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What to Do with Unwanted Hermit Crabs (4 Great Options)

What to Do with Unwanted Hermit Crabs (4 Great Options)

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This post is written to the author's best knowledge and is not intended to be used in place of veterinary advice. In addition, this post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Do you have too many hermit crabs in your tank? Perhaps you have more hermit crabs than you think you can handle right now.

Some people go overboard when they get into caring for pet hermit crabs. If you have a dozen hermit crabs, you might want to get rid of some of them.

You could simply no longer want to care for hermit crabs, too. Is there something you can do with unwanted hermit crabs that makes sense?

Continue reading to go over your options. This will allow you to do what’s best for the unwanted hermit crabs.

1 – Give Them Away

Giving the hermit crabs away to someone else is likely your best bet. This will allow you to get rid of unwanted crabs without making it a big deal.

Hermit crabs are becoming very popular as pets. People like keeping hermit crabs in home tanks, and that means that finding someone who is interested shouldn’t be too difficult.

You can see if any friends or family members are interested in pet hermit crabs first. This will allow you to give the crabs away to people who are trustworthy.

If you don’t have friends or family members who want to take the crabs, it’ll be best to give them away online. There are various online marketplaces where you can list pets.

2 – Sell Them

Some people will want to recuperate a bit of the money that they spent on the hermit crabs. You could sell the hermit crabs to someone if you’re so inclined.

Of course, hermit crabs aren’t expensive creatures. You can buy them from stores for as little as $5.00.

Larger hermit crabs and specific types might be more expensive. Regardless, you shouldn’t charge too much for the crabs.

It’s easier to make money by selling the habitat and the equipment that you use to maintain the habitat. Depending on what you have, you might be able to sell the habitat, the equipment, toys, and everything else for a few hundred dollars along with the hermit crabs.

There might be someone who is interested in your hermit crabs and the equipment. List what you have on a community marketplace website and see if you can drum up interest.

Take good pictures of everything and write a detailed description. This will give you the best shot of making a sale.

3 – See if Pet Stores Want Them

Have you thought about looking into whether local pet stores will take your hermit crabs? There’s a good chance that many local pet stores sell hermit crabs.

Most of the hermit crabs that you see being sold at pet stores are caught in the wild. It’s not unusual at all for a store to buy or take hermit crabs from a private individual.

Talk to the pet store owner and explain your situation. They might be willing to take the hermit crabs off of your hands.

You can arrange a time where the hermit crabs can be picked up or you can take them to the store yourself. Of course, this is only if the pet store owner agrees to take the hermit crabs off your hands.

Don’t be downtrodden if you get turned down by the first pet store. It might be worth asking at another pet store to see if they’re interested in your hermit crabs.

You should be able to find a home for the hermit crabs if you look. Hopefully, giving them to a pet store will allow the hermit crabs to find great new homes.

4 – Ask an Exotic Veterinarian for Help

Asking an exotic veterinarian for help might be a solid choice as well. Some exotic veterinarians take care of hermit crabs.

Someone like this might have connections that will make it easier for you to find a new home for the crabs. For instance, the vet might know someone in the area who is an enthusiast.

They can offer the crabs to them and then you can feel relief. The crabs will have a good home and you won’t need to worry about caring for them any longer.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that an exotic vet will be able to help you. Even so, it’s worth a shot if you already know a vet that deals with hermit crabs.

Don’t Release Hermit Crabs at Local Beaches

Whatever you do, don’t decide to just release a bunch of hermit crabs at local beaches. You shouldn’t even release one hermit crab at a local beach.

You see, hermit crabs are almost surely not native to the area where you live. They come from many different regions of the world and they have rather specific temperature and humidity requirements.

There’s a good chance that the hermit crab wouldn’t be able to survive at your local beach. It might wind up perishing faster than you’d think.

It would be cruel to release a hermit crab in an environment where it cannot thrive. The options presented to you above are truly the best things that you can do with unwanted hermit crabs.

In the future, it’d be best not to buy new pets if you don’t want to care for them. It’s understandable that things can change in your life, but caring for pets is a commitment.

Some don’t expect hermit crabs to live for as long as they do. These creatures have the potential to live for decades with proper care, but they do often die in just a few years when people don’t care for them properly in home habitats.

Final Thoughts

You have some options when it comes to getting rid of unwanted hermit crabs. It’s likely that you’ll try to give the crabs away or sell them first.

For the most part, giving hermit crabs away will be much easier than selling them. Although, some might not like the idea of parting with semi-expensive equipment for free.

You could also try to sell them or give them to a local pet store. This might be an easy way to get rid of many hermit crabs.

Never release hermit crabs into the wild. They aren’t native to your environment and they won’t be able to survive at local beaches.

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