# land hermit crab



## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

ive just bought 2 small land hermit crabs and they are really cool. i know the basics of them but was just wondering if anyone has had experience with them too?


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

very unsual pet you got 
your have to put some pic's on


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## Vixie (Nov 17, 2007)

yes would love to see pics


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

will do soon they are very small and shy at the moment. they are very popular pets in the uk at the mo.


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

not seen them in the shops 
do you have to have a heated viv????? what you they eat???
sound interesting


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## Vixie (Nov 17, 2007)

yes I would like to know more, I have never had that type of pet b4


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

mine are in a medium size plastic tank with a small heat mat. ive got crushed coral as a substrate but u can use sand. they eat special crab pellets, fish food and most fruit and veg(well they eat anything). 
ive got a small "pool" for them to drink wash in and to keep up the humidity.
they are cool they are really active at nite and sometimes make a squeaking sound at each other.


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## Vixie (Nov 17, 2007)

I didnt realise they made a squeaking sound I'm going to look them up on the internet, they seem very interesting, look forword to seeing some pis when you can.


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

smudge2uk said:


> mine are in a medium size plastic tank with a small heat mat. ive got crushed coral as a substrate but u can use sand. they eat special crab pellets, fish food and most fruit and veg(well they eat anything).
> ive got a small "pool" for them to drink wash in and to keep up the humidity.
> they are cool they are really active at nite and sometimes make a squeaking sound at each other.


they do sound very interesting 
thanks for sharing 
look forward to seeing some pic's


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

ive googled these crab's they look so cool and fun
might get some 
they have other land crabs as well like the ones that bury themselfs in the sand


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

unusal seen them on wildlife programmes


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

dh.dti said:


> Sorry, you won't be getting any off me...
> 
> I have never had crabs & i don't intend to start now thanks!


oh spoil sport go on, get her some

by the way t jay they say you should reallyhave 2 they like company


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

a few pics of my hermit crabs, they are not that good as they are still so small.


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## carol (Nov 2, 2007)

oh there great thank for showing us


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## Guest (Jan 8, 2008)

dh.dti said:


> Sorry, you won't be getting any off me...
> 
> I have never had crabs & i don't intend to start now thanks!


PMSL  I should hope not


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## Guest (Jan 9, 2008)

T--jay said:


> you're the only one to get that so far lol


HAHAHA  i'm suprised the rest did'nt get it lol, it stuck out like i sore thumb when i read it rofl.


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## charmedjames (Jan 24, 2008)

Did you get them from pet's at home?? :


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

no i got them from a new aquatic and reptile centre that has opened in my area but i have seen them at pets at home but they are 12 quid each which think is quite expensive and the ones i saw the shells were broken and dull


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## Lita (Jan 29, 2008)

Thank you very much for sharing this information.


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## sarahking20 (Jan 29, 2008)

hiya, ive got 3 medium sized land hermit crabs and 1 large one.
They are very shy, but look soo cool.
Bought them from Pets at Home 2 for £5 which is great value for money.
Easy to look after, great for children as no fur!!!
Don't need a great deal of space, a 12"x12" tank can house up to 2 crabs. We have a 30"x12"x15" glass tank and they have loads of room for exercise and climbing. They love to climb so bog wood is great which you can get from pet shops or even tree bark would do.


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

hi, i cant believe u got ur crabs from pets at home 2 for a fiver, ours has them 2 for 20 or 12 quid each. was it recently?


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## charmedjames (Jan 24, 2008)

smudge2uk said:


> hi, i cant believe u got ur crabs from pets at home 2 for a fiver, ours has them 2 for 20 or 12 quid each. was it recently?


Iv got one from there it seem's ok just one stumpy leg  And one leg stronger than the other XD Probably sort it's self out after the next molt.
The prices in my PAH £3 each or £5 for two small-med or £6 each or £11 for a pair of big sized one's

Make sure they have a moist crabitat with alot of diff sized shell's And if you see any mother of pearl shell's get some of them cos there more attracted to them cos it feel's comfy on there soft abdomen.

Apart from that im sure you have the heatmat,dish's,food,sponges,shell's,de-clor (for the water).

Oh and it's best to have sand not gravel or gritty sand cos it hurt's there abdomen!


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## sarahking20 (Jan 29, 2008)

smudge2uk said:


> hi, i cant believe u got ur crabs from pets at home 2 for a fiver, ours has them 2 for 20 or 12 quid each. was it recently?


hiya, yep i got them at the start of this week (28/1/08). I couldn't believe the price aswell, at the local koi and reptile shop they had them for £9.99 each!!!! i got all 4 of mine for that price. Nothing wrong with them, healthy, and very active.
They said they are getting more in every week as they are soo popular.
Does anyone know which type of wood if any they like best? ive noticed bogwood in the shops but its too expensive. (£16 for a small piece).
Also is there anything that the crabs shouldn't eat? it says on the internet that they eat mostly anything, but thats not very helpful. Is cheese good, coz of the calcium? Sweet foods? Salty foods?


