HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Yes we have very deep substrate. I feed them all kind of different foods from the safe list. He was very tiny so I think that is what happened. I believe he passed and they ate the excess carcass. Just wanted to get other opinions. Thank you.

I had 3 crabs down at the same time about 7-8 months ago. The 2 larger crabs came up after about 7 weeks. The 3rd crab, which was a very small crab has yet to come up. Well today I did some digging (I know I'm not supposed to) and found his shell empty. Did not find him in the dirt anywhere. Is it p...

When do you "worry" so to speak? If they are buried so deep and you aren't going to be able to smell anything how do you know they are ok? I know to just trust the process but just curious. We have a small crab that has been down for 125 days (4+ months) as of today and based on his size I thought h...

I'm in the same boat. Have a crab, that I would classify as small, that has been down since late October (so approaching 4 months). Seems like a long time to be down based on his size but we are just being patient. It's hard but that's the advice I've been given so sticking to it.

It appears there are some very minuscule flying gnats in our tank. I've noticed it the last couple days. My plan was to change out all the substrate this weekend but today noticed our smallest crabs has buried himself. If he is down to molt I'm going to have to hold off on changing the dirt. What sh...

Update. The little guy came up overnight and changed into a bigger shell. He came up at a perfect time because we are leaving for vacation today. So all is good.

No bad smells. I've had one die so I know the smell. Not getting the smell. I assume he is fine just seemed like he has been down for an awful long time. But yeah could be cuz 1st molt and he spent a lot of time de-stressing

I have a mini hermit crab that buried himself the next morning after buying him. Today is day 45 that he has been down. When I say mini, I am saying no bigger than my thumb. I had a large crab that was molting and came up on day 41. I understand they all vary, but judging by his size I did not expec...

Update. Got a great look at him today and he did molt. I noticed the black claws and some hair. He is still digging and hiding. Maybe still feels vulnerable.

Hi! New crabs will often bury themselves to destress or molt. Sometimes, you will get crabs that like to spend most of their lives underground for one reason or another, who knows? Maybe they just like to play "Batman" and be in a secret lair. :hlol: It is possible for crabs to molt "back to back"....

We had a crab come up this morning after being buried 41 days. I was assuming from molting but not sure because he looks about the same. We noticed this afternoon he has been hiding in his hut all day and has done a lot of digging. He hasn't gone underground but is behind a big pile of dirt. Does th...

We woke up this morning to see our 1st molter come back up after 41 days. I made sure both water dishes and the food dish were filled. Are there any other steps we need to take? He seems a little scared right now so just letting him be. There is another crab in the tank and we have them separated at...

Hi. There is no reason to isolate a molter unless it is surface molting. They should be allowed to bury themselves and then left alone. They will do what comes naturally :) But when they come up from a molt don't they need some time before they can mix with the other crabs? That's what I was told a...

We have a crab that was starting to dig so I moved him into an iso tank. He buried himself completely only to come up the next day. Then at night (last night) he buried himself again. Now tonight he has come up again. My concern is there is another crab that has been buried for about a month in this...