QuestionHi! I was wondering how do you tell if a hermit crab is a girl or a boy and can hermit crabs have babies? Please answer my question as soon as you get it thank you. Bye!
AnswerDear Cecilia,
thank you for your question.
Sexing hermit crabs is pretty easy, you just need a crab that is coming out of the shell while you are holding it. Hold it by the shell, but so high that it has to stretch to reach the table or the floor. If it does, look at the back of the walking legs. If you see two little openings on the back of the outer two walking legs, you have a female. Here's a picture:
http://www.hermit-crabs.com/sexing.html
Breeding them is very complicated. Sometimes, you get a pregnant female or in rare cases, the crabs have mated in captivity. But usually the larvae (their babies live in the water) die soon. You would need at least a salt water tank that is already cycled, lots of brine shrimp to feed the larvae and a lot of time. Only one person who keeps them as a hobby has successfully bred them until now, you can download a description on how he did it here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/21834925/keeping_breeding_hermitcrabs.pdf.html
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
