Native territories, pedigree and origin of the hermit crab, behavior in nature, reproduction, advice on care and maintenance, purchase and price. In the event that you started to seriously think about the establishment of some kind, very peculiar, not like everyone else, a pet that will not need to be walked, that will not scatter shreds of wool all over the house and damage the wallpaper or furniture. Then you can consider as a friend of the lesser of some cute inhabitant of the aquarium or terrarium. For example, there is such a living creature in the world fauna, which is called the hermit crab. You may think that with such an unusual pet there can be many problems in the process of keeping it, for example, you will need to constantly change the water, but that was not the case.
This amazing crab is not very dependent on water, moreover, it can simply drown at depth, no matter how strange it may sound, because everyone is accustomed to the fact that crabs are inhabitants of the sea and ocean depths, which they leave only by the will of the elements or with the help of the hands of poachers.
To contain such a miracle of nature, firstly, is not at all difficult, even the most inexperienced person can cope with such a task, and secondly, this is a very extraordinary native of the wild, who can easily surprise the guests of your home, and you yourself are unlikely to ever - you will regret your choice. After all, a beautifully furnished terrarium is in itself a decoration of your home, and with such an inhabitant as the hermit crab, it is quite an element of the interior design of the highest class.
But before you start such a rather unusual pet, you should get to know him a little closer, no matter how easy it is to take care of him, but still this is an exotic live individual that is used to living in conditions that are very different from those that reign in your home.
The origin of the crab and its native habitats
Perhaps someone may have a question: "Why is he a hermit?" And, indeed, where did such a strange name for this living creature come from? There are many different stories, legends and scientific versions on this question. One of these is the version about the relationship of this crab and the rest of the inhabitants of the deep sea.
Once upon a time, a hitherto unknown creature approached the seashore, whose body was equipped with several pairs of claws. Naturally, such a miracle of nature aroused the interest of the inhabitants of sea waters, and when they decided to meet this stranger, he began a story about himself as an outstanding warrior who could not be defeated by anyone. For a long time he convinced everyone that he was the bravest, handsomest and strongest. And if at first many of them had such thoughts that he was not a brave and daredevil, but simply a braggart, but soon everyone unanimously accepted this information as a tribute, since neither dolphins, nor fish and jellyfish have such powerful and large claws. Since then, everyone began to worship and obey the amazing animal in every possible way, many even bribed him with a wide variety of delicacies.
But, unfortunately, such power and popularity did not last long, soon a flock of birds of prey decided to settle in the sea kingdom, which did not please its legitimate inhabitants at all, in turn they rushed to ask for help from the great and formidable crab, so that drove away unwanted guests. Then everyone found out the truth. It turned out that the crab does not possess any supernatural power, moreover, he is still a coward, no one, of course, expected such a turn of events, and everyone drove away their ruler. And since then, he has been leading a secluded and reclusive lifestyle, trying simply not to catch the eye of anyone. Hence such an interesting name.
The second version, not so exciting, but still more realistic. The thing is that a crab always has to hide its fragile and very vulnerable body in a shell, which is most often the devastated shells of mollusks, since without it it will become very easy prey for many of the most diverse people who want to eat it.
For the first time, the world heard about an unusual crab that lives far from water bodies back in 1802 from the scientist Latreil. It was this scientist who classified this original representative of the world fauna into the class of higher crayfish, the type of arthropods, the order of decapod crayfish and the subfamily of hermit crabs.
As their Fatherland, these living decapod creatures venerate the lands around the Caribbean Sea, Venezuela, the Bahamas, Belize, India, Florida, the Virgin Islands and many other countries. This eccentric settles in an area that is located over 500 m above sea level, feels great on sandy shores far from water, sometimes he can move away from water bodies for several kilometers. He is very fond of a variety of plants, on which he happily climbs, for example, low trees or mangroves, but the cute hermit tries to avoid dense dense vegetation and swampy locations. Maybe he is afraid of getting lost or drowning right in the thickness of the swamps?
Features of the behavior of the crab in its natural habitat
Despite their name, these land arthropods do not tolerate loneliness, therefore they try to live in the territory they occupy with social groups of small numbers. But since this little coward does not really like to catch the eye of anyone, his activity begins in the evening and continues until sunrise. In the daytime, this amazing creature prefers to hide in various earthen burrows and other depressions, in crevices of stones, and under stony debris, in the rhizomes of trees, or simply carefully wrapped in fallen leaves, where it is unlikely to be noticed. Most of all in his life he dislikes high temperatures and direct scorching sunlight, this is also one of the reasons why crabs hide during the day.
The optimum air temperature for this land resident is 23-26 degrees, if it gets colder outside, the activity of hermit crabs significantly decreases, and when the thermometer drops below 17-18 degrees, the arthropod simply goes into hibernation.
The diet of these decapod crayfish is not just varied, they are simply omnivorous, absolutely any product can be present in their menu, from plants and fruits of a cactus to cow and horse droppings, the main thing is that it is fresh, so that with nutrition they do not particularly have problems.
Continuation of the hermit crab genus
The very height of the mating season for such crayfish begins from the last days of summer and lasts until mid-autumn. No matter how hard the crabs try to wrap themselves in their shells, they will have to be abandoned for the time of mating. The amount of laid eggs strongly depends on the age of the female, so a young female, which has only recently become sexually mature, can lay from 800 to 1500 eggs, but adult females who have already become mothers usually lay 30,000 - 50,000 eggs. The eggs laid by female crabs have an unusual property - during the incubation period they can change their color, so the newly laid eggs are shaded with a brown color with a slight reddish tint, and after about 20-30 days they transform and turn gray, and sometimes even blue …
Approximately 2-3 weeks after the mating process, the expectant mother gradually approaches the reservoir, carefully keeping the eggs that are located in her leg, upon arrival to the water, she carefully collects them and puts them on pebbles that are washed by the waters, and the eggs go into the water column.
