People decorate terrariums and aquariums with live plants all the time, so why not decorate your crabitat with them too? Crabs are a bit more hard to please when it comes to live plants. Many are piousness and crabs tend to try a bite of everything that enters their arena. Crabs can destroy an entire plant in one day. And decorating your crabitat with live plants often results in the appearance of a hurricane rather than tropical paradise. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't or can't treat your little creatures to some aux natural decor. Here are a few quick, easy, and affordable ways to spice up your crabitat with the safety and destructiveness of your crabs in mind.
Photo credit to the Oregon Hermit Crab Rescue.
Click their name to learn more about this great rescue!
Leaf Lettuce: Loose-leaf lettuce (not the tight rounded head kind) is relatively quick and easy to grow. You can buy variety packs of lettuce seeds online or at most greenhouses and seed shops. Sprinkle four or five seeds into a small pot and let them grow for about a month and a half on your windowsill. Once they're beginning to fill up the planter set them inside your crabitat. Most likely your crabs will gobble them all up and hysterically tear them to shreds. But the price of the seeds are so cheap, and they need such a little amount of care and dirt that they are practically more affordable than a head of lettuce. Grow multiple planters at once and you can exchange them in the terrarium every few days to keep the natural look going.
Spider Plants: Spider plants are a favorite among many in-home gardeners. They don't take a green-thumb to survive. In fact they are probably one of the hardiest plants on earth and can survive with even the most inexperienced growers. Spider plants have 'babies' that grow off of them. You can snip four to five babies off of a spider plant every six to eight months. Set the babies in water and let them take root. Then move them to a small planter for a month. Usually they will grow quite fast. They are very pretty plants that make great additions to terrariums. Your hermit crabs will casually nibble them, but the plants are usually hardy enough to live even with your crabs company.
Pineapple Plants: Don't worry, you don't have to run out to some exotic greenhouse to create your own terrarium pineapple plant. Instead of throwing away the top of the pineapple the next time you bring a whole one home from the super market, plant it in some tropical potting soil and let it take root. In about two to three months you can transplant it into your crabitat. The tough leaves make perfect climbing toys for crabs and they look like natural accessories in a tropical or beachy crabitat.
Photo credit to the Oregon Hermit Crab Rescue.
Click their name to learn more about this great rescue!
Leaf Lettuce: Loose-leaf lettuce (not the tight rounded head kind) is relatively quick and easy to grow. You can buy variety packs of lettuce seeds online or at most greenhouses and seed shops. Sprinkle four or five seeds into a small pot and let them grow for about a month and a half on your windowsill. Once they're beginning to fill up the planter set them inside your crabitat. Most likely your crabs will gobble them all up and hysterically tear them to shreds. But the price of the seeds are so cheap, and they need such a little amount of care and dirt that they are practically more affordable than a head of lettuce. Grow multiple planters at once and you can exchange them in the terrarium every few days to keep the natural look going.
Spider Plants: Spider plants are a favorite among many in-home gardeners. They don't take a green-thumb to survive. In fact they are probably one of the hardiest plants on earth and can survive with even the most inexperienced growers. Spider plants have 'babies' that grow off of them. You can snip four to five babies off of a spider plant every six to eight months. Set the babies in water and let them take root. Then move them to a small planter for a month. Usually they will grow quite fast. They are very pretty plants that make great additions to terrariums. Your hermit crabs will casually nibble them, but the plants are usually hardy enough to live even with your crabs company.
Pineapple Plants: Don't worry, you don't have to run out to some exotic greenhouse to create your own terrarium pineapple plant. Instead of throwing away the top of the pineapple the next time you bring a whole one home from the super market, plant it in some tropical potting soil and let it take root. In about two to three months you can transplant it into your crabitat. The tough leaves make perfect climbing toys for crabs and they look like natural accessories in a tropical or beachy crabitat.