New Guides Every day!
Can you tell if your hermit crab is a boy or a girl? Yes, you can – but not the way most people think. You cannot tell by the size of the claws. You cannot tell by color. You cannot tell by how big the crab is or which shell it chose. Most of the…
Let me be upfront: breeding hermit crabs is one of the hardest things you can try in the pet world. For years, people thought it was impossible. Every single pet store hermit crab is wild caught – not a single one was born in a tank. Only a handful of people worldwide have ever raised…
Buying new shells for your hermit crabs sounds easy until you realize you have no idea what size to get. Most people just grab a handful of random shells, toss them in the tank, and hope for the best. Sometimes that works. But if your crab keeps ignoring the new shells, the problem is almost…
If your hermit crab has left its shell, your first thought is probably: how long do I have before something bad happens? The short answer is not long. A hermit crab out of its shell is in real danger, and the clock starts ticking right away. But how fast things go wrong depends on where…
Most people who own hermit crabs have never actually seen one outside its shell. And honestly, when you do see it for the first time, the answer is a little shocking. A hermit crab without its shell looks almost nothing like the cute little crab you are used to. The front half is normal –…
Watching a hermit crab pick out a new shell is one of the coolest things you can see in nature. It is not random. It is not luck. Hermit crabs have a smart way of finding and choosing shells that involves smell, touch, sight, and even waiting in line with other crabs. Once you know…
Your kid just came back from the beach with a hermit crab in a bucket. Or maybe you spotted one yourself in a tide pool and thought it would make a fun pet. Before you do anything else, you need to figure out one thing: is it a land hermit crab or a marine hermit…
When I got my first hermit crab, I made the same mistake almost everyone makes: I bought one. Just one. The pet store employee said it would be fine on its own. It was not. That single crab sat in the corner of its tank for weeks, barely moving, barely eating. I genuinely thought something…
Your hermit crab has not moved in days, it is buried in the sand, and you are convinced something is wrong. Before you panic, there is a very good chance it is just molting. The tricky part is that molting can look a lot like sickness or even death to someone who has never seen…
If your hermit crab has buried itself, stopped moving, and you are starting to worry – relax. It is probably molting. Hermit crab molting is a completely normal process where the crab sheds its old outer skin and grows a new, larger one underneath. It looks alarming the first time, but it is actually a…
How do you tell if a hermit crab is dead? It is not as simple as it sounds. Hermit crabs can stay completely still for days or even weeks at a time – and that is perfectly normal when they are molting (shedding their old skin to grow). The problem is that a dead hermit…
Hermit crabs need shells because they are born with soft, vulnerable, and coiled abdomens, lacking the hard protective exoskeleton that true crabs possess. They use abandoned snail shells as mobile homes for protection from predators, to prevent dehydration by keeping their gills moist, and to shield themselves from heat and harsh environmental conditions. Why Do…