Marine hermit crabs can mate and reproduce in the captivity of your saltwater tank. The mating process often entails rhythmic shell tapping. Sometimes you will see the male hermit crab dragging the female hermit crab around by her shell!
Marine hermit crabs are famous for their romance. I have seen outstanding photographs of a male hermit crab gently holding onto a female's shell while she exits the shell to disperse her eggs into the sea. It is as if he watches her shell so that no one else takes it! How sweet!
Should one of your female hermit crabs spawn several hundred eggs, the young crabs will not live long after hatching if there are no available shells small enough for them to wear.
If you suspect that babies have been released into the saltwater, you may want to consider scooping cups of the water into a separate tank. There you could more easily monitor the babies' growth in a location where there is less chance of your adult hermit crabs making a snack of their offspring!
Tiny shells with openings as small as one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an inch should be placed at the bottom of the tank. Inquire at www.SeaShellCity.com or www.SeaShellShop.com to see if shells of this size may be ordered through the mail.
In the 26 - 60 days that the baby hermit crabs molt and grow underwater, they will eventually drop to the bottom of the tank, enter a shell, and attempt to crawl out of the water. Therefore, at this stage of the development, it will be necessary that you provide the crabs with a gradual incline that mimicks a beach coastline. If this is not done, the baby hermit crabs could drown and die.
Please email me at HermitCrabHappy @ hotmail.com for further suggestions.
Marine hermit crabs are famous for their romance. I have seen outstanding photographs of a male hermit crab gently holding onto a female's shell while she exits the shell to disperse her eggs into the sea. It is as if he watches her shell so that no one else takes it! How sweet!
Should one of your female hermit crabs spawn several hundred eggs, the young crabs will not live long after hatching if there are no available shells small enough for them to wear.
If you suspect that babies have been released into the saltwater, you may want to consider scooping cups of the water into a separate tank. There you could more easily monitor the babies' growth in a location where there is less chance of your adult hermit crabs making a snack of their offspring!
Tiny shells with openings as small as one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an inch should be placed at the bottom of the tank. Inquire at www.SeaShellCity.com or www.SeaShellShop.com to see if shells of this size may be ordered through the mail.
In the 26 - 60 days that the baby hermit crabs molt and grow underwater, they will eventually drop to the bottom of the tank, enter a shell, and attempt to crawl out of the water. Therefore, at this stage of the development, it will be necessary that you provide the crabs with a gradual incline that mimicks a beach coastline. If this is not done, the baby hermit crabs could drown and die.
Please email me at HermitCrabHappy @ hotmail.com for further suggestions.
Hermit crab babies will be hardly visible to the eye as they swim around in saltwater. They must molt several times before they begin to resemble a hermit crab and begin the search for their first shell.
