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9 Hermit Crab Facts for Kids

navajocodetalkersadmin on January 10, 2015 - 4:00 pm in Fun Facts for Kids

Hermit Crabs are interesting creatures that are sometimes kept as pets. Hermit crabs are actually socially active creatures; they eat together, live together and generally hang out together in their natural habitat. They are unique looking animals.

1. Like other crabs they do not have a back bone, they have a shell. They carry their home around with them on their back. Their bodies are twisted into the shell they have 10 jointed legs with two claws up front for eating.

2. They come in a full range of colors. Their shells are not their own. They “borrow” their shell from snails, unfortunately for the snail it gets eaten in the process. When they outgrow the shell they have they move on to the next.

3. The shell is attached to their body by a little “cement” that the crab spits out and wipes on the interior of the shell.

They Molt

4. Crabs do not grow like humans. They have to shed their skin to grow. Their outer skin does not stretch so they break out of it when they get to large for it. After they molt if their shell is not comfortable they search for a new one.

Where Do They Live?

5. Some species of hermit crabs live on the land, others live in the shallow part of the ocean but all hermit crabs need the ocean to breed so breeding them in captivity does not work out very well. As a matter of fact it is impossible to breed a hermit crab in captivity.

6. The crabs depend on the ocean to lay their eggs and as soon as they hatch they are on their own. It is imprinted on the baby hermit crabs to seek shelter and get busy with the business of becoming a full grown hermit crab.

In Captivity

7. Hermit crabs are often sold as pets. They make excellent pets. They can live up to 15 years in captivity as long as they have everything that they need like a new shell to crawl up in when they molt and the proper diet.

8. They eat everything that humans eat. They eat fruits, veggies, meat basically whatever they can find in the wild they will eat. They are hardy animals and can withstand change well.

9. Hermit crabs are entertaining to watch. They do enjoy the company of other crabs so getting just one is not the best way to go about making a hermit crab a pet. They like to be in the company of each other so you should always get two.

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