My long journey into the realm of hermit crabs started when I was eight years old. My best friend had two crabs named Gorf and Turbo (after a video game of the time). I fell in love with them when I saw them! I asked my parents for some of my own; we went to a local pet store to pick some out. Unfortunately, the very first crab I ever picked up pinched me, quite hard, and I told them, "I don't think I want hermit crabs after all." A few days later, though, I changed my mind. One night, not too long after, I was sitting at the kitchen table, doing my math homework (I did a lot of math homework--it's never been an easy subject for me!) and I heard this odd noise coming from the dining room, a scratching, scraping sound. I called down to the family room, where Mom was watching TV, and asked what that sound was. She told me I'd find out when I finished my math homework. Me being me, I took a quick peek into the dining room, where I found a metal bait carrier with some gravel at the bottom of it--and two very active hermit crabs. I hurried through my homework so I could meet my new friends, who (being eight) I named simply, Hermie and Pinchers.
Dad helped me set up my first tank--a 10 gallon glass aquarium that had mostly gravel as a substrate. Also included in the original setup were two rock-caverns made from fossil rocks found locally, called Hermie's Haven and Pincher's Place, caves where each crab could hide, both in opposite corners. At the time, nothing was known about heat and humidity, so the top of the tank was open, and they had one small water dish and a food dish. I fed them things like hot dogs and lettuce and carrot-skin shavings (hot dogs being the favorite). Perhaps the best part of that earliest setup was the terrarium moss, something I'd recommend today to any crab owner--it holds moisture well and in cases where the substrate is gravel or some other less desirable substance, crabs can dig into it when they want to molt, or gather moisture.
I've had hermit crabs ever since; unfortunately, as nothing was known about them until I got online in 2000 and started researching, many of them died before their time, probably trying to molt in unfavorable conditions, without the heat, humidity, and emphasis on calcium that my crabs enjoy today. The hardiest survived for a year or so, and I didn't have one actually molt until I was in junior high, about four years later. I'm not sure I even really understood what molting was!
Early Books
My first pair of crabs did come with a book, which did explain several things; this was, for years, the only book available on the subject. In it was a tip: if you are being pinched, run lukewarm water over the hermit crab. This was one truly awful tip, b/c if you do this, the hermit crab gets scared and only holds on tighter! This early book didn't mention heat or humidity, but did give good tips about giving them plenty of shells and things to climb on, and snacks they'd like. I do respect this pioneering author--at the time and for many years to come, this was the ONLY informational source available. As is unfortunately the case today, pet shop owners knew next to nothing about the crabs they were selling.
My later setups included a desk drawer with a towel as flooring, a plastic file-box with gravel substrate, and, later, that same aquarium with beach sand in it. I used sand the most since high school, only changing over to "jungle earth" in 2004. I had two or three, and once even five, crabs at a time up until I moved out on my own in recent years. There was one little guy I picked up at a pet store when I was very young that I've always regretted not buying--this crab scared me b/c it only had one eyestalk! These days, I'd immediately buy that one as a "charity-crab" in need of a good home. I've always hoped that he found a good owner who wasn't as shocked as I was by this poor crab's missing eye. While my best friend soon tired of hermit crabs, I was somehow fascinated by these tiny yet amazing creatures, and continue to be so into the present day. Life just wouldn't be right, after all this time, without a hermit crab (or 16) in it.
I recommend using the Internet as a resource for information rather than the library. I've only found one good book (a very recent one) about land hermit crabs; the Internet has many websites devoted to hermit crab care where people can interact and ask questions of one another and the webmasters. The ones I've found particularly useful are listed in my "Links" section; these are where I've gotten most of my information. Libraries are NOT a good source of information, as I said--there really are no good books available. If you are lucky, you might find one at a pet store. They are still selling that very same book I started out on when I was eight years old--and having a book at all is better than starting out knowing nothing, but further research is also necessary. Some of the websites I've found are actually books-in-progress. The Hermies Mailing List is a useful question-and-answer online resource in which crab owners of all ages and experience levels can get together and exchange information and help one another in times of emergency--remember, there are also no hermit crab veterinarians out there, and it's our job to therefore become hermit crab vets as much as we can.
