Trying something foreign near my outsider crab?
I have had my hermit crab for roughly 3 months now. I keep him in a tiny coop with hermit crab food and a sponge.(also another shell) I take him out of his shut within everyday for about 10 minutes. He never climbs the cage like the ones at the shore and I feel like I could give him a better habitat. Can anyone relate mr how to make a better habitat? Also why do I have to change his food everyday? He never eat it. I never see him eat.
how something like letting the poor fella go? I do not think hermit crabs be intended to be peoples pets.I think it is quite sad to see the little fellas within a small little "habitat" when they are used to being free and going where ever they want
go and get like a 5 gallon fish tank, sand, rocks, things to climb on, a water dish (so whether he wants to get wet), a sponge, food dish, and his cage requirements to be wet or humid. you don'tot need to change his food everyday more resembling once a week. and have you ever had the faucet running (warm water to room heat water) and held the hermit crab under it (so they can get clean)? my loner crab loved it so much we had to put our hand under him bring he looked like he was going to fall right out of his shell.
Answers: You definitely need to upgrade your "tank". Proper loner crab care is MUCH more than a keeping them in a critter carrier(or inappropriate sized tank), buying pellet from the petstore, and leaving a sponge.
First and foremost, hermit crabs are social animals. They need other outsider crabs; in the wild their colonies can contain well over 100 crabs.
Secondly, outsider crabs are scavengers in the wild. A pellet diet will within no way give them proper nutrition. They require a varied diet of fruits, veggies, meats(insects, chicken, seafood). I'll take off a link at the bottom of all this. It'll help you nurture them properly.
Now, hermit crabs need a 10 gallon tank, minimum. It'll distribute them enough room to exercise. They also need proper humidity(75%) and proper temprature(80F). Good humidity can be achieved by using a moist substrate and preforming regular cistern mists. Proper temprature is achieved through an under tank heater(8 watts, normally around 20 bucks, very important).
Get rid of the sponge. It can't replace the need for water dishes. If you want to save it, use it as a humidity booster or to help your crabs get out of your dishes. Hermit crabs require both a fresh water dish and a brackish water dish. Salt water is essential to your hermit health. Table salt cannot be used; use sea saline used to make salt water for oceanic tanks(NOT fresh water salt, it's not the same thing). Make certain your hermits can bathe in them. Chlorine within water can burn their gills, buy a dechlorinate(sold anywhere pet fish are sold) or used distilled water.
You need a well-mannered substrate, eco earth is cheap($5). It should be twice as deep as your largest crab.
Hermit crabs will go through a process specified as molting. It's basically them shedding their skin. It's not changing shells. They will usually burrow(which is why you have need of deep substrate) and stay underground for certain lengths of time. It's not unusal for them to stay underneath ground for 2 months. You don't need to isolate normal molts. Only isolate molters in danger(surface molt, etc..).
Give one ascetic crab at least three different shells. They will abandon shells if within is not a suitable shell present.
Change your water dishes once a day. To answer your second cross-examine, food can mold if left for more than a day, and mold is hazardous to hermits health. Hermit crabs do not eat really much, and often eat at night when you are not looking. Spot verbs the tank, clean the poo and left over food. Do 4 wide cleans a year. Change the substrate if its eco earth(or bake your sand), boil your decorations, and dip boil what can't be boiled the same as other things(usually things close to vines).
There is no need to bathe them outside the cistern. As long as they can bathe in their bowls, it'll be fine.
That's all I can suggest of this late at night. I'll update if I can infer of anything else. You can email me if you have any questions.
