A hermit crab can be a fun and interesting pet, but are you aware of all the hermit crab supplies you will need in order to give your pet a comfortable and safe home?

First of all, he must have an enclosure, a fish tank is typically used, but you want to be sure to get one big enough to accommodate all your pet crabs along with their toys, shells and food and water dishes. Since hermit crabs are well known as escape artists you want to be sure that you get a secure cover for the top of the tank. If your crab gets out he may not survive long since he needs heat and humidity to stay healthy.

One thing that crabs love to do is dig so you will need some sort of substrate and enough of it to provide the depth that crabs love. Some people use sand, others use a coconut fiber - you can buy sand for hermit crab habitats but no matter what you get be sure it is sterilized. Don’t use sand from your yard as you don’t know what insects of fungus might be in there!

Of course, no discussion on hermit crab supplies would be complete without talking about shells. Your hermit crab will need a nice selection of them so that they can find a suitable new home when the time comes. Shells that have mother of pearl insides are particularly attractive to your crabs and if you have Caribbean crabs, then shells with a round opening will be best. Ecuadorian crabs prefer shells with an oval opening.

Hermit crabs also need toys to climb on and around. A big piece of driftwood works well and you can also check out the reptile toys to see if there is any that might appeal to your crab. You might want to buy some extra toys that you can keep out and then change around his “home” every so often to keep them from getting bored.

Of course, you need a food dish and a water dish for your crabs. You want to be sure the water dish is shallow - enough so the crab can get in but not enough water for him to drown in. Also be sure to add dechlorinator to your list of supplies since you will need to dechlorinate any water you expose your crab to.

The most important hermit crab supplies center around keeping his environment ideal which is 75 - 82 degrees and a humidity of about 75 to 80 percent. For this you can use an undertank heater, the lighting, or a reptile pad. To keep humidity up, using wet sea sponges or spritzing will usually do the trick. Also, be sure to buy a humidity cage and a thermometer so you can check his environment every day.