sometimes other coconut crabs, rats, monkeys, lizards and pigs.

The scientific name for a crab is Pediculus pubis.

Hermit crabs require a far more restricted environment than the pet stores would have you believe. Most pet stores don't even realize the amount of care that is needed.

They require a regulated, tropical environment, which cannot be obtained with a plastic or wire cage. The temperature must be maintained between 74*F and 81*F, and the relative humidity should always be between 70-80%. This cannot be obtained with regular misting. You have to have a lid to help hold in heat and moisture, and it helps to also have other means for keeping the air moist, such as a damp moss pit, moist substrate, or a device like a water bubbler ("Jacuzzi"), etc.

To help them live longer, do not feed them commercial foods. Most commercial foods contain a preservative called Ethoxyquin which is a slow toxin for hermit crabs. It is used in the making of pesticides, and hermit crabs are more closely related to insects than they are to actual crabs. Feed them a very wide variety of foods, preferably organic, free from pesticides (very well washed if not), rich in proteins, calcium, chitin, and zeaxanthin. You can feed them the same foods you eat, just the meat should be cooked without any seasonings (you can fry them in olive oil, which the crabs love, or steam them or even microwave small bits), and they need plenty of fresh and cooked vegetables and fruits for the juices and oils and enzymes they contain. Seaweed is a must, as it is rich in nutrients that the hermit crabs require. You can pick up Spirulina and kelp in your local grocery store nutrition section, in the bulk foods, as well as the seaweed used for sushi, or pick up sheets at the pet store. You can get freeze dried shrimp and mealworms at the pet store as well, just make sure there are no added ingredients (preservatives). They also enjoy organic worm castings, also known as earthworm droppings, but they look just like black dirt.

Please visit this website before you get a hermit crab, or if you are not sure you have the complete setup you need: http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modules/news/article.php?storyid=75&keywords=essentials

And this: http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modules/news/article.php?storyid=29&keywords=essentials

Please note that these articles are a little out of date, but only a couple of things have changed: There is no need to bathe your hermit crabs if you give them water dishes that are deep enough for them to submerge (give them a way to climb out, such as glass pebbles or uncoated river pebbles), and there is no need to bathe them in stresscoat, if bathing is ever needed. It is believed that it may block the exchange of nutrients through the crab's skin/exoskeleton.

No need for a sponge in the water dish, there are other means of creating humidity in the tank, and sponges must be sterilized every couple of days to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Playsand is no longer a recommended substrate, as there have been many instances of crabs becoming poisoned or having other problems related to toxins in the playsand. Much of it is "safe", but there is no way to determine whether it is or not, as most of the impurities cannot be seen or smelled, and do not wash out or disappear by sterilizing the sand. There is no means by which to determine where the playsand was created (by pulverizing rocks) or what sort of impurities may be in the soil/rocks from which it was created. Better to use Eco Earth (coconut fiber) or, best choice, Aragonite sand, sugar grain or select grain size, as these sizes are created to be Oolitic, ie, rounded so no sharp bits can enter the crab's shell and puncture the soft abdomen. it's also very nutritious for them. Never, ever use Calci-sand.

Do read those articles, do some searches in the forum if you have further questions, and join up and ask if you can't find the answers you are looking for.

Good luck and happy crabbing!

A hermit crab is very vulnerable without the snail shell, so you can expect it to get eaten, (or dry up for land hermit crabs), or injured before too long.

Some species of hermit crabs actually don't use snail shells at all, however.

Dont hurt him.. They remember everything and they will get revenge! Beware you in for scare

mutalism