Live plants for use in the crabitat is a regularly brought up subject. In the wild of course our crabs have access only to these, both for cover and for diet, no plastic plants or fabric leaves! For a keeper with a little time to spare live plants can be added and maintained to give a more natural look and provide other benefits. A list of potential plants can be found at the bottom of the page.

Land hermit crabs can be very destructive at times, often simply by digging or eating, so live plants may not last long. 

Methods

There are three main methods with planting crabitats. Sprouting, temporary planting and permanent planting.

Sprouting is spreading seeds in the tank and allowing them to sprout into a natural grazing carpet of little green shoots which naturally become leggier and die back as they are cut and trampled. The decaying sprouts then enrich the substrate further. Some keepers prefer to spread the seeds into a tray of worm castings or organic compost which is easily removed and replenished.

Temporary planting is, as the name suggests, putting in plants which you know won't last long and you do not mind that. The plants go in for enrichment and dietary purposes or as temporary decoration, it is quite common for homegrown weeds or small unwanted plants to be used. The roots are usually left inside a plant pot so they can easily be removed when they are finished.

Permanent planting is of course adding plants to the tank with the intent of them staying there as long as possible. The permanency of this varies on how suitable the plant turns out to be and if the crabs will allow it but we certainly try our best! Ways of ensuring they do not grow too much, minimising damage and they do not flood the substrate include leaving the roots inside a pot, encouraging them to grow up a small trellis and pruning as needed. 

Another method, not quite planting, is the use of cuttings. When the ends are put into the substrate plant cuttings often last quite a while, allowing the crabs to graze on a natural food source and hide among the leaves. Even as they dry the cuttings can serve as decoration and food. Real bamboo (not "lucky"), maple and home grown rose cuttings in particular are quite popular both with crabbers and their crabs!

Selecting and preparing your plants

The first thing to consider is sources. Growing your own is preferable but often time consuming, using organic soil and fertilisers as needed. Buying plants is sometimes faster but unless you can find ones free from pesticides and chemical fertilisers means putting them into new soil and allowing them to grow on for as long as possible since the crabs may nibble at or eat them and gardening chemicals can leech into the substrate. Personally I prefer to use plants from my own garden, either weeds or whole plants or rooted cuttings, as temporary planting alongside sprouts and fresh cuttings.

Next is size and how you wish to position the plants. Anything too big will not have room to grow and may start to take over the tank rapidly, and tiny plants will easily be trampled by crabs simply walking, but would be better suited to positioning on a background or branch. Placement in the tank will impact on how much warmth, light and moisture the plant receives. Being directly by the heat mat for instance could dry the roots and damage the leaves. As always this will vary from tank to tank. A plant which requires more shade would be better suited to darker corners than a light loving one!

Looking at the species of plant factors such as their needed light, moisture and heat levels, growth speed, overall size, how hardy or delicate they are physically and of course if they are potentially toxic are all important. If they need dry conditions and go into 80% humidity, have very delicate stems and are climbed on or require cold conditions it is not likely to end well! Always be aware that even if a plant is safe for the crabs it may be harmful to other pets or an irritant to humans, selecting one which will cause you a rash on contact is definitely not a good plan. Some plants will also send out runners which sprout and quickly take over the whole tank so may be best avoided.

If buying a plant look for healthy growth, no signs of disease like patchy leaves or furry white coating. Can you see obvious pests? Is it wilting from lack of water? Slightly under-watered plants tend to be easier to revive than ones which have been drowned in far too much as the roots begin to rot. Don't be afraid to ask for information on what care it needs beyond the label, a proper garden centre should be able to help with this. If need be note down the name (common and scientific) from the label and search the internet when home.

If the plant has been bought then gently removing as much soil as possible from the roots, washing them (if the plant will tolerate this well) with plain water and repotting with clean soil is a wise idea. Commercially sold plants will usually have slow release fertilisers, pesticides or other such gardening chemicals present in the soil and plant. Some amphibian keepers suggest also gently washing the leaves to help remove some traces. Time for growing on varies from person to person, at least a few weeks should be allowed but the longer it is the better the plant can shift things from itself. If you need to feed the plant then a “tea” of very stewed nettle, organic compost or seaweed is one excellent option.