HCA: Hermit Crab Association

He did not make it. He had no signs of movement yesterday and began to show definite signs of decomp today. He was still holding on to his shell despite hanging out of it so I will bury him with it. Upset that I did not get him back into his shell earlier in case that was the problem but from experi...

He's still alive! I veeeery verry gently scooted his butt into his shell yesterday and he looked awful at first. Barely hanging out of it. This morning he's upright, still not in the shell properly but hanging on better than before. His eye stalks are up and he's still responsive. I've still got him...

I gently picked him up for iso and rinsed him with the fresh water since he was caked in sand. He seems to be in poor condition. One leg missing a segment and back shell grabbers seem hardened/blackened and damaged- as if he has been trying to deal with a bad molt. I have him inside a critter keeper...

3 of my crabs are in a 29 gallon with 5 inches of sandcastle substrate. I know its a little small but it is temporary until I have a larger place. They were formerly in a 55g and will return to it once I have space again. They've been in the 29 gallon for several months now. I've owned crabs since 2...

My crabs do this too! Especially my biggest. They roll almost entirely out of their shells when there's fresh food they particularly enjoy, like chicken or pineapple or fresh eggshell. And then they will sit and eat their food like that too. Its funny to see, but I have no clue why they do it. It se...

Cuties!
I am moving across town in two days and have 2 out of 7 crabs down. Do you have any tips for digging them up? Or do you just start removing substrate and hope for the best? I'll definitely iso them if there's any sign of moulting.

In mid Jan, I had only 1/5 crabs buried. I added two new small crabs at the beginning of Feb and they buried within a week along with one of my others (fortunately, not before switching into natural shells). So until a couple days ago, I had 4/7 crabs down! Very quiet in the 'tat. But I am very happ...

Thank you all! My crabs live their best lives because of all the info gathered here

I use a reptile feeding dish (made of some sort of resin) that has a natural rocky shape that all crabs can climb in and out of for my main dish. A lot of people feed food in scallop/clam shells which come in all sizes. They also range in shape from plate-like to bowl-like. They can get a little gro...

I have that same stand! I work at a facility that cuts and paints MDF so I put shelves on mine. Had it since October and it's just fine. No big problem setting it up though the finish was a little scratched on some sides. Relatively speaking it's cheap and you get what you pay for. I'm happy with it...

I cleaned out a really gross saltwater sump tank with a razor blade and vinegar (and lots of scrubbing)

Make sure its a glass tank, not acrylic before you use a blade on it, though! And absolutely no chemicals no matter what, only vinegar and water. You can do it!

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 05, 2019 5:35 pm

LOL! Harry looks like a dog when they find an animal carcass then decide to roll all over it!

That's exactly what I was thinking!

I love sparky's shell! How old do you think sparky is? however old he (or she) is, my crabs must be about that age. Sparky(at the bottom) is my next-to-littlest, classified "Small" They have got to be at least a few years old. They actually changed into a natural green shell and burrowed right away...

Like many others, I got my first hermits when I was a kid on a beach trip. They actually came with a pretty good caresheet for the 90s... But we were poor and did not provide for them as we should have, and they lived in a gravelly critter keeper on only a prayer. Regardless we had a couple successf...

My large crab, Harry, goes nuts when I put something exciting in the tank, like a chunk of cooked chicken or some fresh pineapple. He comes to the food and literally flips out, somersaulting and flailing. I put half an eggshell in this morning and walked in to this a little later. Does anyone else's...