How to not murder your pet hermit crab!
First let me start by saying pet hermit crabs, especially in a coastal area in Florida, makes NO SENSE. On any given day you can find them on the shore at the river, check them out, and get your fill of hermit crabs. Yet they are still sold in our local pet stores, in tourist shops, surf shops and other expected local attractions.
Eventually, against my better judgement, I caved and got my daughter and her friend their own hermit crabs from the pet store. We have pets, plenty of them, but they were sure they wanted them and would each take care of them.
Fast forward about six months later, MY hermit crab is alive and healthy, although not very happy, in fact, I think he wished I’d stop feeding him so he could die. I felt bad, I bought him a friend, he seemed lonely.
He liked his new friend, yay! No longer did he just sit in the corner. They touched shells, nestled down together, climbed on each other and so on. I was happy that MY hermit crabs were thriving. No one pays attention to them but me, but they’re not much work and I enjoy watching them.
So, how did I manage to painfully murder, dismember and torture my beloved original hermit crab?
Learn from my mistake, please.
First, know that hermit crabs molt. They shed their skin. Not just their skin, their whole body, pinchers, eyes, feelers and all. (in one piece) I did not know this.
Second, before they molt they act like they’re dying. I did not know this.
So, my crab looked sick. He wasn’t moving much. He had dug down into the bedding and I was sure he was dying. I checked on him, he didn’t shrink back up into the shell as he normally did. His body was loose and lifeless, barely moving at all.
He’s DEAD.
His dead body pretty much fell out of the shell. In an effort to preserve the shell for our other crab I decided to pull out the remainder with tweezers. Legs, arms, claws, feelers, I pulled out all I could from deep down inside the shell and set the shell next to the kitchen sink to dry out.
He’s ALIVE.
To my horror. I returned from the grocery store to find him peeking out of the shell. His head and eyes. The look on his face was “WTF happened to me?” He had no arms, no legs, no pinchers.
It was then that I realize he had molted. The dead body was just a shell. In the days after he molted I had been pulling his new arms and legs off one by one to clean the shell out.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?
My hermit crab, the original one I’d become so attached to was fine but I mangled him beyond repair. I feel guilty and really bad for unknowingly torturing him. We placed him in the freezer to put him out of his misery. Today I went and purchased another hermit crab to keep the remaining one company.
My advice? Hermit crabs do make decent, low-maintenance pets. Do your research. It’s only been a couple days and I still feel really horrible about what I did. If only I’d googled it I would have known.
Good luck with your hermit crab if you choose to take these fun little creatures on. You can find all the supplies you need to keep them happy here: Hermit Crab Supplies.
I’m Julie, a former cloth diaper retailer who discovered a passion for the industry. Now, instead of selling cloth diapers, I advocate them and promote small businesses I love who sell and manufacture them.
I’m the wife of a fireman and mother of three. I have a daughter and identical twin sons.
Krysta says
Hi! I worked for the guy who first intorduced the hermit crabs a pet. He did this when the baby turtles became illegal (smaller than a quarter may have salmonella) and remembered playing with hermies as a child. He grew up in the Bahamas.
Some facts to know…
hermits on the beach and at the pet shop are NOT THE SAME SPECEIS! Never EVER take a beach hermit home, they will die! Pet hermits are from the Bahamas and live on land (actually climb trees!) they only go into the water to release their eggs (no baby hermies for you!), the ones on US beaches are actually mostly aquatic. They only come out of the water to get food and then return, if you take them home (unless you have a saltwater tank with an area to climb out) they will die.
Hermies molt about once a year. Rule of thumb: if they don’t stink, don’t touch them. If you touch a molting hermie it can go into shock and kill it,
Hermies are omnivores/scavengers. They will eat ANYTHING! Popcorn, pretzels and chocolate chip cookies are favorite treats. Still provide hermie food, since it is a balanced diet but you don’t have to freak out if the kids give hima “snack”.
Always hold hermies in the flat of your hand, with you hand as flat as possible. Never hold the back of the shell, specially when you also have him in your palm, they think they are stuck and will pinch to pull themselves free.
If a hermie does pinch submerge in water, they think they are drowning and will release.
Hermies are social and love friends. 100 can live happily in a 10gal fish tank, but don’t keep one in a 3″x5″ travel tank.
They love shells like women love shoes, you can never give them to many and some have odd tastes. I have seen ones in shells that barely covered their backside and ones in shells so large we had to hold it up to the light every morning to see it was still there.
Hermies prefer shells with smooth insides, always check shells for internal cracks (the painted ones are usually the worst) with your pinky before offering to your hermies.
Hermies love to climb and have a good stretch, beware of how close you put decorations to an edge without a lid.
Hermies are nocturnal, and like corners. If he goes missing in the night just check the corners of your room.
Always provide hermies with at least one shell “dish” this is actually a calcium supplement for when they molt. Also when they molt, leave it. They will eat it for the calcium.
Hermie races are fun. Draw a circle (chalk works) place hermies under a bowl inthe center, lift bowl spray hermies with water, first to the line wins! Don’t do this to many times or you might wear them out.
