|
Hermit
crabs make fun and interesting pets – in fact, they are
probably more interesting than you know! In order to have one of
these creatures as a pet, it is absolutely essential that you
know a few vital hermit crab facts. Fortunately, this can make
for a fun learning experience as well.
So, what
does a hermit crab look like? Like other crabs, hermit
crabs have no backbone – they are invertebrates. A lot
of people do not realize that they can be a whole spectrum of
different colors. Typically they are a reddish color, an
orange shade, or sort of brown. Many of them also have
purple spots and other patterns. Except for the molting
period, when they shed their exoskeleton and move from one shell
to another, their soft bodies, which are twisted, remain hidden
within their shells. They have ten legs with joints and two
claws in front.
The
shell they are in isn’t theirs – they have borrowed it from
a sea snail! When a crab gets too big for its shell, it moves to
another one. That’s why your hermit
crab pet needs to have another shell in his habitat, in case
he needs to move to a bigger home.
There
are quite a few interesting hermit crab facts associated with
where these creatures are found. Some of them live on the
land and some of them live in the sea. With more than five
hundred different species, you can understand the variety of
types involved here. But most hermit crabs are ocean-based
creatures.
During
their life cycle, a female hermit crab releases her fertilized
eggs into the ocean. Because most crabs reproduce in the ocean,
they can not be bred in captivity. Once in the larval
stage, the baby hermit crabs grow through the molting process.
All hermit crabs molt.
The younger ones, because they grow at a faster rate, can molt
every few months. Adult hermit crabs tend to molt every
eighteen months or so.
Other
essential hermit crab facts involve their diets. The good
news is that hermit crabs are not picky eaters. In fact,
what hermit crabs eat
is identical to a healthy human diet: meat, fish, fresh fruits
and vegetables. Hermit crabs will eat a wide variety of
foods and it can be fun to experiment to see which your pet
crabs like the best. Try fruits and vegetables, tuna fish,
peanut butter, crackers or potato chips. Grapes, raisins and
popcorn are crab favorites.
Some
hermit crabs have lived as long as 15 years in captivity!
Because they are nocturnal (move around at night) they can be a
loud pet to have in your bedroom, so it’s better to keep them
in some other room if you have a hermit crab as a pet.
Hermit
crabs are not actually ‘Hermits’. They like a crowd and are
seen in groups of 100 or more on the beach. Make sure to always
have more than one crab if you get them for pets – or you’ll
end up with a sad lonely crab.
Our
articles are free for you to copy and distribute. Please give http://www.hermit--crabs.com
credit for the article.
Other Articles you may like:
|
Phone
order? Call 1-800-405-1497