Should i give my four hermit crabs a bath

[hermit_luv]

I four hermit crabs and i don't know if i should give them baths?

[RokuShabu]

I dont think so since tap water has some chemicals that harm animals, and did u find them on a beach or did u buy them somewhere? I think u should return them to the shore or something, nice to the crabs

[jonesy zoo]

Yep...hermie crabs love to bath...what I do is have 1 fresh water dish and 1 salt water....you can buy hermie salt from your local pet store or you can use a pinch of rock salt....here is a little info for you....and as all those that know me I love giving info out...hope it helps
Land Hermit Crabs make wonderful pets they are friendly, intelligent, odour free and very clean. They have evolved to live on land and use an empty shell as a portable home, as well as protection. Remember, it is a land animal and must not be kept in water.



HABITAT AND LIFE SPAN

The Land Hermit Crab is somewhat nocturnal by nature and will often sleep for most of the day. Low temperatures will also make them inactive and they will retract back into their shell. The more crabs you have the more active they become! They will live for many years if you follow these simple instructions, and over time they will become so friendly you will consider them part of your family.

HOUSING

Use an aquarium with a glass top, as this creates a humid environment which is essential for crab’s well being. A 14” aquarium will house 3 Hermit Crabs comfortably. The floor of the aquarium should be kept dry and can be covered in either pet litter or wood shavings as these help keep the warmth in. Hermit Crabs love to climb and exercise so a piece of driftwood or mangrove root is ideal.

HEATING

Land Hermit Crabs are tropical so they must be kept between 26C and 32C and the temperature should never be allowed to fall below 20C. As hot air rises, the most effective way of heating the aquarium is with a Heatwave Heat Mat that sticks onto the base of the aquarium. These mats emit an even heat over the base which stimulates activity. A desk lamp with a low wattage bulb may also be used. It is important that you place a thermometer in the tank to monitor the temperature.

WATER

Land Hermit Crabs need two bowls of water that should be changed daily. The first must contain freshwater for drinking, the second saltwater for bathing. This can be mixed using Hermit Crab Salt at a rate of 1 teaspoon per 100ml, make sure you use heavy bowls as Land Hermit Crabs will easily tip over light containers.

DIET

Like all animals, Land Hermit Crabs have special dietary needs. Their staple diet should be specially formulated Hermit Crab pellets which contains all the vitamins and minerals they need. As a treat they can also be offered corn flakes, shredded coconut, apple and other varieties of fruit. Ensure they are given fresh food daily.

SHELLS

One of the fascinating things about Land Hermit Crabs is that they live in other creatures discarded shells. As they grow they will leave their old shell and find another larger one to move into. To assist the crabs with this, a few spare shells should be kept in the aquarium for such occasions. As the crabs can be fussy about which shell should be their new home; make sure that the shells are only slightly larger then the one that they are currently living in.

MOULTING

Like other crabs, as they grow Land Hermit Crabs need to cast off their outer skeleton, this usually occurs about twice a year. After the crab has moulted it needs to be left alone for several weeks until its new skeleton hardens.


thanks petaquarium for this info

[jenniferm]

It has been researched and studied thorugh trials the effects of bathing on hermit crabs and it has been determined that it causes un-nessesary stress on them.

Bathing is not required.. in the wild they are able to bathe when they want to.. therefor we provide deep pools of both fresh and oceanic/marine salt de-chlorinated waters in all of our tanks. Then they can bathe as they want to and then get no stress at all.

HERMIE salt is not reccomended at all is is realy quite bad.. it is a ploy of the pets stores to take your money. Land Hemrit Crabs must have Marien/oceanic salts that are natural... to closley mimic their beach home. Rock salt and table salt are toxic and should be avaoinded completly.. it has caking agents in it that are toxic.. human food salt is not a hermie safe product at all.

PET LITTER AND WOOD SHAVINGS will kill you hermit crabs... they must only have clean play sand..moist cocfiber or calci sand.... please do not take that advice.. it is terribly outdated.

Also the water MUST BE de-chlorinated and you must have both the Marine salt and fresh in seperate containers.

Foods offered should not be commercial.. another ploy to take your money and to chorten the life span of your hermit crabs. Commercial foods are filled with fillers, preservatives, chemicals, pesticides and tons of stuff that become toxic to the hermit crabs.