In captivity, most of the dangers to a hermit crab's health are posed by improper housing and conditions, disregard to proper nutrition, and, yes, other hermit crabs. It's said by many that hermit crabs are actually social animals, but in reality they are very territorial. New crabs are often welcomed into the environment by being attacked by those who are already there (there are tips later on in this website about how to deal with this). If not provided with enough shells, crabs will fight over what shells are available, whether or not someone is already wearing the desired shell--and this can happen even if enough extra shells are provided. Generally crabs seem not to notice each other, especially if you have several different sizes of crabs. The biggies don't even notice the small crabs, even when the smallies are using them as "climbing toys." As for the small crabs, they just duck back into their shells when a big crab approaches, or simply move around the other crab. They will push each other away from the food and water dishes so that they have these all to themselves. They do love to "nestle" together in small, shadowy corners of their environment, or perhaps rest next to one another on whatever you've provided for them to climb on. You can find out more about the social and non-social aspects of hermit crabs--how they relate to one another, their environment, and their human owners-- in the section on "Hermit Crab Psychology." They don't seem to spread or carry any sort of bacterial or virological illness to one another; in captivity, what generally kills them are only the poor conditions that make it impossible for them to survive a molt. If the environment in which they are kept is allowed to get dirty--or if crabs are purchased and not bathed properly before being put into a tank, there is also the risk of tiny mites being brought into the area. These "pet shop" mites can be eliminated through bathing and a thorough cleansing of the tank and substrate. If the conditions of heat, humidity, and nutrition are met, your crab is hopefully well on the way to a clean, happy, and long life with you.
Why Choose Hermit Crabs?
Many people will begin with the notion that hermit crabs are an easy first pet for a child to have--they generally know nothing about the special requirements hermit crabs need to have, like the heat, humidity, and nutrition. These crabs are the ones usually confined to small, plastic containers with plastic lids and a bit of sand or gravel as substrate. Unfortunately, such a home is usually an automatic death sentence for a hermit crab. Deprived of its heat, humidity, and calcium, hermit crabs in these conditions will almost always die within months because they are unable to molt. Parents figure that they are a "safe" training pet for kids because all you really need to do is give them food and water, and they are far less involved, space-wise and care-wise, than, say, a dog or a cat. Hermit crabs are not "starter pets," to be bought on a vacation to the beach on a whim, kept in conditions in which they cannot survive while no one in the family does any research into the proper conditions for ensuring their crabs' long lives and comfort.
People don't realize it but hermit crabs actually have a long lifespan, far surpassing that of a cat or dog. Hermit crabs can live up to and past 30 years, which is why it is so criminal that thousands die in mere months due to conditions accidentally set up by well-meaning but uneducated owners. I'm sure parents don't really want their kids to become as attached to their hermit crabs as I did to mine, only to have them die months later! Leaving out the obvious cruelty to the hermit crab, imagine the unnecessary trauma inflicted on the child, losing a beloved pet. This is why I strongly suggest researching hermit crabs, especially online, for this is where the newest information can be found. You've found my site; good. Now find some other sites, ask questions, join a mailing list or a forum so that you can read other people's questions and answers and therefore teach yourself (or your child) about the true conditions hermit crabs require.
Hermit Crabs and Children
Hermit crabs do provide much entertainment as they love to climb and explore their environment. It's also "fun" for us humans to give them shells and then watch them investigate their new potential home, and, if we are lucky, actually see them switch shells. They really are less 'involved' than a cat or a dog, once the original setup is taken care of, a setup that meets their special needs for heat and humidity. If cared for properly, and if their environment is kept clean, they do not smell. One must always be cautios of accidentally letting a crab wander off--they love tiny spaces, shadowy spaces-- these places give them a feeling of security, and they will automatically seek them out. In this sense, hermit crabs are actually NOT the ideal "starter pet" for children, as kids tend to be easily distracted and can easily "lose" their hermit crab while it's out. Simply leaving the room for a few minutes provides a long enough time for a hermit crab to "make a break for it," instinctively going under or behind furniture, and possibly into other rooms as well, and therefore becoming difficult (but not impossible!) to find. Children are also inclined to leave them unattended on surfaces such as tables, unintentionally allowing a crab a bad fall from a high place. With a parent helping the child learn about hermit crabs and perhaps supervising the child with the crabs' care and handling, THEN hermit crabs are an ideal pet for children.
