Hermit Crab Species: Juvenile Perlatus Hermit Crab - the Strawberry Hermit Crab
This is a juvenile (young) perlatus hermit crab, commonly called a strawberry hermit crab or straw. You can tell that it’s a juvenile because of the red and white coloring; it takes many years for a strawberry hermit crab to become bright red. I have had one of my juvenile perlatus for over a year and he still has the red and white coloring. Land hermit crabs can’t have babies in captivity; while they may attempt to mate in the crabitat, they must be able to lay their eggs in the ocean. Sorry, I know that everyone wants their hermit crab to have a baby, but it’s just not possible in an aquarium.
Perlatus hermit crabs are the most delicate species of hermit crab imported into the United States. They require very specific conditions in order to survive in your crabitat. They need warmer temps around 80 degrees and higher humidity, also around 80%. They must have a saltwater pool that is deep enough for them to fully submerge. Since their pool must be so large and they need a lot of space to roam, you should probably have at least a 20 gallon tank and I wouldn’t put more than two or three in that size tank. Most experienced hermit crab owners would recommend that you have kept hermit crabs for at least six months to a year before you buy strawberry hermit crabs.
These aren’t the kind of hermit crabs that you want to take out of the tank and play with; they need to be left alone in their crabitat and watched. They’re very active and they like to destroy tanks at night, knocking everything over that gets in their way. They are good with all other species of land hermit crab, so it’s perfectly safe to put them in the same tank as purple pinchers, cavipes, rugosus, ecuadorians, and indos.
Hermit crabs can be found in the wild in Indonesia, Malaysia, Seychelles, Guam, Singapore, Christmas Island, Taiwan, Thailand, and Austrailia (they are protected). Purple Pinchers can be found in Florida, but Strawberry hermit crabs do not live on the mainland of the United States.
