HCA: Hermit Crab Association

75 to 85 Fahrenheit is great; humidity should also be between 75% and 85% , ideally.

Thanks; yeah, I've seen it different colors from various things--like the classic orange carrot poop, and greensand poop that was clearly greensand poop; but mine have always had a fairly consistent shape to it--a tube-like extrusion of basically uniform size around (like if you squeeze a tube of to...

I remember a nature show about lobster's yearly migrations, so at least some of them must molt according to that cycle.

There are ways to do it once they are dead. Crustaceans have internal structures (inside the eyestalks and part of their gastric mill) that are retained when shedding and can be dated like tree rings. I haven't seen a study on doing it with hermit crabs in particular, but it should hold true though...

That is a good one. Assuming they are correct, it give several different indicators. Taking them all together, I guess you can at least get a general guess.

As long as it's pesticide-free, give it a go and see what the crabs say.

I would be interested in what the super-long-term crabbers have to say about this. Mine have certainly grown fairly consistently as long as I have had them, so I think it is fair to say that their relative size is at least related to how old they are, although I'm sure it is not perfectly correlated...

Having lots of rescue experience with multiple species, I know that poop can be a very valuable sign of the state of an animal's health. And I know what my crabs' poop used to look like, before this past year when I moved, and they spent about 9 months at a foster home --at which one of the three tr...

I agree that there was definitely overcrowding, not nearly enough space or volume of substrate for the number of crabs in the tank, and this may have resulted in molting cannibalism. You also need to provide constant sources of protein and chitin, or crabs will find any molter a convenient meal. And...

If you find ants actually on the molters when you dig them up, I suspect it may sadly be too late for them. :( But if it were me, I would try to get any ants off as gently as I can and put them in safe iso and just see if they survive. Maybe wodes will have more specific ideas in response to this qu...

Definitely listen to wodes; she has more experience in captive crab-keeping than just about anybody. Just a few ants exploring is one thing, but if it's possible they have already established a serious presence in the tank, that does sound like it could be more dangerous than disturbing molters. Jus...

I wouldn't dig up the molters, that's more dangerous for them than a few ants at this point. Try vaseline completely around the top of the tank (outside) to keep any ants out (yes, messy, but you can clean it up later); kill any ants you see in the tank or on the outside of it (or in the room), and ...

A fair number of people have had difficulties keeping E's and PP's together. Some people have had them together without issue (as it sounds like you have for some time), but they are different species with different priorities and it may well be that communication and/or proximity cues (how much spa...

They are plenty tough if they are basically healthy and aren't in mid-molt; I've shipped them two-day across the country multiple times (rescues to new homes) and they've always been just fine. Take reasonable steps and you'll (and they'll) be great.

It's a good rule of thumb to have three extra shells PER CRAB (so, you should have six extra shells for two crabs) in the tank. They need to be of the proper type and appropriate opening shape and size for the crabs you have. Do not trust pet store displays of "hermit crab shells"--the last two time...