sand harmit crabs.

Actually, if you only want your land hermit crab to last less than a year, you can do what has been recommended so far. In actuality, they can live for decades in captivity when kept properly. A hermit crab given pellets for food and misted and not given proper heat and humidity will die within a year or two, and probably with a lot of suffering.

it's shocking but pet stores mostly sell products that are unsafe or ineffective for healthy hermit crab care. The preservatives in those pellets are slow toxins, used in pesticides, but not regulated to be kept out of pet foods. Hermit crabs need an extremely varied diet, they need a regulated temperature (and yes, this can mean specialized heat lamps) with a range in the tank (can't have all one temperature, they ARE cold blooded animals and depend on their environment to regulate their body temp) between 72 and 82*F. They need a safe substrate they can burrow in to molt at least several inches deep, and the tank needs a lid that will hold in humidity, which should be maintained between 65 and 80% relative. Hence, thermometer (two at least) and a humidity gauge are vital. They also need fresh dechlorinated water in a dish where they can submerge, as well as ocean salt water. Hermit crab salt water is not good for hermit crabs, it lacks important minerals and even has no salinity. marine salt mixes are now widely recommended. Don't ask the pet store though, they are clueless.
Sponges are not needed, and are actually a place to harbor bacteria. If you arent into changing the sponge out every day or two, boiling it and letting it dry before replacing it back in the tank, don't use it. Many use moistened sphagnum moss or terrarium moss in a shower caddy or some such to help humidify their tank.
For even more info on the proper care of land hermit crabs, you can visit Hermit Crab Paradise and read the care sheets there, or join and peruse the forums, or if you dont' want to join a forum, go to Crab Street Journal: The first land hermit crab magazine online and in print : The Crab Street Journal and read the forums there. This is a great article as well that will help you figure out if you're up to having land hermit crabs: Are you ready for a land hermit crab? - Articles (General Topics) - News & Articles : The Crab Street Journal

Hope this cleared things up. There are so many misconceptions out there about land hermit crab care, and only in the past couple years have people really been doing research and learning that most of what pet stores "know" is wrong.

 

my crabby lived three years! and he had a sponge I did keep him at an good temp tho and he did have a place where he could burrow and molt it was pretty cool. I didn't give mine salt water probably should have but hey I was 12. good advice. Now I know how to properly keep one if I ever get one again. Stupid pet stores never told me anything about any of that stuff.

 

well im planning on buying 1 or 2 today. Planning on buying a small 3-10 gallon tank, at most $15. 2 harmit crabs are $6. Dirt i dont know how much but at most 6 bucks?
lamp around 20 dollar. I guess im looking around 50.

Thanks for your help though jo, really helpful

 

wierd all i did was give mine saltwater, fresh water, different kinds of foods, sand frim the beach and a stable temperature and it lasted 8 years? the main claw was about 3 inches long. big crab. well good luck