I had hermit crabs years ago. They were great fun. Until.............


We bought a third crab. I called her 'Princess Consuela Banana-hamock' because firstly, it's a great name, and secondly, I'm a huge fan of Friends. Anyhoo..... Princess Consuela was what I like to refer to as a 'massacre crab'. She killed every other crab she ever came into contact with. I actually watched her trying to rip the shell off another crabs back, and she would always strike when they were maulting, so would dig up her brothers/sisters from the sand when they were vulnerable and kill them. I never did buy any more crabs. She lived on her own until she eventually died, and that was it for my crabitat.

I basically fed them any fruit/veg, plus peanut butter, bits of rice etc. I had a warming pad under the tank and a pool of water for bathing/drinking. Be careful not to make the water too deep as they can drown. I had a mixture of small pebbles and sand in the tank, along with some ornaments for climbing and hiding.

As a childs pet, they're low maintenance, and no hassle when the kid loses interest in them. Reasonably inexpensive too. I say why not?