HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I had a crab do the exact same thing-he is now aptly named Rogue. I kept Rogue separated from the group for a while with TONS of shells. He burrowed down and molted, came up and switched shells and has never had another problem-this was a little over 2 years ago. Something is horribly uncomfortable ...

yeah, also I've noticed that the crabs who tend to shell swap for what appears to be a huge shell at the time end up growing a lot too. I had one choose a nice shell but it was about 4 sizes too big, but grew into it in 2 molts and had to swap again. It's not uncommon.

Ah yes-sounds like a classic case of PPS. For the crabby you dug the hole for place a hidey or a cut off 2 liter over him with some food and leave him be. Offer honey and cuttlebone. This is probably the hardest part of crabbing-waiting. Keep us updated on the little guys.

seems like you've got it handled but I just love to toss in my 2 cents...sooo If there was any shell aggression make sure you're offering plenty of extra shells. Some crabs are just like that though-I have one who will have 30 shells in his size right in front of him but still gets aggressive with m...

other than the "yuck" factor for us all systems are going. The crabs will probably love it.

Also, sometimes shells rubbing against glass can mimic the sound. I've had that happen and went running thinking something was wrong only to discover one of my babies dragging his shell along the glass of my tanks while climbing or something. I've heard a crab chirp (once or twice-so no serious expe...

Thanks, I'm pretty good about feeding fresh, organic shrimp and other shell-fishy things, but I'll be sure to double dose it tonight. I never thought about the boredom thing. I'll have to let him out for a while and see what he gets into. :-) I also have 3 who are about to molt too, so hopefully fee...

Rogue was my first shell thief 3 years ago. He found himself a nice large shell that fit him and quit bothering my other crabs...until now! He's the largest crab in my tank and has always had some dominance issues, shoving other smaller guys around and stuff, but he's starting to go after them like ...

Generally speaking chirping is not good. I've only had one crab chirp one time and that was when my (now gentle giant-now that he has shells to switch into) was new and needed a new shell and decided he was taking one that was occupied. The occupier was not happy and chirped loud enough to wake me f...

I kind of live my life by "no better time than the present". If they're both smaller they're always going to be finishing a molt, getting ready to molt, or molting. Smalls and mediums molt every 3 weeks to 1 month or so, and can be unpredictable. You never know. Again, I say go for it. pop em both i...

Other, more experienced crabbers may have a different idea, but I'd say go for it. I've had several crabs down molting at the same time before and they do fine. Just make sure the tank is large enough with plenty of digging room for them both. Otherwise, they should be fine.

my crabs love it. I actually cut it into strips and put it all over my tank, attached to different things from the ground to give them something interesting to climb, in addition to holding the humidity. In my opinion it's a good find!

I see you have PP's-they're pretty tolerant in the way of crabs. some species couldn't tolerate the lows, but your temps are alright as long as it's not a quick fluctuation. 85 shouldn't be harmful-other more experienced crabbers may comment on this better than i could.

Found Lucky with missing limbs, had him for over a year now. He's molted repeatedly, some successfully, and sometimes the limbs were backwards or deformed. He surface molted recently, went to check on him and he was naked with multiple limbs missing. Can't tell if he's molted or if he's still in the...

one of my favorites act similar to yours. Shelley was one of my first crabbies and she disappears all the time for months, comes up every night for a week, eats, drinks and is active as can be then disappears again. I stopped worrying about her once i realized her pattern. Now it's just REALLY excit...