i can't find anything about them being endangered. it may be possible to keep one, if you were able to get one. they don't mature until 4-8yrs though, so mating might be a chore, plus you wouldn't have any ocean.
Largest land-invert in the world
- Thread starter Dwarf Puffers
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I have seen them before, only online though. I would imagine they would make terrible pets. Anything with a specialized diet like that would be harder to care for. The picture of the one hanging on the trash can frightens me, and not many animals frighten me.
Basically they're the largest member of the hermit crab family. They are also on the CITES Red List for threatend and endangered species so no, you can't have one as a pet. At least here in the US without a permit. I hear they taste good though. 
I've heard that they're really slow. The local kids like to knock them off trees for fun. I can't imagine wanting to keep one as a pet though. They're ugly as Bush!
these things have such strong claws! they can do serious damage to you if you **** em off! I had this cool picture book when I was little about them and it had this one sad pic of the crabs that get infested with blowfly larva right under their carapaces and their mouths, eeeeewww!!!! that would be the only reason I wouldn't touch them, uugh hate maggots!
That trash can one is particularly large and ugly. I like some of the other pics of them, climbing up trees in search of coconuts 
The blue and red ones are pretty! People do keep them as pets in Japan. My buddy from Jamaica used to run into these all the time when he lived down there.
Here is a little excerpt from wiki on them
"Reports about the size of Birgus latro vary, but most references give a body length of up to 40 cm (16 in)[4], a weight of up to 9 lb (4.1 kg), and a leg span of more than 3 ft (0.91 m) [5], with males generally being larger than females. It is believed that this is near the theoretical limit for a terrestrial arthropod.[6][citation needed] They can live more than 30 years [7]."
"Reports about the size of Birgus latro vary, but most references give a body length of up to 40 cm (16 in)[4], a weight of up to 9 lb (4.1 kg), and a leg span of more than 3 ft (0.91 m) [5], with males generally being larger than females. It is believed that this is near the theoretical limit for a terrestrial arthropod.[6][citation needed] They can live more than 30 years [7]."
