HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I rescued a purple pincher (Coenobita Clypeatus) from a pet store in deplorable conditions. He eye and partial stock were missing. He had to decompress and went down for around a 4-5 month molt (he’s large sized), and it has not affected his health. He is one of my most colorful hermits now! Part of...

I wouldn’t recommend it because of the metal backing. It can be harmful for crabs to eat anything that’s in direct contact with metal. Also, you need to make sure the moss is organic so there aren’t any chemicals that can harm them. I buy my moss off of Etsy and my crabs love it. They all spend mor...

Hello, I’ve been researching Java moss and it looks like it’s ok for hermit crabs, but I haven’t seen anyone talk about a grid like the attached photo. I found this at Walmart, would it be ok to use in my crabs tank? I’m not sure if about the metal mesh backing... or if it would even survive? It’s ...

Just wondering why all these crabs are in iso? E's like really deep sub, like 12 inches. Why not just put them all into your main tank? Because they are new hermit crabs. I’ve had my hermit crabs for over 8yrs and just got a few more, including these two, recently. I wanted to isolate them first to...

JoeHermits wrote:Usually, yes. I would continue to monitor as needed if the scent continues but I’m not sure what more can be done.


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Will do. Thanks for the help!


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Are the water pools that you provide him/her with deep enough for him/her to fully submerge in and safely get out of? Hermit crabs keep water in their shells. It could be the water in his shell that smells so bad. If his water is dirty, perhaps that is what stinks. Yes, he does. That could be it, b...

SantiClout wrote:My P.P has a natural musk and I assume all hermit crabs do, but if it’s more of a fishy smell then I’m not sure.

My husband describes it as more musky/moldy smelling. Is that what your crabs is like?


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Your crab isn’t carrying food around, is it? You can always pick up the crab and see if it’s producing the smell itself, but don’t get pinched. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk No, I don’t think so. It would be where I could see it, right? Not behind his claw? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Has anyone ever experienced their hermit crab emitting a strange smell? Almost like a very strong musty deceased crab smell. The crab is very much alive. I moved him to a new ISO tank, disposed of the substrate he was in, and the problem was gone. Around 24hrs later the smell is back in the new ISO ...

If it died underground there’s no way to find it without digging up everything. If you leave it it’ll probably just break down on its own. If you do dig you’ll have to go slowly so you don’t accidentally scoop into a crab. Honestly I’d just leave it for now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [ment...

If it died underground there’s no way to find it without digging up everything. If you leave it it’ll probably just break down on its own. If you do dig you’ll have to go slowly so you don’t accidentally scoop into a crab. Honestly I’d just leave it for now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Thank...

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I know this isn’t exactly the same, but PetSmart sells this item and it’s huge. There are also 2 sellers on Etsy that sell driftwood and they very often have large pieces that crabs can go in to. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200614/b36b301c8ad8c4b5bd651395b57dced2.plist Sent from my iPhone usi...

[mention]CrabHarvey [/mention] Pics of original setup before any changes were made. I’ll post some more tomorrow. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200608/43a02c03d46d56e4bf781de4e8f24a20.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200608/09c5525787d0cb6622709e5e69ff14fc.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn...