HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Some progress. Got 2 chambers to print and am pretty happy with them. The weather is dropping temperatures quickly now so I'll wait until next summer to print more. At least I should be done fiddling with the slicer software settings. Sealed them off with acrylic panels and made sure those were wate...

Attempt 7 is almost finished and I think it's gonna be the one. Gonna start experimenting with acetone vapor smoothing on the rejects this weekend as well as picking up other needed supplies assuming it finishes off nicely. Timing is perfect as my girl came up some time in the past week. She looks t...

PM'd.

Quick update, still plugging away at this. My girl is still down molting as far as I'm aware. ABS is definitely finnicky and I really feel like if I want to use it on a regular basis I'll probably need to get an enclosure of some sort for the printer. I had to take a bit over a week break with a bun...

If this was the senses talk that was part of crabcon 2022, this was done in collaboration with Kelsey and myself. And yes, crabs hearing is distinct from ourselves, but in a way, very similar! Our ears respond to sound waves (air) through vibrations of little hair cells within our ear, which is the...

Looks good but how big is it? The photos seem to make it look fairly small. Water will still foul quickly if it is only a small amount as the filter won't be able to cope with the load. It's very small. Much smaller than I expected when looking at the model. I have another print going that I starte...

Took a bit longer than expected for the ABS filament to arrive but we are underway. Haven't printed with ABS before and have heard it's finicky but the first layer has happily laid down smooth on the first try. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230707/2499b73c3946faf7357bd3ef4fe2cf09.jpg https://up...

Thanks! I was planning to use ABS. In the little flow test video the guy put up I think he used PLA but then sealed it in with aquarium silicone or something similar. Yesterdays print is still going and I need to order some ABS filament but hopefully I'll be getting the print started later this week.

My sole female crab went down to molt a few weeks ago and last year she dumped a spawn of larvae in the tiny tupperware pool I had at the time which I was totally unprepared for. I upgraded their digs last fall and I'm hoping she'll give me another this year. I've been going back and forth on whethe...

Just have to wait it out. Probably the second hardest thing in the hobby after breeding them and yet we all have to go through it. If the mold is just on the very surface of the sand you can probably scoop it out without disturbing her and be fine. If not the mold shouldn't bother her anyway. Either...

Gorgeous. I really like the one with her on top of the castle. The queen gazing upon her queendom and making sure all that has happened in her absence meets her approval.

Thanks folks. A week and a half after moving they seem to be settling in nicely. I've done one partial and one full water change on both pools so far although it wasn't really necessary going by the testing kit. More about me figuring out how the logistics of doing the changes would work. I'm going ...

Got all my guys moved over during the course of the day and evening yesterday. I thought I had one down molting but Mr. Turtle was just being the typical elusive Mr. Turtle and popped out after my normal bedtime, not knowing I was up late crab hunting. The first two I found sleeping together in a hi...

The thermostats will generally have just a standard outlet that you can plug whatever brand mat into. I've been using a BN Link one designed for seedlings I think for my 20 gal with topper and it's been working fine for a year and a half now. I have a newer one with two temp probes in my almost done...

Getting real close now. Tank seems to be stabilizing nicely and as long as everything continues to hold temperature/humidity wise through tonight I'll start moving guys and some last bits of decor from the old tank with my regular Saturday water change, feeding, and sometimes clean. Here's the last ...