According to many scientific sources, this crab species has three stages of larval development - these are zoe, glaucotoe and young crab. All the above-mentioned metamorphoses occur at the bottom of reservoirs, and after that they already float to the surface of the water and go to the shore.
Characteristics of the external appearance of the hermit crab
After reading many stories about this "predator", you might think that it should be a creature at least the size of a dolphin, but no. This is a rather miniature creature, the body length of which does not exceed 30–40 mm, and the body weight of an adult, established male ranges from 90 to 120 grams.
The body of this mini crayfish in its configuration resembles a regular cylinder, so it is slightly elongated and slightly rounded. The entire surface of the body is covered with small hairs. A kind of shell is placed on the front side of the body, it is quite rigid in its structure and slightly protects its owner from injuries and bruises, but the abdominal area is completely devoid of such armor and at the slightest junction with something sharp or with someone predatory, right there damaged.
Nature has endowed these representatives of the animal kingdom with great wealth in the form of ten limbs. The first pair of legs is represented by powerful pincers, with the help of which the crab eats and defends itself, he, of course, is not able to injure someone with it, but he can cover the entrance to the burrow or to any other shelter. The claws can be painted in a wide variety of colors and shades, from lemon yellow to purple.
The second and third pair of legs of this arthropod fulfills its intended purpose, namely, with their help, the animal moves. Why does he need the last two pairs - no one knows for sure, maybe in reserve? It's just that they are very tiny and almost never leave the sink.
As a respiratory organ, nature gave him a gill. Also, the hermit crab boasts two pairs of antennae that can be extended, they are not at all useless, some of them, longer ones, perform the function of touch, and those that are shorter - smell. Also, these crustaceans boast excellent eyesight.
Sexual dimorphism is well expressed, but it seems possible to notice it only when this eccentric is outside the shell, and this happens extremely rarely. Representatives of the sterner sex are devoid of appendages in the projection of the abdominal cavity, and the last pair of limbs is covered with hairs.
Rules for keeping a hermit crab in an aquarium
It's half the battle to buy a hermit crab, it is also important to create for him such living conditions in which he will feel at home and even better, because at home he will be fed regularly, he will not need to constantly hide and hide, since there is no danger he is not afraid.
Before you bring such an amazing miracle of nature into your house, you should equip for him his own roof over his head. As a personal crab dwelling, a more or less spacious horizontal terrarium is excellent, some call it a crabarium, but this does not change the essence of the container at all. It is imperative to cover the floor surface with some kind of substrate, as the latter it is good to use coarse sand, river pebbles, coral sand and even compressed coconut fibers. As for the width of the soil layer, it will be good that it gradually decreases, that is, in one of the corners of the terrarium, pour a little more soil, the thickness of such a layer should be at least 10-12 cm, and to the side to the opposite corner, the width can reach approximately 4 –5 cm.
Some crab breeders advise to fill the substrate with water, this, of course, is not prohibited, but make sure that the water level in your pet's personal house does not become destructive for him. By its nature, the hermit crab is a very clean creature, so it will not require daily general cleaning, but it is still not recommended to forget about them. The dwelling itself should be cleaned approximately once every two weeks, the substrate should be cleaned about once a month, but it can be completely replaced once every 4–6 months, it all depends on how many individuals you keep in one crabarium.
Do not forget that this unique pet is very sensitive to temperature extremes, therefore, for a comfortable life without a thermostat, anywhere. The average air temperature in the crab dwelling should be from 22 to 25 degrees, to maintain it at this level, you need to purchase some kind of heating device, it is best to use a thermal mat, which is placed directly into the thickness of the substrate.
Air humidity is also an equally important condition not only for the comfort and coziness of your pet crab, but also for its health. The humidity coefficient should not be lower than 50%; in case of excessively dry air, your pretty pupil may have serious problems with the respiratory system.
Since, by its nature, a hermit crustacean is usually a nocturnal inhabitant, no additional lighting devices are required, even if it changes the mode of its work in captivity, but at night it will sleep quietly and peacefully. But if your new friend's wakefulness period falls at night, then he may bring some anxiety. Since these craftsmen also emit various sounds, for example, croaking, quiet whistling, crackling and even chirping, but due to its small size, it can only disturb your sleep if your bed is directly next to his house.
Do not forget that, like all pets, the crab needs to put its energy somewhere, although it is small, it is still available. In order for this tenant to have something to do in his terrarium, you can put tree branches, various driftwood, it is recommended to make a kind of ladders or bridges, your friend will climb on them.
Just like a cat or dog, your house hermit with claws needs attention, be sure to tame this exotic, he also needs to feel that he is not a lonely crab at all. To do this, offer him goodies from the hands, and he should also be bathed every week, those individuals who are already accustomed to human hands are not at all afraid of this procedure.
The diet of a home decimal crustacean can be quite varied, because from the very birth he is used to eating everything that catches his eye. The most favorite food products for the land crab are fruits, namely bananas, apples, peaches, pears. Plus, he'll never give up on corn, almonds, peas, crackers, and even dry dog food. Usually for one meal this omnivorous pet is able to "devour" as much as 5-10 grams of food. You can also feed your crustacean regular dry fish food. It is best to remove leftover food immediately after completing a meal.
From time to time it is necessary to feed this fragile comrade with vitamin and mineral complexes, especially calcium, which is vital for them for good development and good health in general.
Purchase and price of hermit crab
Today, you can buy, probably, anyone from the animal kingdom, there would be a desire and enough material resources, the hermit crab is no exception, and you will not need a large fortune to buy it. The average price starts from 400 rubles.
For more information on the hermit crab, see below:
