AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so everyone knows that I have 3 hermit crabs, and Ariel has two, right? Well Ariel's mom has 2 also, and they are going out of town.

THis week, I am taking care of 7 hermit crabs while Ariel and her family are away. Here's the catch.....I'm going on VaCa later in the week, so my grandmother (who is amazing) will be taking care of them...along with my precious kittie (good luck grandma)!

How long do hermit crabs live?

Hey there, its Ariel, Hermit Crabs can live up to 20 years. That's a long time for a pet. To keep your hermit crab living that long, look at Emma's long post about hermit crab exhibits, enough food and water, and plenty of room to crawl around, and your hermit crab can live that long!!!!

P.S.- When your hermit crab gets around 6 in., get it a bigger cage or send it to the zoo, they could probably take hermit crabs. But I don't know???

~ariel

A Basic Hermit Crab Exhibit

Hi there, are you thinking about getting a hermit crab? If so, here is a basic way to set up an exibit.

You want to make sure that your crabs have enough space. Depending on the amount of crabs you are getting, you will need different sized cages. For 1-2 hermit crabs, try getting a 1' by 1' cage. If you are getting 3-5 hermit crabs, try a 2 (or three if you can find it) by 1.5' cage. The floor of the cage should be covered in 1-3inches of sand (preferably w/ calcium in it). It's nice to have 2 different water containers in the cage. One should be small, with DISTILED waster and a spounge in the middle of it. The other can be whatever size you wish for it to be, but don't make it too big. This other dish should contain salt water (get a 10.1 full oz water bottle {Make shure you have DISTILED water} into the water, put 2tsp of aquarium salt. If you can't buy DISTILED water, there is a simple solution. By a regular water bottle. Take off the cap and leave the water sitting out in an open place {Any kitchen surface works fine}. Leave the water out for about 2 days, and tada, you have DISTILED water.) You may want to know why I keep putting enphysis on the word DISTILED, well it's because if you don't give your crabs DISTILED water, they will die of clorine poisoning, trust me been there, done that.

You also need to suply food for your crab(s) Find a small dish, a little bit bigger than a quarter works fine, but the bigger it is, the less often you have to refil it. Cover the bottom of the dish in crab food...there are many types. The favorite amongst my crabs is Jurassi Diet, but there are others that work fine.....just don't change your crabs diet, because it can make them sick. If you have multiple containers, or a good sized one, you can put more than one food in the cage. There are many foods you can give your crab other then crab food. They like dried bannana chips, carrots (keep the carrots moist), apple slices (dried)*, you can give them non slated, non buttered popcorn, certian fish, and other foods as well.

You need to keep different sized shells in your exhibit. For 1-2 crabs try to have about 4shells. For 3+ try to have 5-7 shells. If they find one that they like, when your crabs are big enough, they will switch into a different shell.

Keep a shelter in the exhibit. Crabs like a nice dark place to sleep durring the day. Coco Huts work well, and so do other crab made shelters that you can find at a local petstore.

Try to have more then 1 crab. Studies show that they will live much longer if they have a buddy.

The last thing you need is something to keep the cage warm. Crabs need to be kept in a 70-80 degree enviroment. Try getting a space heater (from a petstore), it doesn't need to be plugged in all day and night, though some people chose to do so. Place the heater either in the center of the cage, or in the area where your crabs spend the most time. It really needs to only be plugged in for a few hours. let the sand warm up in the area where the heater is...if it gets really hot, inplug it.

Check out PetCo and PetSmart for good prices on crab items.

~Emma

How do I know if my hermit crab is getting or has already molted???

Hey there, me again, well if your hermit crab is getting ready to molt, DON'T PLAY WITH IT!!!!!! If you play with a hermit crab that has already molted, you can kill it. What are the signs??? Well i'll tell you. If your hermit crab is digging alot and not showing signs of a playful hermit crab, then it might be getting ready to molt. So I will say this again, if your hermit crab has molted or getting ready to molt, DON'T PLAY WITH IT!!!!!! P.S.- If you have other hermit crabs, move them to a different cage with food, water, and shelter. Also make sure that the molted hermit crab has food, water, and shelter. And don't play with the molted hermit crab for at least 2 weeks.

-Ariel

How to take care of your hermit crabs!!!!

Hey there, this is Ariel and, taking care of your hermit crabs is really easy. All you have to do is make sure that they have enough food and water, play with them daily or every other day( but don't play with them if they have molted or are going to molt), and make sure that the temperature is nice and comfortable for the hermit crabs.

Ariel's Hermit Crabs

I have two hermit crabs. One is a girl, and the other we aren't sure about :) .

There names are Domino and Jordan (we are pretty sure that they are both girls....but who knows)

My hermit crabs are always "crabby" haha. I got them back in December, and I hope to get another one soon. Stay posted for pictures of My crabs.

~Ariel

Emma's Hermit Crabs

I have three hermit crabs, two girls and a boy.

The two girls are Spika and Stupidora. Spika's name was origionally Spike...until we found out she was a girl, so my friend Nate and I decided to name her Spika. Stupidora's name was origionally Dora.......until we found out how "stupid" she is. Lol

I had another girl named Nike (like the shoe brand), but she passed away back in November.

The boy hermit crab's name is Sonic.

I will have pictures of my crabs on the blog hopefully very soon! :)

~Emma