8 Tips To Breeding Your Hermit Crab

Hermit crabs are known to breed only in the wild because they release their eggs in the ocean to hatch and survive through the food that are in the saltwater. It is therefore a challenging experience if you will try to breed them in captivity but this can be done if you can focus your attention to their behavior and providing them the habitat for their breeding. The secret however, relies more on the available food and living conditions you can provide for your hermit crab breeding.

Hermit crabs are known to be hardy animals. They can easily adapt to an environment that resembles its wild habitat. So if you want to make them feel comfortable and breed them you must find the proper environment for their breeding and finding also the techniques to give you more success. Here are some tips you must consider.

First, you need things that you must put in its habitat. You must have marine infusoria, brine shrimp food, powdered spirolina, conical shells, water dishes, and sand. Then you have to build your enclosure for you hermit crabs in order to give them the proper breeding environment. Here are the things you must do:

1. If your hermit crabs belong to the smaller or medium-sized species, you can use an aquarium that is 10-gallon size. It must have a proper lid to avoid escapes.

2. Install a heat lamp inside the tank and maintain a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Put around 2 inches of sand into the tank so that they could burrow themselves.

4. You can add branches, small logs, marine infusoria or rough rocks that you can buy from supply stores. These are the things your hermit crabs prefer when they want to breed.

5. Do not install the tank on direct sunlight and without proper ventilation.

Now that you have these things, it is now time to determine the gender of your hermits that you can use for your hermit crab breeding. To know that, these are the things you should do.

1. Always wait for the time when your hermits are relaxed and out of their shell.

2. When out of its shell, turn your hermit crab slightly to see its abdomen. The females have two small openings on their abdomen, which are called gonophores. These are used in storing the spermatopore of the males.

3. Check its legs. The small legs or pleopods on the left side of the female抯 abdomen are larger than the males.

Now to breed your hermit crab, the ideal time is in the months of January and February. You have to transfer the hermits to an outdoor tank to make them feel they are out in the wild. Add saltwater in their tank to encourage egg laying or add one teaspoon of salt for every cup of de-chlorinated water. You must also maintain a temperature of 72 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and the tank must have moving water with the help of a water pump to create an outdoor water environment.

You also need to make a ramp for the paired hermits, which they can use as their resting place. When you see that they have already mated, monitor the female hermit crabs for days. You can see the eggs attached to the shell of the female if the breeding was successful. When these eggs change their color into dark gray, dislodge them from the female抯 shell and hatch them in a small tank with proper environment.

So you see, hermit crab breeding can be a little tedious but if you will be successful in hatching few eggs in your first try; this indicates better success the next time you do it. Now if you want more specifications on the proper breeding and how to spot signs of breeding of hermit crabs, you can also purchase an e-book that details their breeding requirements and how to have successful breeding methods.