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can hermit crabs cohabitate?

R

rolex_26_99

New member
My son has some hermit crabs in a exo terra viv and I was wondering if I could find him some friends like maybe a frog or lizard of the sort. something that needs the same kind of humidity.

It would be nice to fill up the terrarium with more life.

Just a taught!!! I hate empty spaces.......LOL!!

Thanks
 
it is rather difficult to create an environment that is optimal for more than one organism... more often than not, the needs of one override the others' to some extent.
If you have not been keeping exotic pets for too long, I would strongly recommend that you refrain from doing so. It is difficult to predict how the animals might interact- hermit crabs and lizards usually do not share territory(at least as far as I know) and the temps/UV needs will probably be too different to accommodate the two properly.

I understand the attraction, but hating empty space is not a valid reason to potentially risking your animals... they should come first.
 
Yes, hermit crabs co-habitate....but only with other hermit crabs! The more, the merrier! Hermit crabs is a bit of a misnomer, because they prefer to have other hermits around. :)

No, they can't have friends of another species. This is true of the vast majority of caged pets, with very few exceptions. This is true because of the reasons Oren mentioned, but also because most caging systems are not made to accommodate different species, size-wise. An example might be bird cages. Many cages marketed to fit, say, a budgie, are not big enough for one budgie, never mind a cockatiel too. Cockatiel cages might have bar spacing too big for a budgie, but again, it's probably not actually big enough for one cockatiel. Now, if you make your own aviary, you could mix species. Different animals might share a habitat in the wild, but we don't keep them in cages the size of the outback. ;)
 
I would think that your crabs would try to eat the frog or lizard you choose to put in there... but I have never been able to keep hermits alive for more than 6 months, so I am not really good on the subject.
 
Outcast said:
I would think that your crabs would try to eat the frog or lizard you choose to put in there... but I have never been able to keep hermits alive for more than 6 months, so I am not really good on the subject.
Click to expand...

Friends of mine had hermit crabs...and had a similar experience. I've never considered them for myself. What's their lifespan anyway?

If you love the look of a full environment I would suggest a small to medium freshwater aquarium. With a small amount of research you can have a lovely, busy, 'full' habitat. A school of Neon tetras, or some other small schooling fish with some cute little cat fish (corydoras are nice) looks lovely and are not much work. A small water change once a week (more or less depending on the tanks needs) and food no more than once a day, some tanks do better when you skip a couple days. If you do things right on the set up, they're EASY to care for. Just have to start out the right way.

You could always find out about plants that would do well in your hermit crab enclosure, plants can be chosen to fit the environment. Or fill up the space with more decoration. If the issue is how the tank looks bare, redecorate!
 
There are hermit crabs in captivity that have lived for more than 25 years. :)

The problem is that there is so much misinformation about how to care for them. They are sold in kiosks with a tiny plastic critter carrier and told they can live in that at room temp. They require a UTH, high humidity (so not a mesh lid), access to salt and fresh water dishes, as well as more space than a tiny critter carrier.
 
Sweetseraph hit the nail on the head, there is so many people being misinformed about hermit crab care out there it's astounding. They're very long lived little guys and make wonderful pets, but they will NEVER last long in any hermit crab starter kit I've ever seen.

So in short, I can't think of any pet that can be kept with a hermit crab other than other hermit crabs, lol.
 
As sweetseraph said, hermit crabs need the company of more hermit crabs. In the wild they live in groups as large as 100s of crabs. So if you want the tank to look more full, get more hermit crabs.
 
OK I got ya'sssssss its a bad idea. Those things creep me out anyway more than any other creature out there........... Well except the spider LOL!!!!
 
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