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Where to Get a Land Hermit Crab
Land hermit crabs are available at pet stores, although you may also be able to find them at shops along the beach or other locations. Some crabs are more colorful than others, mostly due to their diet or age, but those you see for sale will most likely be Caribbean land hermits.
The guidelines you should follow when picking out your pet are essentially the same, whether you buy in a pet store or another location. Before making a purchase, evaluate the following aspects of the store or show vendor.
- The vendor: The person from whom you purchase your hermit crab should be knowledgeable and conscientious. She should also be able to answer any questions you might have about caring for crabs.
- The crabs’ environment: The vendor should provide a proper environment for her hermit crabs. If the conditions are poor or the cage is dirty, take your business elsewhere. Similarly, if you see any dead animals in the cage—especially if they aren’t newly dead—don’t give that vendor your business.
- The store: A pet store should never smell bad or have any animals—hermit crabs or otherwise—that are housed incorrectly, obviously ill, or malnourished. Keep in mind that most pet stores will replace animals that become sick or die within the first few days, or possibly weeks, after the animal leaves the store. If a store doesn’t guarantee its animals, you may want to go to another store.
How to Choose the Best Land Hermit Crab
A medium-sized crab makes the best purchase: it will adjust well to its new environment and should lead a long, healthy life with proper care. Smaller, younger land hermits may be more sensitive to problems with food, water quality, temperature, and humidity. Younger crabs don’t adjust to captivity any more quickly than adults and won’t learn to recognize their keeper any faster.
When purchasing a land hermit crab, choose one that is the size you want and that appears active and healthy. Check to see that it has all its legs and grasping claws.
Depending on the size of the crab, you may want to purchase
one or two extra shells at the time you acquire your pet so that it can switch shells whenever it wants to.
Catching a Land Hermit Crab in the Wild
Although you may be tempted to try to collect a crab of your own in the wild, doing so isn’t good for the crab population. For example, southern Florida, which is near the northern edge of the crab’s geographic range, has a reduced population of land hermit crabs because of a high tourist population that takes wild crabs home as pets.
Also, the natural range of the land hermit has become less hospitable for crabs and other marine creatures. People build seawalls that separate the beach from the woods, use insecticides and herbicides that are lethal to crabs and that affect their habitats, and employ mosquito-control techniques, such as draining marshes and beach ponds, that wipe out segments of the crab population.
In some places it may even be illegal for you to collect your own land hermit. Almost all Caribbean areas, for
example, have strict laws about removing animals from their shores, and doing so can lead to fines and confiscation of your crabs. Land hermit crabs are relatively inexpensive and easy to find and purchase, so it’s best to acquire one through a commercial source rather than to try to catch one on your own.
| Text & Photos Copyright © 2007 TFH Publications, Inc. | Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
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