Can Hermit Crabs Have Babies? (5 Cool Facts)

Many people ask the question that can hermit crabs have babies. They have babies like other living organisms. They lay eggs in water, and after babies come out from eggs. It is important to know how to get bred from hermit crabs.

Can hermit crabs have babies? Yes, hermit crabs have babies. They produce offspring when female crabs take eggs into the water and then drop eggs in water for hatching. Many animals produce more than one baby, but hermit crabs produce many offspring in one attempt. When they are in captivity, there are fewer chances of producing breeds.

In this article, we will discuss whether hermit crabs have babies, can hermit crabs produce babies without a male, and many other related things. Let’s dive into the details of can hermit crabs have babies.

Can Hermit Crabs Have Babies In Captivity

Can hermit crabs have babies?  Yes, they have babies in captivity, but it is very challenging for you to get babies when they are in captivity. You may keep both genders of hermit crabs in one place in one aquarium. This will not create any problem at all.

If you want to breed from hermit crabs in captivity, you should provide them with an environment that closely resembles the natural habitat of hermit crabs. Then the success rate will be more. Female partners need salty water for giving birth to young ones. This is also very important.

How To Breed Hermit Crabs In Captivity

You must be well aware of the environment or conditions essential for getting bred from hermit crab. Without these, you cannot get babies from hermit crabs. This step-wise procedure is worth considering if you want to get babies from hermit crabs.

Create Breeding Tank

You should know which type of breeding tank is good for them. You should set up a tank that is special for hermit crabs breeding. You must not use the standard habitat for breeding hermit crabs. Ten gallons aquarium is best for breeding hermit crabs.

Place the aquarium in a place that has no direct sunlight and draughts. If you want to set up the best tank for breeding hermit crabs, the following points are important.

• Place sturdy lids that can’t easily lift, or you can place weight on top of the tank.
• The humidity level should be eight percent; you can set this by using a hygrometer (an instrument that is issued to measure the humidity level in a certain place)
• Eight Fahrenheit temperature is enough for the tank.
• Six inches of the substrate like soil and sand is okay
• Climbing apparatus should be in the tank
• Hiding spots make them happy and calm when they get scared from anything. You can also place other toys for recreation.
• A minimum of six inches of substrate (sand or soil – ideally the former)

If you set up all the things mentioned above in the tank or habitat of hermit crabs, it will be okay to breed them in such conditions. You should place two or more than two in one tank. It will save them from getting separation anxiety and loneliness.

Replicate Ocean Condition

When a female is going to give birth to babies, you should set up a condition that closely resembles the ocean. This is very important for the breeding of hermit crabs. They feel that they are in the ocean and the natural environment. So they will breed efficiently without getting any stress.

You need to create a mini ocean inside the tank; it is important because female crabs need this type of space to lay eggs when they need it. These places must have salty water because females need salty water to lay eggs.

You should use bottled or filtered water in the tank, and the temperature of this water must be between 72 to 80 Fahrenheit. You should not use tap water because it is toxic for them. Tap water contains chlorine, and it can harm your pet. You can add marine salt to the water but don’t use table salt. It is poisonous for them. You can buy the marine salt from the local market or buy it online from different armlet places.

Changing of water in the pool is very important. The water that contains marine salt must be separated from other water. You need to put this water in a separate pool and then introduce it to the tank. In this way, both glasses of water should not be mixed.

Choose Timing

The timing of breeding is also important to know. If you want to successfully breed the hermit crab, you should attempt this inappropriate timing. In the wild, hermit crab does not have breeding seasons. When they are in captivity, the vet says that they prefer breeding between February and August. The most breeding season is June to July.

After the completion of molting, if there is summer season, then it is the best season to get bred. Female crabs are very much receptive to breed at this point. If you observe the pre-molting symptoms of hermit crabs in spring, you should prepare a mating tank. Make sure that your hermit crabs are chirping to signal readiness for mating. You should not force them to breed until there is no stress on female crabs and she rejoins the other mates in the tank.

If the male congregates around female hermit crabs when there is a shared tank, then it means that female crabs are ready to mate. Researchers say that when a female is ready to mate, male crabs show more interest in female crabs.

Identify Female Hermit Crabs

You need to seek out the female that is for breeding. The female of one year or less than one year and she is molted is okay for mating. The older female hermit crabs that don’t molt are less responsive towards males for mating.

