HCA: Hermit Crab Association

When Ghost shrunk, he'd been naked underground when he was ready to molt and I noticed while trying to get him to reshell that he appeared dehydrated as his tail was a little wrinkled and shrunken. So at the time, I assumed the size loss was due to the dehydration, as he immediately dug back down an...

Gahhh!! He's starting again. All afternoon he's been running up to other crabs like a bull charging, backing off and then running up to them again. He hasn't grabbed anyone yet, but he did hit Hercie's shell when Hercie accidentally kicked him. Ugh...I don't know what to do with him. Termite appears...

Wait - sorry, I was confusing Moya with Sunshine Did Moya have anything bad happen to her prior to the molt?

Perhaps the stress of all that she went through left her hungry and/or grumpy so she took advantage of an easy snack. I've seen a stressful molt result in shrinkage before, so that doesn't really surprise me. That was Ghost and he was buried, ready to molt when someone dug him up and picked a shell ...

Ohhhhh poor little thing. This is one of those moments when I wish that we could hug our hermit crabs and that they'd know what it meant. That little crabby needs a hug. Banana mashes up really well, as does mango. You might be able to try some ground/minced meat too. And if you can get your hands o...

Many crab keepers have to add water to the substrate several times per week to keep it moist enough. Some find that the best method is to pour a little water into each corner of the tank every few days, or as needed. Or you can try misting more frequently. With regards to the food being buried, try ...

I'd stake my right arm on that being the same crab. I printed off a photo of Moya and a photo of the possible Moya, with the BP blown right up and all the little dots match up. It's the same crab.

Yeh, I was so happy when Termite picked that turbo, He's sticking out of it now when he puts into it. Sigh...it use to be too big on him. It's quite thick and sturdy, but when the UV light is behind him the light is so bright that you can see his tail faintly through the shell :D It's rather cool. H...

Right when I finally worked out how to get decent photos through the glass with the weird lightplay in the dining room and with the yellowish UV light...my camera broken lol. But, in a few days of having this new one, I am now utterly addicted. :D Still trying to work out how to get nice shots of th...

They are a cute lot aren't they!! It's always intrigued me how similar Aussies seem to be to E's in behavior and their likes and dislikes with food, shells and conditions. They must be cousins of sorts.

Glad you guys enjoyed the photos...it's been a blast playing with the new camera!

I've spent hours (literally) taking, uploading, organising and tagging a gazillion photos...here's the best of them. Click 'em to blow them up if you want. Enjoy! Cinnamon - a small who I've had for just over a year. She is quite the cow, but is becoming more friendly to me and the other crabs http:...

Thank you guys so much Is it safe to catch wild crickets or do they have too many parasites and diseases? And do crickets breed when kept in the right conditions?

And...uh...how the heck do you catch one or two when you need them, without them all escaping?

I bought Exo Terra crickets in a can once, which they went nuts for and then refused to eat ever again :roll: Maybe they tasted yucky after the tin had been open for a while. How do you keep crickets? Our neighbour just gave me a 4.2 gallon fish tank and I'm trying to work out what to do with it (I'...

The only suggestion I have based on that is maybe try to give them more proteins. You might have a troublemaker in the tank who's attacking molters/buried crabs. Some crabs seem to like eating molters. Plenty of protein can help reduce aggression, but unfortunately sometimes people who feel adequate...