Males have hair on their bums, females do not. Sometimes the females will have eggs but without salt water, will eventually drop them inthe tank. The eggs will not hatch outside of saltwater.
Substrate should be a min of 2″ deep, more is better. I prefer fish tank gravel but sand is also an option. Waste settles under gravel and disintergrates without smelling, sits on top if sand and should be removed.
I have many years of experience ;)
Julie says
Krysta! Thank you for sharing.
And yes, we live near the beach and Indian River Lagoon. I knew we can’t keep the hermit crabs from there and that the ones from the store are different. I am sort of glad I don’t have to worry about babies. I was wondering about that!
Rachel says
Sorry to say an awful lot of the information you have been provided is way off on hermit crabs care. 10 gallon tanks should never ever be used with more than two small crabs, overcrowding is a major issue with them that can cause stress and fights. Modern keepers are now recommending a bare minimum of 20 US gallons for four SMALL hermit crabs, a minimum of 55 gallons for any jumbos and at least 5 additional gallons per small crab wherever possible. They can roam miles each night in the wild, need deep substrate to moult safely and love to climb.
Gravel prevents moulting caves which means surface moults, threat of cannibalisation and eventual death and taking them out the tank for “races” is removing them from the high humidity they need and stressing them out needlessly. Commercial diets are also full of chemicals that are not very good for them, the best diet is 100% natural foods and highly varied.
Hermit crabs can live decades with correct care but they are exotic animals with specialist needs and the wrong care is still being touted as fact far far too much. Even if they are not regularly dying crabs can *survive* in poor conditions for a long time while suffering a great deal, they deserve much better than this and thriving should always be the aim. I’m attaching a link to a basic setup guide and some other care info you may find helpful hun but please don’t tell people to keep them like this, you obviously are upset about what happened and it can make a huge difference if more people spread the correct information around.
Basic setup and other info: http://www.crabbycravings.co.uk/#!basic-setup-and-equipment-list/cdix
Concerned crabby says
Wrong. Everything the above said about hermit crab care is wrong. NEVER use gravel, the crab cannot properly molt in gravel. They dig tunnels and molt under ground, surface molts are a bad thing. Use playsand and Eco earth in a five to one ratio. must be deep, minimum of six inches. salt and fresh water pools are a must, deep enough to submerge crabs. they will bathe themselves so no need to worry. Even with salt water, your crabs will not breed successfully, there are only two people in the world who have bred hermits in captivity. They also need heat and humidity, you knew were to find hermits in the wild, pretty sure it was not cold and dry their. Hermit have a life span of 70 plus years in proper captive conditions. Holding a hermit under water to unpinch them is iffy. I have had my hermit go for a swim for ten minuets under water, good luck trying to make them think they are drowning. Easier to put them back in the sand, they pinch if they think they are falling.
They also need more space then a critter keeper, a glass aquarium is best. They will fight to the death if not enough space is provided. Minimum of five gallons per small crab, the minimum changes once the crabs grow. Some species can get up to the size of a coconut. Spraying your crabs with water to race them is just mean.
Tala says
Thank you for leaving this comment. I found so many things wrong with the first statement, my jaw dropped in utter disbelief. And I was praying no one said thank you for that information as it was all dreadfully wrong and insanely horrid.
I have had hermit crabs for a week and some research and reading graced me to know everything you just mentioned. ONE WEEK and I know this stuff? Hermit crabs are living breathing creatures. This entire article made my stomach turn but THANK YOU to the author for sharing her unpleasant experience. She even said a little research goes a long way!!!! :) That must have been painful realizing you pulled a hermie apart while alive. Hopefully, many ppl read this that think crabs are simply a cheap pet and will not make the same mistake! Great article that took heart to admit what happened.
Jeniffer Paynter says
I’m so glad I came across this article because I really thought my hermit crab was dead so I buried it in my flower pot so I got up and dug it up and come to find out my hermit crab is alive I placed it back with the rest
Leah says
it’s not that small baby turtles may have salmonella – all turtles may have salmonella. They became illegal not because their small size makes them more likely to have salmonella but because stupid idiotic people were buying baby turtles and giving them to their kids to teethe on and put in their mouths. We spent a whole class on this in college (I took herpetology). Wash your hands after handling turtles or cleaning their cages and don’t give them to your kids to teethe on.
Just me says
Can i maybe recoment a website? Becouse there are some right and some wrong things written above about the care for hermits :)
http://sachscrabpage.proboards.com/
The person behind this site has many many MANY years of experience, and a lot af people (incl. ME) have learnd SOOO much from her! Its definitely worth visiting ;)
Good luck!!
Rachel says
Sorry to say an awful lot of the information you have been provided is way off on hermit crabs care. 10 gallon tanks should never ever be used with more than two small crabs, overcrowding is a major issue with them that can cause stress and fights. Modern keepers are now recommending a bare minimum of 20 US gallons for four SMALL hermit crabs, a minimum of 55 gallons for any jumbos and at least 5 additional gallons per small crab wherever possible. They can roam miles each night in the wild, need deep substrate to moult safely and love to climb.