Hermit crab are noctural is the WILD but not in captivity.. you must have a light on the tank on for 12 hours off for 12 hours to promote metabloisim and molting cycles... molting can take place every 3 weeks to once every 18 months... so again do not go by what has been posted before me. Land hermit crabs live 30 years plus in the wild and 25 years plus in captivity. Our eldest crab is 15 years old.



A land Hermit Crab is a crustacean who in order to grow needs to shed his old Exoskeleton which is hard and rigid and does not grow.

Pre-Molt signs:
He will tend to hang out by the water pools a bit more, this is when he is "stocking" up on water helping to soften him up and make slipping out of his old Exoskeleton a bit easier. Your crab will also eat a lot more; you may even witness him eating at odd hours of the day at this time. He may also become lethargic and seem to mope around a bit. Our crabs have also gone shell shopping at this time and have even gotten aggressive while doing so.
A crabs coloring may get dull and ashy and you may notice his eyes become cloudy, sometimes if a crab had lost a limb you may see a jelly like protrusion it is a gel limb, do not be alarmed but the time for molting is very near.
You may choose to ISO the crab, this is up to you and you will need to judge the space and other crabs as to if this is what you need to do. If you do make sure it has the proper temps and humidity levels and continues to offer daily fresh foods and water throughout the molting process.

Molting:
Normally Hermit Crabs will burry themselves in the sand or other substrate to molt. (There are also times when they will feel comfortable enough to molt within the confines of a hidey area or even right on the surface.) Now when a hermit crab begins this process it is very important that you do not touch or disturb him in anyway unless absolutely necessary. During this process the crab is the most vulnerable to stress and to succumbing to death.
You may even get to watch your crab through the glass if he is buried! You may see him flinch or rock as to help his Exo split so he may slip out of it. He is working very hard to help himself grow. Also at this time he will re-generate lost limbs, antennae and even eyes!

Post molting:
When he has slipped out of his Exo you will see it hanging out of his shell, it will definitely look like a dead crab, do not remove it or disturb the area. The crab is soft and pink deep within his shell resting. Very soon he will begin to eat the old Exo, do not take this from him, as it provides necessary nutrients and calcium to help his new Exo harden and re-gain its color and luster.
At this time if the crab has been is ISO make sure to continue to offer fresh foods and waters even though he may not seem interested now, he will be soon enough. When he regains strength and starts to venture out a bit more, if there are leg pieces or pinchers left make sure to crush those and re-offer that on his food dish, he will eat them.
You can also offer a soothing post-molt diet of organic bananas and organic honey together with fresh organic plain yogurt. This will help sooth him and give him some extra energy. Make sure to offer a good variety of fresh fruits and veggies and also extra protein at this time to help him get strong to either return to the main tank or to become an active colony member again.

Small crabs molt more often sometimes as often as very two weeks larger crabs molt every year or less.

TIME FRAME:
The actual molting process from beginning to end can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 or more months. Patience and TLC is the key to make it a success. Once the old EXO is off and he begins to munch it, the molting process is close to the end.
Keep him in ISO (if you have used an ISO) and offer him a high calcium, high protien, color rich diet. Like mentioned above the bannana smoothy right now would be perfect for energy.
One your crab is walking about and acting almost normal again and his coloring has evened out.. then it is safe to either let him back into the main tank or allow free range again. Keep a watchful eye for a few days to make sure.

You need to monitor all of the tank conditions. One for the temp and one for the humidity will get you started. Keep them as close to substrate level as possible since that is where the crabs are most of the time.
76 - 80 degrees and everyone will be fine. Do not allow the Hermit Crabs to get cold for long periods or they can die. Humidity ranges should be around 76-80% relative, sustained.
With in these levels your crabs and their home will be a happy and active one. If it gets too warm, you can always prop up the lid, same if the humidity gets too high, prop the lid up.To add moisture/humidity add an extra moist sponge or even a bubbler in their water dish.

Please visit our site below for current up to date tried and true Hermit Crab tips and caresheets.
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An hint of who I am.. I own and operate A Home For Hermie, Land Hermit Crab Rescue, Educational Facility and Advocacy Center in Central Florida.
We own 43 Hermits right now.. with 26 molts this year alone at a 100% success rate. We have owned and worked with Hermits for 10 years and have studued and researched them for 15 years.

We offer a forever home for unwanted, sick, abused and injured crabs but have also placed countless numbers of Hermits into their forever homes elsewhere.