If you want to check whether the hermit crabs are fully sexually mature, you should wait until she comes out from her shell. You should handle them many times so they will not get any problem while picking. After gaining the trust of female hermit crabs, you can examine the sex.

For knowing that whether the hermit crab is female or male, these points tell us that females have the following characteristics.

• Hairless and smooth legs while males have hairs on legs
• Females have three appendages that are feathers. These appendages are helpful for them to carry and protect eggs when they are inseminated.
• They have gonophores that is present on the legs

Female crab is particular while choosing a partner, and you need to be patient and give her time for choosing. For successful mating, a receptive female is important. Male crabs cannot force female crabs to mate when they want.

You should wait until she chooses the perfect partner for mating. If you follow all the above points, it is very easy to get offspring from hermit crabs even though they are in captivity.

Can Hermit Crabs Have Babies Without A Male?

No, they cannot have babies without a male partner. Mating is important for them to produce babies. If there is no male or mating, there will be no offspring and vice versa. When they are in captivity, babies’ chances will be lower if you don’t give them proper conditions that are important for breeding.

How Many Babies Can Hermit Crabs Have?

How many babies do hermit crabs have in captivity?  The number of babies varies from hundreds to thousands. The average size hermit crabs can lay between 800 to 50,000 eggs in one attempt. The number of eggs depends upon the size of hermit crabs.

If there is more size, the number of eggs will be more. When there is a small size, the number of eggs will be less in number. Baby hermit crabs need more care than adult ones. How big do hermit crabs get? They can get the size of about half inches to four inches.

Can My Pet Hermit Crabs Have Babies?

Can hermit crabs have babies?  Yes, pet crabs have babies when there is a suitable breeding condition. Many pet parents don’t know the perfect breeding conditions for hermit crabs. That is why they are not able to successfully breed the hermit crabs.

So, it is important to know the essential conditions to breed hermit crabs. Captive-bred hermit crabs need more care and things like toys, hiding spots, and many other things that make them happy.

Can Land Hermit Crabs Have Babies?

Can pet hermit crabs have babies? The land hermit crab is a species that is also known as Coenobito clypeatus. These species have many stages in the life cycle. Land crabs lay eggs in shells when they mature. The babies come out from shells when they become fully grown.

Can Hermit Crabs Get Pregnant?

Can hermit crabs have babies? Yes, hermit crabs get pregnant. Male hermit crabs deposit sperm when they insert gonopods that are sexual organs in males into gonophores (female hermit crabs sexual organs). Female hermit crabs store the male sperm in sacs until the female consumes it.

You can also know whether the hermit crab is pregnant or not by knowing the signs in female crabs. Like other organisms, you will also notice the extended belly in female hermit crabs when they get pregnant.

Can Captive Hermit Crabs Have Babies?

Can hermit crabs have babies? If you give them a true-breeding environment, captivate hermit crabs and have babies. It is possible to get bred when they are in the tank. You need to wait until she chooses the perfect partner. Many other things are also essential to get bred from hermit crabs.

When there are no favorable conditions in the tank’s environment, they will not breed. You need to provide a natural environment. Females need salty water to lay eggs. When there is no salty water, then they will not lay eggs. So you should mix the marine salt in the water to get babies and breed from female hermit crabs.

Females are much confused when they are going to choose male hermit crabs for mating. She needs time to do this. We must take the patient until she chooses him. There should not be any stress or procedure in the tank that makes them scared. Noise in the environment also affects female crabs.

Hermit Crab Mating Behavior

It is essential to know the mating behavior of hermit crabs if you own them. To get good and healthy breeds from them, we must know all the good ways to get them. Breeding behavior in hermit crabs varies from species to species. There are some parameters like

• Female hermit crab releases pheromone; it tells that female is ready to mate and breed.
• Male hermit crabs will attract and detect the pheromone then approach it
• Male hermit crab fights to complete the breeding with another male Hermie
• Out of many, only one wins the fight, and then this will mate with female crabs and make them. Female crabs get pregnant and lay eggs.

Make sure hermit crabs eat normally before they are ready to mate.

Final Verdict On Can Hermit Crabs Have Babies

Can hermit crabs have babies? Hermit crabs can have babies. They can frequently produce babies when they are in the wild. Still, when they are in captivity, you need to give them proper conditions like creating a breeding tank and giving ocean conditions.

Particular timing for breeding, in this way, you can also get babies from hermit crabs, no matter if they are in captivity. Make sure they are not mating if they are sick.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet hermit crab a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️