Hermit crabs are spider related crustaceans living inside sea-snail shells, so they're obviously not your regular household pets. In fact, caring for these exotic pets is quite unique experience, as any hermit breeding enthusiast will tell you. That being said, in order to take care of these one-of-a-kind creatures, there are certain things you should know about them:
Social Life
In wilderness, hermits live in large packs, ranging from dozens to hundreds. This fact implies that they are social in nature. So if you already own or are planning to take on hermit crabs for pets, it's a good idea for you to go for at least 3 of them.
Personality
Similarly to humans, hermits posses their own behavioral patterns. Some are shy and rarely come out of their shells, whilst others are very inquisitive by nature and do not hesitate to explore their surroundings. When dealing with shy hermits, especially when they're young, it's important to give them time to develop trust in human beings and slowly get used to their living environment.
Molting
Every once in a while, every Hermit crab goes through a natural process called molting - shedding of its old skin (exoskeleton) and growing a new one. This process occurs every year to year and a half and can last for weeks at a time. Hermits go through a lot of stress during this period, and thus require peaceful and quiet surroundings. Due to increased hormonal activity during this period, other crabs tend to become aggressive to molting hermits. So it's really important for you to move molting crabs to an isolated tank where they will be isolated from danger.
Some signs that indicate your crab is about to molt:
a) Hermit crabs molt when dug under sand, so if you notice your crab digging a lot he may well be preparing to molt.
b) They eat a lot more than usual and stock food in their own 'hiding places'.
c) They start regenerating their lost limbs.
Living Space
As I stated above, Hermit crabs in wild live in large groups meaning that they also require lots of personal space. So when it comes to captivity, size of your tank matters! As Hermit crabs grow in size and population, stress of being cramped in small living space will drive your hermits to constantly battle each other which, in fact, may lead to unnecessary fatalities. To avoid this problem, simply get a bigger tank.