Remember also that hermit crabs pinch when they are frightened or believe they are going to fall; it's necessary to learn how to properly hold one's hermit crab to avoid this. One cannot blame the crab for trying to save itself from a fall by hanging on, but children often don't understand--they just feel the pain of a pinch and are ready to give up on their new pets altogether. Dogs and cats will scratch and bite when afraid and threatened; hermit crabs will pinch. This is a fact of life. If a crab knows it is safe, it will not pinch, much as a comfortable dog will not bite. Don't go against buying hermit crabs--or throw them out in the backyard--if they do pinch. This is their natural defense and with it they are delivering a message: "Help--I'm falling!" or "You're hurting me!" This subject is further addressed in the section on "Pinching," but it deserves mention here, as well, as I've seen so many children (and adults) intimidated by the pinching factor when deciding whether or not to buy or keep their hermit crabs. Hermit crabs fresh from the pet store are terrified of everything and should be given a few days to adjust to their new surroundings before handling is even attmepted. Picking them up while AT the pet store is also inviting a pinch--these crabs are still wild animals, never handled before, and they will naturally fear a giant human suddenly plucking them from the ground, like a predator might do in the wild. Older children are perhaps best as owners for they are to better understand things such as this--but all kids can understand if this is explained to them, why they need to keep their hand steady when holding their hermit crab, and why they need to pay careful attention that the crab doesn't simply wander off if taken out. Older kids are more patient and therefore less likely to experience a pinch. I would definately not recommend hermit crabs to children who are under eight years old, unless there is a parent directly involved in educating the child about proper care and handling. Children under six probably won't understand the need for gentle, patient treatment of hermit crabs as well as older children do, simply because they are so young and easily distracted. Kids under six are rough with cats and dogs, too, because they generally haven't gotten beyond "playing rough" with dogs, cats, and other kids yet.
Rewarding Companions
Once these difficulties are overcome--the setting up of a proper environment to promote long life and comfort, and the first few traumatic days after your crab is brought home, it will prove to be a fine companion. Crabs love to be taken out of their tanks and handled, responding to your special scent and learning to prefer your touch over that of a stranger. They will truly learn to trust you, eventually even losing the reflex to duck at every shadow once they realize they are in a safe place. You can train your hermit crab to get used to you by feeding it treats in your hand--that way, it learns to associate your hand with something good! Once your crab realizes you are actually its protector, it will often nestle up to you, retract into its shell, and rest there, safe and secure, sometimes even in your hand. Watching hermit crabs explore their environmt--they love to climb and are very curious--is a lot of fun. They are fascinating to watch simply because they are so small yet so complex--even the simple acts of eating and wallking are interesting to observe. They will climb blankets, couch cushions, and even electrical cords (be sure to remove the crab when it nears an outlet!), as they love to climb. They will also make the journey up your shirt to your shoulder. They don't jump--they just climb and walk, so they aren't likely to be startling. They aren't slimy--they are dry and slightly tickly when held. They don't shed or drool or lick or bite; they only pinch when afraid. If kept in a clean environment, they don't smell or atract bugs. They learn to recognize their owner over other people and this can be seen in the way your crab will learn to respond to your hand and home over anyone or anyplace else. I've heard stories of hermit crabs learning to respond to owners' voices, but this is in doubt b/c I've also read that they don't hear in the sense that we hear. I believe they respond mostly to your particular scent more than anything else-- or, really, to your taste, as one pair of antennae is devoted to both tasting and smelling at the same time. They express their trust in you by eventually learning not to cringe at shadows, and coming out right away when you pick them up, feeling safe in your presence and eager to explore. As they are naturally easily frightened creatures (in nature, they are prey animals rather than predators, like deer and mice), it's a wonderful thing to earn their trust!