PETA: 7 Reasons Why You Should Never Buy a Hermit Crab

[Crabber85]

@wodesorel, yeah I don't ever recommend hermitcrabs as pets especially to people with small kids who are looking for a small, cheap, easy pets for them because I consider hermitcrabs to be for more experienced individuals.

I like to show my hermitcrabs off if guests come to the house because not many people in my area own them or even know anything about them and when I start into my usual informational dialogue about how to properly care for hermitcrabs they immediately see how much dedication and time it takes to keep them alive and thriving and then want to know why I'd want such a difficult pet.

I had one guy tell me that it looked like it took a degree in chemistry and animal biology to keep hermitcrabs because of how comprehensive my setup is with everything I have going on inside and outside of the enclosure to keep the conditions in it balanced and maintained.

The way pet stores display and sell hermitcrabs often using cheap gimmicks leads to a lot of false assumptions about how easy they are to take care of when in reality they require a good bit more.

[dayhawk68]

Having been here for several years, even the best intentioned people and wonderful pet owners get sucked into the "easy pet" trap of hermit crabs. They're too far outside of any of the major circles - they aren't a dog or cat, they aren't a pocket pet, they aren't a reptile, they aren't fish, etc. They do not come up in conversation with other pet people and when you don't know to look then you don't look first.

And I actually lean towards hermits not being good pets even though I'm on here giving care advice. Once someone has them, it's too late to save them so the only thing that can be done is to make sure that they're cared for properly.

For me hermit crabs are one of the hardest pets to keep (not that I don't enjoy it though). I'm constantly worried about their temps and humidity levels, also if they're molting, giving them proper shells and so on. IMO hermit crabs are not easy. My beta fish are easier, my dog is easier, and well my cat and the crabs tie lol. Nonetheless new crab owners should know that having hermit crabs is a commitment. You have to really love them in order to take care of them.