Land hermit crabs are scavengers by nature, but they aren't as hardy as this might suggest. They suffer from stress when they are bought and moved from one home to another.
This stress is to be expected when bringing home a new pet hermit crab, so it's important to choose the healthiest one possible to ensure that the hermit crab will weather the stress and start feeling at home in his new surroundings.
Buy a Hermit Crab at a Pet Store
Unless there is a beach nearby, hermit crabs are generally bought in either a pet store or through an online hermit crab store. To be able to look over a hermit crab and make sure it is as healthy as possible, it's important to be able to pick up the actual crab. Buying online may not give pet buyers this kind of specific information.
A pet hermit crab should have all of his legs and claws intact. One of the major signs of stress in hermit crabs is parts of limbs that have fallen off. If a hermit crab is already under so much stress that he has lost a limb or a part of a limb, he may not be healthy enough to go through the stress of making a move to a new home.
Take a look at his shell and how he fits into that shell. If he is sticking out of his shell so far that he can't seal himself into it with his largest claw, he needs a shell change. Some hermit crab pet owners choose a particular hermit crab based on his shell, so if the shell is the main reason for the choice, the hermit crab should fit securely inside it.
It's best to buy a hermit crab with a natural shell rather than a painted one if possible. The paint from hermit crab shells often flakes off over time and can be eaten by the crab. The paint flakes can also find their way inside the shell and can irritate the crab's skin. Some crabs have even had paint flakes puncture their skin.
Online Hermit Crab Stores
There are online hermit crab stores that ship live crabs, but information about the specific crab and its condition may not be available. For hermit crab pet owners who want to buy a hermit crab online, there are hermit crab stores that ship them overnight delivery so that the hermit crab as little stress as possible.
Hermit Crab Pets
Before a hermit crab is brought home, all of the necessary hermit crab care items should also be bought if the pet owner doesn't already have them. These include several hermit crab shells of various sizes, a sponge for his water, hermit crab food and a large enough cage to house the crab and all of his supplies.
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