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

when i got mine they told me to get crushed coral so i forked out for that, should i change it to sand then????


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## sarahking20 (Jan 29, 2008)

crushed coral is good too as long as it is quite fine so they can burrow in it easily. does it absorb water ok?


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

yeah the coral seems ok, and they can burrow. they seem pretty happy anyway(well as far as i can tell)


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

well now i have 2 small crabs and 3 medium/large crabs. 
today i got 2 of the medium ones and i was watching them and one of them actually swapped shells whilst i was watching it, it was very weird, cool and kinda gross all in one. it dragged the new shell to the waTER DISH, TURNED IT AROUND SEVERAL TIMES IN THE WATER looked like it cleaned out the shell and then in about 3 seconds it lifted itself into its new shell and was wll at home. 
i will try to get some pics of the new ones when they have settled in a bit.
Anyone got any of these cool new pets yet??
they really are facinaing to watch esp when they change shells and feed.


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## Cherrypie (Apr 2, 2008)

did you order them over the internet or from a pet shop ?


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

i bought mine from pet shops


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## vixandben (Apr 15, 2008)

hey there we have 16 land hermit crabs, of various sizes.
visit landhermitcrabsuk i only started it today so only couple of pics of my baby crabs. will sort more pics and vids out soon. i will gladly offer advise and some great websites you could go on. to buy food and toys i go on Welcome to UKPetSupplies.com - The One-Stop Shop for Pet Supplies & Accessories! but i know websites with recipes on. just let me know what you want to know.

vix and ben x


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## vixandben (Apr 15, 2008)

hi just another thing for you all. if your lucky enough to still have them in ur local pets at home hurry out and buy them. we have spoke to our local store and they are going to stop selling them in every store nationwide. also they are going to stop selling food, toys and generally anything to do with land hermit crabs.

vix and ben x


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

why are they going to stop selling them?


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## vixandben (Apr 15, 2008)

they told us it was because they werent making any money off of them.


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## puggster (May 25, 2008)

i have 2 hermit crabs also


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## marg (May 31, 2008)

Hiya everyone, i've got 26 land hermit crabs, all from pets at home, although they don't sell them anymore or anything to do with them.
The last 8 hermies i bought, i had all 8 and everything in the crabitat for £27.83.
They had run out of food for them, no water in the crabitat nothing.

So where do you guys get your hermie food etc. from?


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## vixandben (Apr 15, 2008)

hiya we had the same situation and are looking for more hermies as we would love to expand our number, so if you ever need to give any way give me a email [email protected] me n my partner go on ukpetsupplies.com it sells food, toys etc.... its great


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## marg (May 31, 2008)

Thanks for the link.

I'd like to think i'd still be able to get land hermits, i'd love more too so always on the look out.
Are there many folk in this forum with hermits do you know vixandben?


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## EmileexXxStrange (Aug 13, 2008)

I also have 2 land hermit crabs. mine are caribbean tree climbing hermits. you need a medium size tank with a heat source like a lamp and every day lightly spray the living area. you need to keep humidity high and have a BOWL of water to keep them hydrated as this is the main cause of death as their gills dry out and they suffocate. on the other hand do not over do it. they will eat anything and everything as they are omnivores they are not easy pets to keep so don't think because they look cute their not easy to care another thing to take into consideration is that their a life long commitment as with proper care they can live in excess of 30 years, in the wild they can live up to 70 years or more. you also should not but gimmicky painted shells as it may harm them so use natural shells from say a home store that you would use as decoration they like 3 or so shells for each crab as they do lick to try out and swap shells a lot. hope you enjoy your new pet i'll post some pictures of mine soon if you need any advice ask


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## marg (May 31, 2008)

Don't forget they need marine salt water too to regulate salinity in their shells, it also plays a very important part in their molting, most pet shop do not tell you this and is the main reason they die during or just after molting if they haven't had access to salt water.


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## smudge2uk (Jan 1, 2008)

i tend to feed my crabs the pellets , but they especially like the turtle food which is dried shrimp and other dried water midges.


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## HermitcrabCallum (Aug 18, 2008)

Hey I am a owner of hermit crabs. And what the pet store tells you is mostly wrong. 1st of all plastic Tanks are a no no glass tanks no less then 10gallons. And hermit crab food no aswell only feed fresh food.

