CRABWORKS Pics and Info

 

Photographs and Information about Land Hermit Crabs

 

By Carol of CrabWorks

 

Jonathan Livingston Crab and Crab Kate were adopted by me in August 1976. Jon came by way of Ocean City, MD, and Kate from Tysons Corner Mall in Northern VA, both originating in the Caribbean or in the Florida Keys. Little did I know that 31 years later they would still be with me! According to hermit-crab lovers on the Internet, they are the oldest living hermit crabs raised in captivity in the world. They are strong, healthy, very inquisitive, and lots of fun. Each has a different personality and they seem to know me well.

 

Both were as small as the tip of my little finger when I brought them home 31 years ago—were probably about two years old then. Now they are bigger than a tennis ball, and are still growing.

 

There are a number of species of land hermit crabs (marine hermit crabs live under water). Mine are Caribbean Purple Pinchers. The ones from the West Coast are Ecuadorian Hermit Crabs. Land hermit crabs would drown if you put them in water. (An occasional bath doesn’t hurt.) There are many other species from around the world but often are harder to raise in captivity.

 

 

Living Quarters:

 

My two crabs live in a 20-gallon glass tank with glass lid, have about an inch of uncoated gravel as a substrate, with rocks and slate to climb on and a bridge to hide under. There is an under-tank heater (UTH) beneath the bottom of the tank, and I keep the gravel very moist, especially over the heater, which produces needed humidity for their modified gills. They need about 75-80º of warmth and about 75-80% humidity. Every evening they roam my whole apartment for hours, which gives them the exercise and interest they need. I often crawl around on the floor with a flashlight at night looking for them in their many hiding places so we can all go to bed! They are very clever when they get tired of walking and find the least-expected hiding nooks.

 

Seashells:

 

The back end of a hermit crab is soft , not covered by an exoskeleton, and needs protection from predators and other crabs. Therefore they live in seashells discarded by mollusks and snails. Jon and Kate frequently need new seashells to live in, and I buy those at various shell and specialty stores. They are very fussy about their shells, spend at least a half-hour per shell measuring them and then trying them on. Jonathan will take any hand-me-down from Kate, so she holds onto her old shell for a while so he won’t race over and grab it. If she sees him coming after it, she’ll get back in it so he can’t have it. Just like kids!

 

 

Molting Their Exoskeletons:

 

In order to grow, hermit crabs must shed their exoskeletons (legs, claws, upper body, antennae, eye-stalks)--about once a year when they are as old as mine. They must burrow (shell and all) under a good moist substrate, be in total darkness, in order to molt. At their age, my crabs take about six weeks to finally produce the right hormones and crack open the old exoskeleton and toss it off. Underneath is a brand new, soft and pink exoskeleton. They grow a little bigger while they’re still soft. All this time they stay in their seashells, but stretch out when shedding the old body. After they harden up and start to turn brown again, they eat their old exoskeleton in order to get back the calcium and chitin that they lost and need. They don’t eat or drink anything else during the molting process. In about two more weeks they are read to come out and start another year. Since they lose some weight during the time underground, they don’t need a new seashell right away. But in a few weeks, they are looking for newer bigger ones.

 

If a crab loses a leg or claw, antenna or eye stalk, he will grow a brand new one, which forms in a gel sack before the molt. Sometimes it takes a few molts for it to grow back to normal size. Kate has a beautiful new short eye stalk, with beautiful eyeball and little eye lashes. She lost that eye during some fisticuffs with Jonathan over the new bridge.

 

Out and About:

 

Hermit crabs are climbers—in or out of the tank. They love computer cables, closed doors to try to open, baskets, etc. Sometime they even climb up my rough lanai wall or a door frame! I have to watch that they don’t tumble on hard tile floors. I often put them on the couch or a chair so that they get the exercise they need climbing down. If they are out for long, I put down a water dish, and occasionally mist their modified gills that must stay moist. They do keep some water inside their seashells if they need it. Hermit crabs are nocturnal, so sleep most of the day.

 

Food:

 

Little crabs don’t eat much, but the bigger they get, the more they eat. There are many types of commercial hermit-crab foods, but very few they actually like. I also give them lettuce and spinach leaves, bananas, apples and golden raisins, little dried shrimp, worm castings (honest!), pretzels and cookies on occasion, boiled egg shells for calcium, and an occasional scrambled egg and Vienna sausage. Their favorite foods are brown oak leaves and crabapple-tree bark. They like to munch on cork bark too. I keep trying various foods—they sometimes surprise me in what they’ll eat. Other folks’ crabs eat flowers and baby food—not mine. And…they don’t like the same foods more than two days in a row.

 

 

Water:

 

I give my crabs fresh filtered (dechlorinated) water every night and also a dish of saline water. They like to mix them to keep the right balance in their shells. Ecuadorian crabs must have salt water.

 

 

Sounds and Sight:

 

Every so often, especially when Kate tries to grab Jonathan’s seashell, he will chirp like crazy! And sometimes they just do it for fun when they seem to be asleep. It’s sort of a cricket sound. We don’t think they hear, but must get the vibrations. Their eyesight is excellent. Their eyes are on stalks and are multi-faceted, like flies’ eyes. They don’t miss a thing!