I have recently purchased 2 Hermit crabs and i think they are awesome. They require little maintenance, they are cheap to maintain, do not carry any diseases and pretty cheap to buy. If your child is asking to have a pet-this is a great pet to start with. You can teach your child to be responsible and take care of them. Here are some things you will need- a terrarium (plastic is okay), 2 plastic little dishes, soil or sand for crabs, some wood pieces or branches for them to climb on, bottled water and food. It is also a good idea to buy them a thermometer and a humidity meter. Hermit crabs like it nice and moist and humid. In terms of taking care of them. You want to buy at least 2, because they are social creatures. Water and food should be changed daily- so you can put some crab food into one bowl and some bottled water in another dish. It is also recommended that you wash all their things with bottled water (so the dishes and their branches for climbing). The soil should be thrown out and replaced once a month the bag costs around 7$ and is enough for half year. Everyday you should spray their habitat with bottle water to make the environment moist. They can be taken out and let to run around a table or your clothe but under supervision. If you do take it into your palm make sure it is as flat as possible to avoid pinching. They also like all sorts of treats like, apple, grapes, bananas, shrimp. They will also require some real shells that are a bit bigger than the ones they have right-now, because they grow and like to change shells. Lastly, i recommend staying away from colored shells that pet stores sell, because the paint on them can be toxic and will kill the crab. As well as, it is a good idea to put a little sponge in the water dish to avoid drowning. If you have a pretty big habitat you can put a 3rd dish with salty water for them to swim in.
