Some of the hermit crab species are the land crabs.
The land hermit crabs are different from aquatic hermit crabs due to the fact that the adult land crabs are unable to survive in a water environment.
However, the young land crabs are born in water and they pick up their first shells while in water.
It is only after a series of successive moltings that these crabs have their physiology tuned to a survival on land.
The adult land crabs breathe by a modified gill system that allows the crabs to obtain oxygen from the moisture in the air (they do not obtain oxygen directly from air).
It is for this reason that a land hermit crab enclosure should have a sufficiently tropical humid environment maintained in it.
The crabs of the genus coenobita are primary dwellers of the land.
The crab's species that belong to this genus are Coenobita clypeatus (Caribbean crab/ soldier crab), C.
compressus (Ecuadorian crab), C.
brevimanus, C.
perlatus, and C.
rugosus and Coenobita cavipes.
All these different species are natives from different regions of the world and the crabs of the Coenobita clypeatus and the Coenobita compressus have adopted best to a life with human beings.
These creatures, when properly cared for, are amazing companions and they enrich the lives of their owners/human friends in a quiet hermitic way.
An understanding of the nature and the behavioral traits of land hermit crabs is necessary in order to take proper care of the crabs.
Taking proper care of the crabs is extremely necessary as the crabs are very sensitive to any kinds of harshness and they react quite drastically to stress by going to the molting stage preceded by a stage of shedding their body parts.
An amazing nature of these creatures is that their lost body parts are regenerated during moltings.
An understanding of the molting and its various aspects is essential to understand the little exotic crustaceans.
Molting is a growing process for these creatures.
These crabs shed their old exoskeleton and grow a new exoskeleton on their bodies.
They also regenerate any lost body parts that they have lost due to stress, during the process of molting.
During molting, the crabs become highly inactive and prefer isolation and darkness.
They dig into the sand substratum of their enclosure and stay inside the moistness, except occasionally coming out for food and freshwater.
The little creatures also become highly vulnerable to attacks by 'bully' hermit crabs during molting.
This is because the shed out exoskeleton is considered a delicious appetite by all the crabs (the one that is molting and the others).
In order to take proper care of the crab during molting, it is essential that the owner sets up an isolation tank and transfer the crab to the tank for a safe molting.
However, the transfer should only be done during early stages of molting when the crab has just started molting.
The caretaker of the crab must be able to identify the behaviors that signify an impending molting and then carefully transfer the crab to an isolation tank.
The behavioral traits that point to molting are a tendency to dig the sand, increased feeding (to store the necessary body oils for molting), a general lethargy (less movement of antenna), ashy exoskeleton, ruffled looking antenna and a characteristic whitish coat over their eyes.
It is important to remember not to disturb the land hermit crab in any way during molting because they are very sensitive to disturbances.
The crab owner should not try to lift the crab and check the molting progress.
These creatures require patience for their proper care.
To take care of the land hermit crab during molting is an important requirement of gaining trust from your pet crab.