What's the best way to care for a hermit crab in a dorm room?

Question

Here's the setup I have now..

http://g.photos.cx/Photo72-14.jpg

It's in the blue shell. I really don't want to kill it.. but I've been reading online that they need 'spacious tanks to roam around, xtra crabs to keep it company, bathing dish for it to soak in' .. etc.

I bought it on the boardwalk last week, but the person I got it for didn't want it. .. so now "Thrasher" is here with me. The pink shell is in there as an extra. But, i have no idea how big this thing will grow.

What's the bare minimum I should do to ~enhance~ its life?

Answer 1

http://www.ehow.com/how_2116233_care-her...

try this site it tells you things you need for him good luck  

Answer 2

Land hermit crabs require a lot of time, money and work to set up a suitable habitat, just like any exotic fish or reptile. I think it's wonderful that you rescued him from what would have been a slow death, but if you can't provide the environment he needs, it's kindest to find him a new home where he can be taken care of properly.

Land hermit crabs can live for 30 years or more and grow to the size of a baseball, needing more and more space! In the wild, they live in huge social groups. They get lonely if kept alone, so you should have at least two.

Land hermit crabs need to live in an environment with a temperature of between 74-80 degrees F. ALL THE TIME. Land hermit crabs need to live in an environment with a relative humidity of about 74-80 percent ALL THE TIME. No exceptions. They breathe with special gills and in dry air like we have indoors, they will slowly suffocate and die. A 10-gallon glass tank is a great beginner's enclosure for small crabs! You need a lid, too. You can get a cheap screen lid for the tank and cover part of it in plastic wrap to hold humidity in. Or you can have a piece of plexiglass cut to fit over the tank. Or you can get an aquarium hood, which is also fine, but that might cost more.

You need bedding for your crabs to live in! They can't just live on the bare floor. Hermit crabs grow kind of like snakes do-- they molt, meaning they have to shed their exoskeleton periodically to get bigger. Hermit crabs bury themselves underground to molt. If they can't bury, they may not be able to molt, and will die eventually. Plus, digging just makes them happy! I personally use stuff called Eco-Earth, which you can find at Petsmart, Petco, or almost any good pet store in the reptile section. It is a brown "brick" of compressed, shredded coconut fiber. One block of Eco-Earth should cost around $4-$6. You can also use plain sand, which you can buy at the pet store in tiny bags, or at a toy store or hardware store for $5 for a 50-pound bag (they sell it for kids' sandboxes and stuff). Make the bedding damp but not dripping wet, like sand castle-ish. Twice the depth of your biggest hermit crab. If he's one inch tall, the bedding needs to be two inches deep. If he's two inches tall, make it four inches deep, etc. The bedding needs to be changed every two months for a 10-gallon tank. Larger tanks can go longer without being cleaned.

You have to keep the tank warm! Hermit crabs are cold-blooded tropical animals. They can't get warm by themselves, their environment has to be warm for them. You can buy an under-tank heater in the reptile section of a pet store. Get one that says it's sized for your 10-gallon tank. Depending on where you live, you might need more than that to keep the temperature at 74-80 degrees F all the time. You can also buy "night light" or "moon light" incandescent light bulbs in the reptile section for more heat. They will be purple, blue or red-colored and simulate moonlight so you can keep it on all night and the crabs won't be bothered. Put those in a clamp lamp or desk lamp close by the tank and aim it inside. Clamp lamps are cheap at a hardware store or maybe Wal-Mart.

You also need a thermometer and a hygrometer (a humidity meter), so you can make sure your crabs' environment is right. It is VERY important to have them. You need to be able to make sure your crabs are in a healthy environment at all times, or they will suffer. A cheap dial thermometer and humidity meter set at the pet store costs maybe $10.

Hermit crabs need de-chlorinated water ONLY! The chlorine in municipal tap water burns their sensitive gills, so NEVER USE PLAIN TAP WATER. Go to the aquarium/fish section of a pet store and buy a bottle of water de-chlorinator. One little bottle should cost about $6 and will last months-- you only need a few drops to purify one gallon of water. That makes it safe for hermit crabs. Get an empty one-gallon plastic bottle, fill it with tap water, and use a little water de-chlorinator on it, and use that!

Hermit crabs also need to drink salt water AS WELL AS fresh water. While you're in the fish section getting that water de-chlorinator, also pick up a bag of marine salt meant for use in saltwater aquariums, and use that salt to mix their salt water. YOU CAN'T USE NORMAL TABLE SALT because it has anti-caking chemicals added to it that make it poisonous for hermit crabs. Only use salt meant for a saltwater aquarium. A small bag of salt that mixes five gallons of salt water should cost about $4. Use 1/2 cup of salt for every gallon of water. Again, you can mix some up ahead of time and keep it in a one-gallon plastic bottle. It won't go bad. And remember, both kinds of water always have to be de-chlorinated.

Hermit crabs should be able to fully submerge in their water dishes. Don't make the dishes so deep that they can't climb out! They can drown! But they will bathe themselves if they have deep enough dishes that they can submerge, you shouldn't need to give them baths. You'll need two dishes, one for fresh water and one for salt water, and also a food dish. The food dish can be shallow. It might be cheaper to get some plastic or glass containers and use those. Don't use metal dishes, though, it's not good for them. And forget about sponges-- they only grow bacteria and mold, and crabs don't really use them to drink. It's a waste of money and might make your crabs sick.

About food-- commercial food is almost all terrible, but it's better than starving. Check the ingredients for "copper sulfate," "exothyquin" or "BHT." Avoid any food that has any of those. They are chemical preservatives that will hurt your crabs and eventually poison them. Personally, I mail-order my crabs' food from The Happy Hermit Crab (link below). They sell great, very high quality food for cheap.

Finally, you need to have about three spare UNPAINTED shells for each crab. Painted shells chip and flake; crabs will then eat the paint chips, which are poisonous! Spare shells are important because crabs will fight and kill each other over shells if there are not enough. I suggest Naples Sea Shells (link below) and The Crabbage Patch (link below) if you can't find enough good ones in local stores.

Answer 3

I would get a 10 gallons tank and another crab or 2. This is the best website I have found on hermit crb care, there hermits have been alive for 10 years or longer!

http://hermit-crabs.com/