Absolutely Crabulous
English site

Welcome to landhermitcrabs.com
American site both very helpful


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## puggster (May 25, 2008)

yep those plastic tanks are useless 

they are suposed to be built for hermit crabs but in the uk the tempreture is far too cold so you need to keep the heat in 

ive got a 10 gallon glass tank with plastic lid and fine wire mesh over the top 
2 resons for this 

hermit crabs can climb very good 
and also to stop the tiny flys entering the crabitat

they are attracted to the substrate and humidity and will lay eggs and before you know it your crabitat will be filled with tiny black flys

not good for you crabbies 

ild recomend playsand you buy for kids sand pits 
since ive changed my substrate to this they are very active and moult 
reguarly 

you need 2 types of water 

declorinated or bottled spring water
and declorinated "salt" water solution at around 20% salinity
they need the salt water and its essential for ther health to have this 

calcium blocks or crushed cuttle fish will help harden there exoskelleton after moults and help keep them in good condition 

calcium sand can also help this too 

dont use calci sand as the main substrate as its too grainy for there abdomens and can make them uncomfortable 
you need about 3-4 inches minimum depth of sand in atleast one side of the tank 
playsand as the main substrate and a little dish of calci sand is perfect

keep the sand at sandcastle building consistancy not too wet and not too dry on atleast half of the tank as they like to burrow in the wet sand 
also its a great ide to check the bottom of the tank now and then by digging 
right to the glass floor and check how wet it is if its really wet reduce the misting to every other day to avoid flooding 

hermit crab pellets are suitable as supplement as it has enriched ingredients 
which are benafical to them 
also supply daily fresh items like a peice of apple or carrot 

at your fish mongers ask if they have any fish diveratives "waste fresh fish"
take it home and blend it into a fine paste 
cut into little blocks and freeze them 
take a portion out and leave to thaw for 1 hour then feed at night time 
crabs love stinky fishy products and blending them even with bones for extra calcium is great for them and they love it 

prawn with shells on is also a tasty treat 
they also love peanut butter and honey

but save these as treats on some occasions not all the time


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## AniBudgie (Sep 3, 2008)

smudge2uk said:


> a few pics of my hermit crabs, they are not that good as they are still so small.


Very awesome, I've really considered getting some soon. I hope to get some in need of real care, maybe from a pet shop.

AniBudgie


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## HermitcrabCallum (Aug 18, 2008)

callumhurley13 - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

There my crabbies and my tat


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## curtis (Dec 9, 2008)

I live in the Uk and only have one crab. Im looking to get some more, can anybody recommend a reputible pet shop? Im in Nottingham but am willing to travel pretty much anywhere in the UK to get some.

Thanks for the help.


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## AbbySparkles (Jun 28, 2013)

I have Hermit Crabs Too!! Louis and Pebbles. Pebbles is quite big compared to Louis. I love both of them but I'm still a little shaky when it comes to holding them in my hand. I'm afraid that they'll pinch me!  When I went to the pet store to get Pebbles,the man working there held him like nothing! He put him in my hand, it wasn't that scary. Just felt a little weird. The reason I got Pebbles is because I read online that if you have just one Hermit Crab then they will get lonly and depressed. I noticed that Louis was always sleeping and was very shy. He was terrified of me and every time I walked past,no matter how slow I walked,He would dive into his shell. When I bought Pebbles I also bought a climbing wall that you put on the back of the cage. The wall was made of Coconut Fiber. They LOVE to climb that thing! Since I have a reptile cage for them,the lid has small slits all over for air. Pebbles is crazy.. Pebbles chose to climb up the wall,latch on to the lid,and slowly make it to the front of the cage by holding onto the lid! Louis and Pebbles have become great friends. Louis isn't so shy anymore. He comes out to play with Pebbles often. He still sleeps a lot though! Last night I woke up from hearing a small squeaking noise. I looked around then realized it was pebbles making the noise! :sosp: Louis is in a painted yellow shell,with beach designs on it, and Pebbles is in a Painted Orange,honey bear shell with molded ears and nose. I have them in a reptile cage,filled with play sand. I'm using a cute shell I got from the beach for their food bowl, I have two Hermit Crab bathing and water bowls I got from the pet store, a small plastic hermie hut,in the shape of a tent. Extra shells for them to change into, and a climbing wall in the back.  I hope you enjoyed reading about my hermit crab experience! -Abby


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## hermieshammiesandmore (Aug 13, 2014)

i currently have seven lovely land hermits so if you need and help/ advice, i can help you!
here are the basics..
1) you need to house them in a ten gallon or more tank
2)they need dechlorinated saltwater and freshwater
3)as a substrate, use sand and eco earth
4) for food, use fresh fruits, veggies and a protein source such as mealworms
5) dont use painted shells and get 6 bigger shells per crab
6) get lots of climbing toys and huts
7) be sure to maintain humidity and temperature
if you have other questions let me know!


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