HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've noticed lately the crabs at Petsmart are in Magpies fairly often. I guess in the wild they don't have much of a choice, but so far the two I brought home have changed - one to a turbo, the other to a D-shaped opening that most of my E's usually wear.

I made the foam waterfall - it is mostly grey grout with some paint to highlight and contour, so it's not a solid coat of paint. It has been coated with sealer and then marine silicone (same thing the tanks are put together with) over the top of that. I know that I will have to inspect it over time ...

I have a crab that dug down in early June and hasn't come up yet. I know there's a chance he didn't make it, but I'm still holding out hope. In another month or so I'll be moving them to a larger tank, so I guess I'll find out then...

Should name him Edward (Scissorhands!)

Unless the sand is drying out you'll want to avoid spraying water near where they are buried. If you need to raise the humidity try an all-over light misting of dechlorinated water. You don't want there to be too much water that runs down into their cave, just enough to not let it dry out. You won't...

For all you know you're inspiring more research into this by some grad student somewhere and we may be learning even more about them and captive breeding in the future. I was wondering about this - is there a way to find a grad student or professor that is interested in the subject and willing to d...

Too late for this year, but would a long tank with glass dividers be an option for multiple batches of babies? Holes in the glass with filter media wo the water can pass through and be shared (therebyenabling only one water change for all the sections) but not allowing the babies to mingle? I can on...

Is there any chance the more advanced-stage babies could eat the ones a few weeks behind? It's a horrible thought, but the newer ones will be smaller and seem more like "food" to the growing ones? Or no?

I tried to see if they do anything different when the tv/video games in the room start flashing and popping with lights and the rest of the room is dark, but so far nothing. When we get storms here I feel like the whole house shakes and the dog goes running for the closet, but the crabs just act lik...

If you don't want to hold your hand there, you can hold them just above a table or hard surface so they can get their toes to touch. This will help them "stabilize" and not feel like they're dangling in the air with no support.

So - what is the expectation for babies? If they make it, what will you do about finding itty bitty teeny weeny shells?

It will also depend on other factors - a molt with a limb regrowth seems to take longer than a straight-up "here's my new skin" molt. I have one down right now that is regrowing his BP and it seems like it's taking forever!

If the part of the plastic that is broken starts showing signs of getting wider, I'd say just throw a piece or two of duct tape from the front to the back over the top where the brace is. It'll give enough support to hold the glass from bowing during the week or do you use it.

He's up! Chirps was up on top last night! I'm still convinced he was naked underground - I have a large, odd, decorative shell that was in with a bag I got at Michaels and knew it would never be a shell they would want to change into. It looks like some kind of spindle shell, with an opening at leas...

I'd been watching the sand, the food, and the water levels. There's no telling.

I am still waiting it out and just hope he's not naked under there. All three are down yet again.