bathing hermit crabs

Question
i'm so new at this i just got hermit crabs and i dont know how to bathe them what doo i do ?

Answer
Dear Myranda,
thank you for your question.
Bathing hermit crabs is not strictly necessary. You need to keep the humidity in their tank at 70-80% and offer them water bowls (both fresh and salt water) that are deep enough so that the crabs can submerge themselves. They will bathe themselves when they want to. Since hermit crabs can drown, it's important that they have a sort of exit ramp in the bowls - choya wood or something in the fresh water bowl, coral or a big shell in the salt water bowl. Pebbles or gravel at the bottom of the bowl prevents the crab from falling on its back and not being able to get up again.
The crabs keep the water in their shell at a certain salinity and bathing them destroys that.

New crabs should be bathed to prevent a mite infestation. Just put them in a bowl with lukewarm water, turn them with the shell opening upwards so that the water can get all the way into the shell. Most crabs will come out of their shell and walk around under water then. Don't let them in there for longer than two or three minutes. They won't drown that fast (I've seen PPs stay underwater for 15 minutes), but it's better not to take a risk.
Here are some websites and forums with good info about crab care that you may find interesting:
www.thecrabbagepatch.com
www.landhermitcrabs.com
www.hermitcrabassociation.com
www.crabstreetjournal.com

I hope I was of some help to you