HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I only use coconut fiber. I had a sand/ fiber mix before but I felt the sand would get wet and smell funny and the coconut fiber seems cleaner and helps keep the humidity in. IS there anything wrong with only using coconut fiber? (I have a good 8 inches of depth with it in a 29 gallon tank).

Are you sure that isn't a salad spinner? Doesn't look like something made for pets at all.

Okay, thank you. I'm also wondering if anyone knows how the crabs get the weak crab out of the shell. Also, does anyone know why my weak crab's abdomen was so large and puffy?

I've been giving him water and food daily, but I can't be sure if he is eating it. I'm going to assume he is. When he was out of his shell and wasn't quite fitting into the new shell I put him in, I was able to feed him directly and he eat a bunch of coconut. Then he managed to wrap his body into th...

So Alex, my dying crab, was attacked and pulled out of his shell somehow and another crab stole his shell, leaving him for dead. I took the advice on this thread (THANKS!) and rinsed Alex off and slid the poor thing into another shell. Because he has only his big claw left, he is very fragile. He st...

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place, but I'm starting to see that shells are very important to my crabs. I went and got a new crab today who was in a shell that I thought my other two crabs would like. He was too big for it and obviously needing a bigger shell. I have a bigger shell at ho...

I have this same question. I have two crabs that keep changing shells, sometimes over 3 or 4 times a day. Even though there are a lot of shells for them, they keep switching between the same three shells. They are so funny about it, too. But it makes me worry they don't have enough shell choices. Of...

It's true you get hooked! I do need more shells. The crab that initially pulled Alex out of his shell and left him for dead, later decided to go back into his original shell. Then I caught him trying to get Alex out of the shell I put him in (Alex is the dying crab). Now another crab I have switched...

Okay, thank you. I've read so many different things about what to do with a molting crab. This crab, Alex, is in bad shape. I'm not sure what is wrong with him, but he is still alive. I assumed he was molting because when I found him he was laying on his side and his abdomen was rhythmically pulsati...

So my hermit crab that molted died--- I put him underground and left him alone and a few days later he died (smell was bad). I'm not sure what happened to him, but I'm pretty upset about it since I did my best to make sure his conditions were perfect. The second crab I have molting right now is anot...

I haven't had my crabs for very long, and when one started to change drastically (from being extremely outgoing and active), to limp and lethargic, I was worried he was sick. I kept checking on him and after a couple weeks he was just getting weaker and weaker. I isolated him and the next day he was...

I got my first hermit crab on a whim at the beach. We brought him home and had a make-shift home for him initially. I actually had planned on just using the little carrier thing they give you but I soon realized after some research that I needed a tank and some serious supplies to keep him alive. So...