Hermit Crab Basic Necessities 

MUST HAVES

By Janie Groeling

Hermit crab care 101 video

Heat and Humidity

• Heat Pads
  
  • Ex: My tank is 48 inches long, so I got the 47x11 heat pad (47 inches long)
  • Entire length of back wall should be covered
  • Place heat pad so it sits above the substrate line, so it heats the air, not the substrate
  • Can use packing tape to tape heat pad onto tank
  • Bean Farm heat pads
  • What size heat pad do I need for my tank?
  
  

• Insulation (only for the reptile basics and bean farm heat pads!)
  • Cut to size, then tape this on top of heat pads, so it acts as a tight blanket on heat pads. 
  • Will retain the heat in the tank, need this for your Bean Farm/ Reptile Basic heaters

• Digital Hygrometer
  • Calibrate before adding into tank
  • Learn how to calibrate here
  • If you want a hygrometer that connects to your phone, this is a cool option: Inkbird Hygrometer
  • Heat should be in low 80’s (nothing above 85)
  • Humidity should always be between 80%-85%
  • Hygrometer placement: keep in "heart" of tank (in the center, a few inches above ground)
• Lid
  • Add a couple inches to your dimensions so it lays flat
  • Can cover any cracks you ever have with your lid using tinfoil!
  • Plexi glass lid cut to your dimensions at your local hardware store
  • Glass lid made for your tank size from your local pet store/ amazon
  • Use tinfoil as temporary lid until you can get plexi glass/glass lid
• Thermostat
  • Automatically will regulate your heat pad for you, to the temperature you set it for
  • How to set up thermostat

Substrate

• Play sand 
  • Might need multiple depending on size of tank
• Get this 50 pound bag of play sand at your local hardware store, for $10 or less!
• Eco Earth
  
  • When you poke your finger in your substrate, the hole will hold a light shape of the indent 
  • Don’t want your substrate to start off too moist, it will gain lots of moisture as time goes on
• Mix it in with the play sand, at around a 5:1 ratio of play sand to eco earth
• Completed substrate should be at least 6 inches deep
• Do the “poke test” after adding your dry sand and eco earth. If needed, then add ¼ cup of primed water, and try poke test again. Continue as needed

Food

• Need complete meals each night, with high variety, switch it up each night!:) (should consist of lots of protein!)
• Animal proteins
• Plant proteins
• Fats
• Calcium
• Fruit/Veggies/Harvestables

Stock up from these hermit crab small business shops for food and foraging: (one of the best things you can do for your hermies, diet is key!)

SHOP HERMIT CRAB FOOD

And incase you're not in the United States...

The Happy Hermie (Austrailia Shop!)

K's Happy Hermits (Canada Shop!)

These staples need to be available in tank 24/7:

• Green Sand
• Worm Castings
• Leaf Litter

Check out the Diet Guide tab for more important information on proper diet.

Water

• Fresh Water
  • 1 drop needed for any pool/ amount less than 1 gallon
• Tap water + Seachem Prime
• Salt Water
  • ½ cup of instant ocean per gallon
  • I keep a gallon jug of tap water mixed with a half cup of instant ocean, then refill pool as needed, and then go ahead and add 1 drop of seachem prime in pool 
• Tap water + Seachem Prime + Instant Ocean

Use tap water due to its beneficial minerals, and then seachem prime to get rid of the harmful chemicals! Use instant ocean to make the salt water.

Your pools need to be deep enough so that your hermit crabs can submerge, but they NEED to be able to get in and out of pools easily, so they don’t drown.

Keep your pools on top of a tray, like these. This way you can clean out pools as needed, without ever disturbing molters if they dig near/under pools!

*No bubblers: clean out pools / replace water every few days 

*Have bubblers: clean out pools /replace water once a week

Tank Accessories 

• Hiding and Climbing
  • Browse and shop here and more here (and a Norton’s Nest!)
  • Important for enrichment and to make them feel safe. They get bored, give them a home where they can have fun too! Replicate a jungle!

• Food Dishes 
  • Check our food dish options here.
  • Gravity Feeder (for green sand, worm castings, crushed oyster shells, 24/7 mix, etc)

• Water Pools
  • 3D printed pools with built-in bubbler system (my recommendation)
  • Pools with plastic mesh ladder

Shells

Never use painted shells for your hermit crabs, they are toxic. If you have a hermit crab already in a painted shell, have plenty of natural shells to offer so they can switch out of the painted shell. Remove the painted shell from the tank once they switch. Below are some helpful tips when it comes to your hermit crabs and their shells!

• Get an idea of what size shells your hermit crabs need using this Shell Size Template
• Create a “shell shop” area in your tank where they can pick and choose shell options as they wish
• Have a variety of sizes
• Make sure each hermit crab has around 5 shells to choose from within their size range 
• They prefer turbo shells
• They will need more options as they grow :)

Before adding new shells in tank, boil them in primed, instant ocean water

Here are some places to get shells!:

Janie's LTK

Amazon

Tank Options 

For those of you needing an upgrade!

RULE OF THUMB: 10 gallons of space per crab, 15 gallons per large crab

• Example: 4 hermit crabs = 40 gallon tank minimum 

Minimum size should be 20 gallons always, even for one hermit crab. (Hermit crabs are very social animals and should ideally have more than 1)

Even though pet stores usually lack knowledge about proper hermit crab care and don’t provide much that they actually need / that are good for them, they do come in handy with decently priced tanks!

• Only use aquarium tanks as your base tank!
• Can use reptile tanks as a topper additon.

Extras

• Bubblers for pools
  • Air pump 
  • Tubing, bubbler stones, check valves, connectors
    • *if you have TheLuckyCrabCo 3D printed pools, they come with a built in bubbler system! So all you will need is the tubing and pump :)
  • Help increase humidity
  • Only need to clean out pools once a week
  • Good for enrichment 
  • Keeps water fresher for longe

• Aquarium Light
  • Put on 12 hour timer cycle 
  • Use the white light setting, not blue or red
  • Regardless of this light, keep them somewhere they can get a natural light cycle, roughly 12 hours of light, 12 hours of dark

• Shell Shop Tier
  • Shower caddy that you can take apart to use as an upper level shell shop 

• Wheel
  • I recommend getting them one, great for enrichment. They walk miles a day in the wild, this helps them get their steps in and energy out! They have a lot of fun on these:)

• Wyze Camera for inside tank (with SD card and corner mount)

• Foraging Mixes / Sphagnum Moss
  • Add inside huts and hides and on top of your Norton's Nest! They LOVE to snuggle it and is a great way to add more enrichment.

• Climbing Wall Supplies
  
  • Takes over night to dry, this project should only be done when renovating a new tank that your hermies are not in yet!
  • Zip tie the hedge squares/ greenery onto the egg crates
  • Use aquarium silicone to install the egg crates onto glass, I like to use gym weights to keep flat and in place over night to dry.
  • Attach the vines/ greenery via zip ties to your climbing wall to give it that jungle feel.

Feeling overwhelmed? We’re here to help. Book a 1:1 virtual consultation with our owner, Janie Groeling, for personalized hermit crab guidance, support, and care advice.

Other helpful links here. :)