Crab Toy Recommendations

[Izzythegr8]

Hello! I'm a fairly new hermit crab owner and I'd like to spoil my little friends with some new toys! (The climbing toys I have currently are bare minimum) I do have a few questions about the kinds of toys, brands, and materials that are safe/unsafe for my hermit crabs.

1. Are plastic substitutes for plants/rocks/branches safe? or are natural items better?
2. Which supply brands should I ABSOLUTELY stay away from?
3. Are hermit crabs picky about their climbing toys? (As in, would some prefer leaves/vines over rocks, or prefer rocks over branches?)
4. Do I necessarily have to sacrifice cost efficiency in the name of quality?
5. What are the best options for a tight-budgeted crab owner?

Thank you all in advance for replies!

[aussieJJDude]

Hello! I'm a fairly new hermit crab owner and I'd like to spoil my little friends with some new toys! (The climbing toys I have currently are bare minimum) I do have a few questions about the kinds of toys, brands, and materials that are safe/unsafe for my hermit crabs.

1. Are plastic substitutes for plants/rocks/branches safe? or are natural items better?
2. Which supply brands should I ABSOLUTELY stay away from?
3. Are hermit crabs picky about their climbing toys? (As in, would some prefer leaves/vines over rocks, or prefer rocks over branches?)
4. Do I necessarily have to sacrifice cost efficiency in the name of quality?
5. What are the best options for a tight-budgeted crab owner?

Thank you all in advance for replies!

1. plastic are fantastic substitutes. You'll may find that rocks are cheaper to get the real thing, and depending in where you shop, same with the wood!

2. Generally hermit crab related items usually are best to be avoided. Natural sea sponge left in the tank (not in the water) the crabs will snack on it, and natural cholla wood they will climb. Everything else from what I can think of, best avoid either cause its not entirely safe or extremely expensive and cheaper in the reptile or aquarium sections.

3. No. offering a good variety is a good idea though.

4. I don't think so. A lot of things found in your back yard or home can make awesome crab items!

5. Sourcing materials such as oak tree branches for climbing (best done in an area where the town doesn't spray chemicals such as insecticides) as well as leaves for snacking. Rocks can also be used, however some can be toxic so it's important to have a good understanding on the types of rocks you're collecting. An easier option is to source rocks from your local hardware store, such as slate or lava rocks.

The dollar store (or similar shops, Amazon and ebay!) are great places to find plastic plants and fun crabby safe decor. Stay away from items thats painted (if you scratch it and a bit comes off, it's painted), or has glitter or other additives glued on, the crabs will eat it.

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[Adastra1018]

My crabs mostly hang out on the driftwood these days, the tank is a little bare and soon I'll be redesigning it. But a couple years ago I got a good sized lava rock and soon after putting it in 3-4 of my crabs were all sitting on it. It was quite the popular destination for a while. I'm a big fan of rearranging the driftwood and adding and removing items every so often to encourage them to move around and explore on a regular basis as they naturally do in the wild. You don't need to completely redesign it every week, as that would probably stress them out. But just adding or removing something once or twice a month helps keep them from getting bored with their surroundings and keeps the toys that you spent time and money collecting fresh.

[Motörcrab]

I like making stuff out of crafting mesh and zip ties. It's around $0.70 a sheet and a pack of 100 small zip ties are around $3. The possibilities of climbing structures are only limited to your imagination. The crafting mesh can come in a variety of colors depending on the store. Generally black and white are the easiest to be found.

I like buying plastic vines at Hobby Lobby. They are usually on sale for half price. With the discount they are around $10-$15 per 6 foot length. I make sure they are only plastic and do not contain, glitter, paint, glue tiny seed like pieces or plastic or anything that can easily fall off. I will usually dip them in hot water and rinse with dechlorinated fresh water to clean them.

I will usually cut the plants down and ziptie them everywhere. I'll add them to craft mesh, around airlines, the fronts of moss pits anywhere to give a more natural appearance.

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