Helpful Hermit Crab Basics

See the August 19, 2009 entry “Unusual Pets: Hermit Crabs” for an introduction to these fascinating pets.

Hermit crabs are fun pets to care for in your home. They used to be reserved as souvenirs from seaside vacations, but now you can buy them in most pet shops. They make wonderful starter pets for kids. They are a great alternative to the more traditional gerbils or hamsters and they have a much longer lifespan than goldfish. Contrary to what you might expect, it is possible to play with them and they do have little personalities of their own. Do you think hermit crabs may make a great pet for you? Here are some helpful hints to get you started.

Before you get your crab, you need to get the basic equipment and supplies in place. First, your crab will need an aquarium for its house. Forget those teeny, tiny cages you see at the shops by the beach; hermit crabs really need a ten-gallon aquarium to be comfortable. If you are getting more than one crab, obviously you will need a bigger aquarium. A pet shop will tell you the best size to get, depending on the number of crabs you will be housing. Make sure the aquarium has a snug fitting lid so your little friends do not make a run for it! Place a reptile heating-pad under the tank to keep your crabs feeling nice and tropical.

You will need something to cover the floor of the tank, as well. Three to four inches of sand works best, but you can also use crushed coral or reptile fibre bedding. If you use something other than sand, it is still a good idea to cover a portion of the floor with sand, so the crabs will have somewhere comfortable to go when they moult.

Now that you have the house and the flooring taken care of, you will need to get two shallow water dishes and a food dish. Shallow seashells can be used if you have access to them. In one water dish, you should keep fresh water and in the other, keep salt water, made with a marine aquarium salt solution. The dishes need to be shallow enough that the crabs can crawl into and out of them. A natural sea sponge is a nice addition to the fresh water dish. Your crab will love to pinch it and it will help keep the humidity levels up in the aquarium.

The last thing you will need to fancy up your hermit crab home is some decorative wood pieces so your crab can climb on them. Coral and pieces of clean coconut shell also make great additions. Your crab will love playing with them.

You will need to get some commercial hermit crab food so your crab will have something to eat. You can supplement that food with small pieces of fruit, meat, cereal or fish. Additionally, make sure your crab gets crushed eggshells or oyster shells to boost its calcium level; it is important to keep its fragile skeleton strong. Cuttlebone, which is kept in the bird area of most pet stores can also be used for this purpose.

To care for your crab, clean its water and food dishes daily and spot clean the tank when necessary. You will want to provide plenty of extra shells, in increasingly larger sizes, so your crab can change homes as it grows. Shells with wide openings are best. When your crab moults, remove the skin it has shed as soon as possible as it will begin to decay and could contaminate items within the tank.

Optional, but useful accessories to get are a tank thermometer and humidity-measuring tool. Your hermit crab will be most comfortable when you keep the temperature around 72°F - 80°F and you keep the humidity level between 70% and 80%.

With these helpful hints, you are now ready to get your hermit crab. One more fun part remains to be done…you get to pick a name for your new pet.

Until next time,

Teia

Building Housing for Pet Rabbits

Ask most people about pets and you will probably hear a response that talks about dogs or cats. In more rare circumstances a pet owner will be a fancier of guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils or even more exotic animals such as snakes, spiders or lizards. But there is a growing trend toward smaller mammals, including ferrets, rats and especially rabbits.

Rabbits are unusual in our society because they are one of the few animals that are viewed as food by some people and as pets by others. The number of homes that have indoor rabbits has been increasing at such a pace that there now exists a House Rabbit Society which rescues abandoned and abused rabbits and distributes useful information on keeping rabbits safely and in a healthy manner within a home situation. In Canada, rabbits have been kept as pets for more than 35 years, but people in other countries are quickly learning that rabbits make great pets. They are trainable and they are quiet, which is a big plus for someone living in an apartment.

One feature about a rabbit that interferes with them enjoying free run within a home is their propensity for chewing. Although rabbits can be successfully trained to use a litter box, it is more difficult for them to be convinced not to chew such things as furniture legs and electrical wires. This is why many owners of house rabbits seek an indoor hutch or rabbit cage in which their long-eared pets may be kept when they cannot be supervised. Mom and dad's younger daughter had a pet rabbit, called “Amy,” in the early 1980's. She was very affectionate, but you had to watch her very carefully when she was loose because she loved to chew electrical wires. Extension cords and lamp cords were her favourites. If you took your eyes off her for a second, she would snip an electrical cord with her razor sharp teeth. Fearing for her safety, all electrical cords in the room in which she was free to run were removed. An indoor hutch was made for her so that when there was no one there to supervise her, she had a safe place to live.

According to the House Rabbit Society, a rabbit's housing should provide several things. Rabbits need to be able to fully stretch out in all directions. They require at least two levels, so they may jump up and down for exercise. They need a supply of food, especially hay, as well as water. And, of course, a litter box is needed.

A recent trend in building indoor rabbit hutches is to make a "bunny condo" out of modular storage cubes. Many hardware and home furnishing stores sell 14-inch wire cubes for making modular storage units. These cubes can be used to construct a multilevel rabbit house that provides sufficient space for all the requirements that are specified by the House Rabbit Society.

Building a rabbit condo that is three cubes wide, three cubes high and two cubes deep will create a space measuring more than 28 cubic feet in capacity. This is far more spacious than the average dog carrier that many people use for housing their indoor rabbits.

When building a rabbit condo, several other considerations should be kept in mind. The bare wire floor should never be used by itself, but should be covered with a material such as plywood. For ease in cleaning, covering the floor part of each cube with vinyl tiles, linoleum or rubber mat material is recommended. However, it should not be too slippery a surface, as rabbit feet were designed for hopping on natural earth and grass, not on smooth artificial surfaces.

Numerous plans for rabbit condos are now available across the Internet and most of them would provide all the safety, security and living space a house rabbit needs. Still, they cannot be locked away all the time. Even a rabbit in a fancy condo needs to get out into the house for some good exercise including running and jumping for a few hours every day.

Until next time,

Teia