Gravel prevents moulting caves which means surface moults, threat of cannibalisation and eventual death and taking them out the tank for “races” is removing them from the high humidity they need and stressing them out needlessly. Commercial diets are also full of chemicals that are not very good for them, the best diet is 100% natural foods and highly varied.
They also should be moulting much more than once a year, only very very big crabs go more than a few months without a moult while in the right conditions and teenies can even moult multiple times a month. The larger the crab the less often they moult but the longer it will take, another reason being able to burrow and make caves is so important.
If one pinches DON’T submerge it, this can make them pinch harder from the stress, just put your hand gently to the tank, stay calm and let them release. The more jostled they get the more likely they are to squeeze harder.
Hermit crabs can live decades with correct care but they are exotic animals with specialist needs and the wrong care is still being touted as fact far far too much. Even if they are not regularly dying crabs can *survive* in poor conditions for a long time while suffering a great deal, they deserve much better than this and thriving should always be the aim. I’m attaching a link to a basic setup guide and some other care info you may find helpful hun but please don’t tell people to keep them like this, you obviously are upset about what happened and it can make a huge difference if more people spread the correct information around.
Basic setup and other info: http://www.crabbycravings.co.uk/#!basic-setup-and-equipment-list/cdix
Rebecca says
Was that a typo? 100 in a 10gal? The ratio is I hermit per 5gallon tank. So more than two is overcrowding. 100 in a 10gas would be hermits stacked in top of each other. Not ok! Gravel will tear the poor hermits up during a molt. The SAND substrate should be a little deeper than you biggest crab. Playsand mixed with Eco earth/coconut fiber to a 5:1 ratio is HIGHLY recommended.
Eva says
Hi, kind of read your horrible accident.
I recomend you not to take the advice of that person, GRAVEL IS THE WORST THING EVER, hermits need to dig in order to molt, gravel doesn’t allow them.
Here I’ll leave you a page that helped me a lot, I bought four some months ago, and the pet store told me to put gravel, they were letargic and sad, then I used sustrate and they went crazy climbing and etc.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/index.php
Probably one of the best forum for new owners.
Kathleen says
I have hermit crabs in a saltwater aquarium and if I hadn’t studied marine biology in high school and college, I probably would have done the same thing! At least our crabs have the good sense to hide when they’re molting, until their new bodies harden up.
Rachel N says
I never ventured into pets like this, hopefully my kids don’t want them because I know NOTHING about them. The comments on this post make everything seem complicated! We had hamsters as kids. As we got older my sister graduated to a bunny and I got a hedgehog:)
Michelle T says
As a person who knew nothing of hermit crab care who also grew up in a beach community, I can see how this happened. It’s pretty horrific…. I can see it hankering to me so clearly. I don’t think I can thank you for the advice, but in really glad I won’t be making the same mistake.
Allison O'Connor says
Wow
Fred Smith says
I once had few hermit crabs in our home when I was a kid and I still remember having the same mistake. Of course being I kid, I never knew that what I was doing could kill the poor little hermit crabs. Well, I agree that having them as pets is low cost. I miss having hermit crabs. Thank you, because after reading this, I feel that I need to go to a pet store nearby, and buy few hermits. :)
Hannah says
Hi…thank you so much for sharing this on the internet. I believe I had done the same thing, but I didn’t see my hermit crab some to life. I think he just dies because he started to smell up my whole classroom. So sad.. But just yesterday my oldest Hermit crab started showing the signs my other crab did and I freaked.. I’m a Preschool Science Teacher and the kids are getting bummed that the Hermit Crabs keep seeming to die. I am now researching the crab out of them and getting a bigger tank so that I can buy more than just two and have them happy, crawling around and seeing the kids truly excited about them. :) Thank you again!
Ascher.F says
Hi I just got a hermit and I had SO many questions and I’m still so scared this is my first hermit and it’s WILD I already have a pet fiddler crab and if you have mixed crabs then I HIGHLY recommend “crab cousine” (did I spell that right?) cuisine there we go sorry had to google that anyway my hermies a baby and it’s name is cove I found it at a cove and well if you are reading this in 2020 you’ll guess the other reason anyways clear water with natural sea salt added is doing just fine and I agree gravel isn’t really the best my fiddler crab LOVES digging and with the short time I had my crab they seem to get along well they haven’t really been talking but when I play bass music they’ll dance along with me handle your hermies with care but they love when you hold them fiddler crabs will either pinch or hold their claw up high if they are a male so me saying from experience DO NOT forcefully hold your crabs and crab races don’t seem nice to your crabs unless your imagination is big and you can imagine them racing sorry if this comment is usesless and I just wasted five minutes of you looking after your beutiful crabs because I’ve had my fiddler for 6 months so if most of it was about that I am sorry but enjoy your crabs and love them until they die which if in good care shouldn’t happen for a long time anyways good luck