Hermit crab space requirements

Hermit Crab Space Requirements

This article offers advice on choosing a number of hermit crabs permitted for the size of the habitat you plan to purchase. Keeping the hermit crabs comfort and health in mind is key to deciding how many hermit crabs you can fit in your hermit crab habitat.

hermit crabs, land hermit crabs, pet, animals, pets

As a potential hermit crab owner, you might be wondering if there is a limit to the number of hermit crabs you can have in a certain amount of space. This is something I first wondered when I started keeping hermit crabs as pets. There is no really easy way to answer that question with exact numbers and measurements. The best number of hermit crabs to have for a certain amount of space all depends on the type of situation you have, space-wise. When deciding how many hermit crabs you can house, you have to consider tank size, personal space, and furnishings.

The first thing you need to consider when you are trying to determine how many hermit crabs you can house is tank size. This is a factor. If you have the minimum 10-gallon aquarium, you are most certainly not going to be able to house as many hermit crabs as a person with a 150-gallon aquarium. The small hermit crab kit cages are most certainly not adequate for one hermit crab to live in comfortably, let alone more than one. A 10-gallon aquarium is the smallest recommended to house a single crab and be able to expand your crab habitat somewhat.

Another thing you must take into consideration when deciding how many hermit crabs you want to buy is the fact that, while hermit crabs are social creatures, they must be able to roam around in their own personal space. Many pet stores have an appropriately sized aquarium for a few hermit crabs, but they have the audacity to jam it full where the hermit crabs are forced to live on top of each other. This is an unacceptable situation for anyone to have, but especially pet stores that are supposed to be humanely housing their stock of animals. You have to take into account if each of your hermit crabs will have enough room to go off on their own for a little while. Each crabbie should be able to have some alone time now and then.

Another thing to consider is that, if you are a keeper of hermit crabs for any length of time, you will inevitably run into a crab that must go through the molting process. You need to make sure that in your hermit crab habitat, there is plenty of room for a safe molting haven. If the hermit crabs do not have the space to molt, they can not molt safely, away from other hermit crabs. Also take into account that if you have quite a few hermit crabs, more than one crab may molt at the same time. You must allow for this. Another thing to think about is whether or not you want a variety of different size crabs.

One last thing to consider when making sure to purchase a home big enough for the amount of hermit crabs you want to buy is to consider the furnishings that must go into the tank with the hermit crabs. Remember, you will have food and water bowls, climbing toys, shelters and other decorations in your tank. In order for your hermit crabs to live comfortably around these things, you must take this into consideration as well. You also want to make sure the hermit crabs have space to take a run as well as the space to maneuver between objects without getting stuck. One more aspect of spacing the furniture is that you need to keep things in the central part of your hermit crab habitat. If you set items near the edge of the habitat, hermit crabs are more prone to escape.

Though there is no set number of hermit crabs per gallon like goldfish have, the biggest thing to remember is to use your best judgment and common sense. Dont allow the hermit crabs to be so crowded that they cannot maneuver around each other or their furnishings. Make sure everyone has a spot to call their own. Just keep the comfort of your hermit crabs in mind when deciding on the number you can care for.

 

Secrets To Dog Training: Stop Your
Dog's Behavior Problems

Recommended For You

Hermit crabs mistaken for disposable pets

Hermit Crabs Mistaken for Disposable Pets

1066

Many hermit crabs are mistreated in the place they are being sold from. It is despicable to think people treat them as disposable pets, and this article provides hints on selecting healthy hermit crabs.

hermit crabs, pets, hobby, habitat, molting

You can find them almost anywhere near the seashore boardwalks. All you have to do is walk into a cramped little gift shop on the beach and you can find them, stuck in a 6"X 3" carrying cage and nothing else. If you havent looked there, all you have to do is look in the nearest wannabe pet shop. They are stashed on the darkest bottom shelf with tons of others, cramped in a small aquarium with a little water and food. Some of them wont even venture out of their shells. Some of them are even missing limbs and claws. Thats right, Im talking about hermit crabs. Before they even have a chance to be chosen by people from a caring home, they are already being mistreated wherever they are being sold. The cards are already stacked against them.

Many pet stores treat hermit crabs as if they are simply stock. They take good care of their birds that are worth hundreds of dollars. Same goes for their expensive puppies and kittens. But where are the pet stores that care about pets down to the smallest and most inexpensive. Just because they dont cost an arm and a leg to buy and care for doesnt mean they dont deserve to be cared for in the same way. As you know, temperature and humidity are key components to keeping a hermit crab healthy. Shoving a small aquarium on the darkest bottom shelf in the store, leaving the lid open with no humidity or temperature gauge, and not even caring to regulate temperature and humidity is total, undeniable hermit crab abuse. Unfortunately, there isnt a big organization to make pet stores treat these small creatures humanely. The SPCA wont come barging indignantly into a pet store treating hermit crabs horribly. This isnt something that is important to very many people.

If you are interested enough to purchase a hermit crab from a pet store, most of the time you wont get an information or fact sheet about your pet. If you question the store clerk about tank conditions or ask the pros and cons of certain types of diets, you are dismissed because the clerk doesnt know anything about the pets they are selling or just flat out do not care to learn. They see hermit crabs as a "disposable" pet. You know... the kind people buy and just in case they dont take care of it and it dies, its ok; they are cheap and they can simply replace it. The pet store associates themselves even say that hermit crabs do not last as pets. Not only do some people believe this way, some pet stores having a return policy for defective animals, are used when the crab is mistreated, dies within the 30 days, then is taken back and another victim is chosen. This should never be the case. Hermit crabs can live 15 to 20 years or more, if taken care of properly. It is unfair to treat any creatur

Please dont think that if you purchased a crab and it died and you replaced it that you are necessarily in the same category as these impatient, uncaring pet owners. Many times, the hermit crabs are so stressed out from the horrible treatment they receive while they are waiting to be sold that they just cant handle being moved to a new location. Besides the fact that most pet store clerks dont handle or feed or house them correctly, they dont monitor the patrons who handle them, either. For example, the pet store Ive been referencing about keeping the hermit crabs in a dark, hardly suitable atmosphere is the same place I found one of my hermit crabs, who was already missing a limb from stress. Instead of the crabs being in a place where they and the people handling them can be seen, these hermit crabs were on the last row so that no one could see who was picking up the hermit crabs. Unruly and unsupervised children, and uncaring, ignorant people are both fully capable of accessing these creatures with

If any of this has happened to you, dont blame yourself. The best thing you can do is find a reputable pet store and do research about it before you make a decision to purchase any pet from it. Take the time to look at the way the crabs are displayed to sell. Ask associates if they are sitting in temperature and humidity controlled climates. If not, strongly consider not purchasing from this store. Do research on hermit crab care, and question store associates to see if they know what they are talking about. Do your homework. In the end, you will be a much more satisfied pet owner. If you have that tendency to attract strays, you might consider going to that awful pet store, and saving some of those poor hermit crabs. An idea to help you with this is to put the crabs from that store in their own cage. Leave them separate from your healthy hermit crabs. As you observe, remove the crabs that are healthy and place them in with your current crab habitat. You can try to nurse the unhealthy ones back to health.

 

Secrets To Dog Training: Stop Your
Dog's Behavior Problems

Recommended For You