If you have decided to own a hermit crab for a pet, chances are you are still unaware of the things that will keep your potential pet happy and healthy. This post may provide the details that you may be looking for when selecting the best substrate for hermit crabs.
You may not totally agree to the fact that the substrate is the most essential element in a hermit crab’s habitat or habitat as what many hermit crab keepers like to call it.
In their natural habitat, hermit crabs love to dig burrow themselves under the substrates as this keeps them warm and protected when the weather gets unpleasantly cold for them. They also need to cover themselves and to have complete darkness so they can secrete their molting hormone, called ecdysone, to do its wonders. Once the process is completed, the substrate covering them will provide the protection that they need until their outer skin hardens and they gain muscle control once again. During this period, your hermit crab is a potential threat to predators. Covering themselves with the substrate not only keeps them safe, but it can also provide the much-needed moisture that will keep them from drying out or becoming dehydrated.
Substrates for your hermit crab
There are several options that you may use as the substrate for your pet’s enclosure, such as the following: sand, sand mixed with soil, forest bedding or coconut fiber, crushed coral, gravel, small pebbles, potting soil, and wood chips. Not all of these substrates will be beneficial for your pet hermit crab as some of them may not be good enough for burrowing or digging. Others may not hold moisture, as well as others, can, and some may just endanger your hermit crab. (more…)