HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So i've had this hermie for about 6 months and he was really small when I first got him. Ive got a pretty wide array of shells with about 7 in there of varying sizes from the tiny thumb size from when I first got him to massive jumbo crab size and then a few mid size ones in there of varying shapes ...

Helloooo all, Ive made a post ab this guy before, but i'm rlly unsure and confused ab him. So i'm pretty sure hes dead because he went down to molt around April, he resurfaced once then went back down and never moved. At one point his burrow flooded because it was directly under a water bowl (he sti...

He might have molted while he was under, then come up again. Or he may have just been preparing to molt when you dug him up, or you missed his exo in with him, or he wasn't molting. But if he has not shed his exo in the month that he has been isolated, and he has not moved, it sounds like he may ha...

During a molt, a crab sheds their exoskeleton and eats it while the new exo hardens up. They don't come up until they are done, so he hasn't been molting since April. Crabs dig down to de-stress or just for fun, as well as molting. While there may be times when they don't move much during their mol...

Hello, I have a small crab that's been molting now since around April. I've seen him come up once during that time but he went back down under the water bowl. Unfortunately his tunnel flooded, and I had to move him out of the old tank into the new main tank because I couldn't regulate the old ones h...

So, I actually used to heat my 135 gallon this way, using only a 40watt bulb inside. There are burn risks to the crabs obviously if using it inside the tank since they can reach it, but I did it for around 6 years and never had a problem. The biggest safety issue is that the crabs can and probably ...

Does the heat pad have adhesive on it? Or did you use tape to stick it on the glass? If it has adhesive on it, you can't remove and re-stick it (a fire hazard). However, if you taped it on, I'd suggested removing it and sticking it to the back of the tank. I had a heat pad on the side of my tank, a...

There are a couple of things you can do. 1) If the pad isn’t already insulated (some manufacturers make them pre-insulated), you can use cardboard and/or aluminum to help reflect the heat back into the tank. 2) Add additional heat sources. You can add more or larger heat pads, otherwise a heat lamp...

Helloo, So i've been having a lot of issues with the heating inside my tank lately. I live in an area that is usually quite hot and humid in summer and with a heat source the temp in my tank is usually fine. However this is my first winter with my crabs and the temp in the tank has dropped way colde...

If you dig up a molting crab, do not re-bury them - you are correct that they can not dig themselves out and they will suffocate. Crabs don't leave their shells while molting. If you move him, he will need to be isolated with his exoskeleton. You will want to carefully dig him up, going in from the...

18C is going to be too cold for a molting crab. How big is the container he is in? Will it fit inside the new tank? Or you may need to put him in a small iso container into the main tank, so he has proper heat and humidity. Had he eaten his exo yet? I dont believe he has eaten his exo yet because h...

When did you dig him up? And when you put him back in, did you bury him under the sand, or isolate him from the other crabs? I dug him up yesterday as soon as it flooded in. His burrow is underneath a water bowl so I emptied the bowl but put him back in the burrow under there after I cleaned it up....

Hiya, I recently got a new tank which has two active small crabs in it. My old tank still has a molting crab in it. I would just leave him there but I only have a heat source for one tank, and the only other one I have isnt effective so im struggling to keep his tank warm enough, the temp is droppin...

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? I cant really remember, but it is a mix of play sand and coconut stuff I believe. Sorry I rlly cant remember but its not the stuff that clumps up. Curly - How deep is it? Is it sand castle consistency so that it holds it's shape? 2....

We have a guide here on the forum for when crabs are naked: https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=122302 It also has a troubleshooting section at the end for potential sources of stress. Let us know if you have additional questions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Thanks so...