HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey Pincher - I started using cuttlebones, do you grind up and keep some powder/mini chunks? And tiny sea shells?? They EAT them?? I had rather big crabs ("had" means: we recently moved cross-country and the crabs were adopted by somebody else). They had about 1.5 (for the smallest) to 2 inch shell...

I found them (purple pinchers) being more active during day in the warm/hot summer months, and coming out later during night in the winter. In July and August, I often saw them running around as soon as 4pm, occasionally earlier, while in the winter, I often see none before 9 pm or even later. (The ...

My crab Beau has always been in a large plastic terrarium with a tight fitting lid, so I didn't think about it with the screen top. I wouldn't want to wake up one morning with little crabby eyes staring at me in bed lol. :) There are two issues: a) They not only push open screen tops, they push/sli...

Here is my crocheted crabby climber connected to my bridge. The crabby climber and bridge looks great to me, but from the photos I think it's too close to the lid. It's mounted on top, and then you close the lid, right? How do you secure the lid? If the lid is just put on top, likely crabs climb th...

I tried several lighter shells looking quite similar to green turbos, but mine were not interested. However, this might be different for a crab like yours (not sure on how a weak crab reacts: does it want a lighter shell as it's easier to carry, or still a relatively heavy one for even extra protect...

As this image is somewhat blurred (however, my crab photos are also not better...) and I see nothing that looks not like normal hermit crab anatomy: Could you maybe edit your photo, highlighting the part in case by a circle or an arrow? Regarding crab anatomy: They have antenna, feelers (adds up to ...

Some Petcos have 75s that go for half off during their $1 a gallon sale. Our local one never did, but both of the ones farther away do. This is how I got mine. Bought it at the Petco around the corner. They come without a lid; for a nice lid, see suggestion below. Other options: try craigslist, yar...

Wuen it comes to fruits/veggies, meats, nuts - do I need to cut them up/crush them/tear up pieces? Or do they prefer their foods whole? It doesn't need to be crushed, as they have claws :wink: But I tear up some food a bit, to prevent them from taking it away and hiding it were it can get moldy. E....

Mine are also popcorn fanatics :) How do you prepare your popcorn? I prepare it plain, remove a few popcorn for the crabs, and after that I only salt mine. When feeding popcorn (what I do once a month or so) I always check their hideouts as far as possible (don't dig, but try to look into and e.g. r...

We usually bought ("bought" as we rehome our crabs soon) shells in bulk - if we found some that were somewhat bigger up to what we would expect to fit in about one year, we bought them. Sources: aquarium shops (we have a nice tiny aquarium shop near our current place, selling green turbo as tank dec...

The images are not visible here. "Worms"... many people mistake e.g. beetle larvae, millipedes and centipedes for "worms". Worms in the water dish could be even a parasite of insects, like nematodes which could get pretty big. Some nematodes force their host to go into the water to set the nematode ...

I always have a dish (a large seashell) filled with small cuttlebones, crab exos and small seashells (I can get them from the beach), and I leave it in until it's mostly eaten up. I occasionally put in an egg shell with a bit of left raw egg when I prepare eggs for myself. The crabs enjoy it and app...

How big is your tank? Can you move it out of your home, maybe using some furniture dolly (I mean such: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1 ... /301049476), some stores also rent them?

I'm also not concerned about that. I frequently feed them peanut butter, honey, raw eggs... as well as quite "slimy" fruits for years.
If you want to thicken it for some reason, I would mix in some crumbs from their usual food. On the bottom of e.g. my box of bloodworms, there are always some crumbs.

From some local (smallish) aquarium/fish store. They sell them cheap as tank decoration.
You likely are not living nearby but if you have such a store, check it out! (I'm also collecting shells just for hobby and often found some in such stores.)