HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My daughter is too young to be up at night, so she doesn’t see her crabs much. I wondered if we could reverse the day/night cycle in our crabitat?

I’m wondering if we blacked out the sides with black paper and covered the lid with cardboard during the day, then used a daylight bulb at night, would that mimic a natural day-night cycle in reverse, or would it be unhealthy for the crabs?

Has anyone tried this?

Many zoos do that with their nocturnal animals. I honestly don't think is an issue, as long as they get 12 hours of darkness somehow, they'll be fine. I don't think you have to tape it up, but simply keeping the tank in a dark room/corner would do the job nicely, cutting out most of the light.

I actually wanted to do similar, but since the tank is in my room, bright lights at night obviously wouldn't be ideal.

I'm very nocturnal, more likely to be up until sunrise than asleep overnight, and my constant activity and the house lights have never caused my crabs to flip their days and nights. It may not be as effective as you're hoping. They tend to be crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk.

I don't see how you'd benefit from this. You need decent lighting to see what's going on in your crabitat anyway. Putting a momentary light source on them during their 'night period' to see them will likely spook the crabs that are active at the moment and they'll flee for cover anyway.

I hear you though. Hermit crabs aren't the ideal critter for little kids, or lots of people in general. You never really know when you're going to spot them.

If you are newer at the hobby like I am, I have noticed that once they go though a good molt or two in captivity, you will see them more during the day.

Give them lots of hiding places too. I notice my crabs are more active during the day if they have the ability to run for cover wherever they happen to be.

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Thanks, @JTKermie

You were right - we’re starting to see more of them now; we often get a visit in before bedtime