Hermit crabs need more care than people think. Pet stores give people the wrong information.

General- Hermit crabs need food and clean water, like any other living thing on this planet. Their humidity has to be between 73 and 85 relative. The temperature has to be between 75 and 83 degrees Fahrenheit. All species have to have salt water. See salt water for more details on how much you have to add .


Molting-Hermit crabs need to molt in order to grow. Some symptoms (not all) are:

1. Cloudy eyes
2. Pigging out a lot.
3. Molt sac. The molt sac is blackish, and is usually on the left-hand side of the abdomen, just under the fifth pair of legs.
4. Burying itself.
5. Growing gel limbs.

None of these signs mean that it is DEFINATELY going to molt, but it might. There are some pictures at www.hermit-crabs.com that show you what some of the stuff looks like. To see how to set up the ISO, look at the page about ISOs. The ISO can be used not only for molting, but for emergencies that might stress a hermit crab out, or make the hermit crab more vulnerable to the other crabs.


Bathing- A lot of people think that they should give their hermit crabs baths on a regular basis, but they're wrong, unless the hermit crab has mites (Look at the page about bugs to see details about mites.) what you should really do is put a pool of dechlorinated fresh water into the tank. more information if you look at the page on Making a Pool.



Stress-Hermit crabs get stressed out sometimes. some symptoms of stress:

1. Hermit crab digging under substrate.
2. Hermit crab going naked.
3. Dropping limbs.
4. Going lethargic.

Stressers:

1. Molting problems.
2. Bathing too much.
3. Low humidity or Low Temperature.
4. Shell fights.
Pet store you got them from not having the right conditions (aka Post Purchase Stress, PPS).
5. Insect pests.
6. chlorine drinking water; You should use dechlorinator.
7. No places to hide.
8. Being disturbed while buried.



Should I handle my hermit crab? Hermit crabs need to exercise in order to grow. You should take them out for exercise daily