HCA: Hermit Crab Association

mom23 wrote:I haven't taken any yet. Out of 4, 1 passed away & 2 dug down immediately. There is one up. I haven't bothered him too much yet, but I'll try to get a picture of him. They are SO TINY. He doesn't look like a viola to me, but I am far from an expert.

Awe man, i'm sorry that you lost one. But i'm glad the other two dug down, hopefully to destress and molt! No need to bother them just for a picture, I was just curious because "Cavipes" were sold back in 2003 when I first started crabbing, but we realized (many years later) that they were actually just Violas.
I had been wanting to order some Cavipes but I wasn't sure if i'd actually get cavipes, a viola or ruggie or something.

I'd like to get someone's opinion. When I see a good opportunity I'll take a pic. I've heard they look like violas & I read where years back people thought they had cavipes and turned out to be violas. I took a chance because I have 3 violas and love them so if these turn out to be violas I'm ok with that.

SMH......I lost a viola and BOTH cavipes so far from LHC (found my smallest cavipes dead today)......also lost a indo that was sent as a replacement (died next day).....the remaining indo I have went down to molt/die (looked like crap when she sent them) as well as my replacement med straws that went down to molt/die...(also looked terrible when she sent them) Seems like a repeat from last year, spend a ton of money, wait forever, get them and watch them die!

I will never order from them again, not even going to bother telling her I'm loosing the crabs I paid for AND my replacements (from deaths) last year...not like I want to watch more crabs die!

My tanks are perfect, I've kept all my other crabs alive for years so it's not my fault, my first order (this year) came with no heat pack (Blues, cavipes, violas) and sat in a box for 2 days...I ended up selling off 2 blues and a med viola from that order (once they came up from molts) so now I have 4 blues left (hopefully) ..(2 molted fine) still have 2 blues down now recently and that might be all that survives from this years order..

This entire experience has been a nightmare, and I'm sure I'm not the only one going through this...

kip.rogers357 wrote:So has anyone received their Aussies or Cavipes?
Those two are the ones I was concerned about...Did anyone here even try to order those?

I did (got 2 cavipes) awhile back but found one dead today in it's shell, the other never came up from digging down when I got them...(Just made a post about it) They were not baby violas but actual cavipes, I have pictures but it's to complicated for me to post them here, I can send a few pics via email if you want, I took a few before they went down to die..

I received 3 rugs, 2 indos, 2 violas, and 3 blueberries. I lost both my indo's and one of my blues right away. She made me feel like it was something I did wrong, as she said she hadn't heard from anyone else about deaths aside from one other person. Honestly, I think I was one of the first to get crabs on here from this season's order, so naturally there wouldn't be that many complaints at that time. I also know its not my fault. I take very good care of my babies. I check on them constantly, as does my husband. My crab's accommodations are to the book. She offered to replace them, so long as I paid the shipping. I have no interest in ordering from there again. I would love to get some more violas but I am going to wait until someone else steps up to the plate.

Can someone kindly describe a "cavipes"? I'm fairly new to crabbing and have zero experience with exotics. I didn't even know the species (?) existed until I read this thread. Google came up with nothing when I tried that.


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moonbeam wrote:Can someone kindly describe a "cavipes"? I'm fairly new to crabbing and have zero experience with exotics. I didn't even know the species (?) existed until I read this thread. Google came up with nothing when I tried that.

Hi moonbeam, I have found this site to be very helpful with species identification:
http://www.coenobitaspecies.com/cavipes.htm

Thanks go_skiboard!! That link was so detailed with lots of good pictures. Great resource


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Three of my four ruggies are up and doing well, and my survivor Indo from last year is also doing well. One of the rugs that dug down on the first day hasn't been seen since, and I'm starting to think it's dead since the other three are up. Neither of the two Indos who dug down have come back up, though I have a little more hope for them since Indos seem to do everything so slowly, and they were in rough shape going down. One Indo has yet to dig, so we'll see how many make it.


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Ammolite don't lose hope on your last rugg... All 4 of mine went down together and the last one came up weeks after the others. Good Luck

just got my 4 pps in from lhc and they are in great shape verry active all limbs no mites and so far so good they seem to love their new home and eating great

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Were all the blues this season in terrible shape? I'd love to get some but I can't find anywhere aside from LHC. Anyone else know of another place I could find them?

I ordered 2 ruggies and 2 indos. I had to replace the indos with violas. I received the ruggies and 3 violas. One ruggie died after a few days. I have recently found 2 of the violas dead. I can only hope the 2 remaining crabs are molting. This is the last time I will order crabs from her. The violas were in rough shape, badly needing a molt. The ruggies were in better condition.

the four small pp's I got just a few weeks ago are doing great changing shells going in the fresh and salt pools eating good not one of them is in bad shape

Just an update - Another Indo successfully molted. It was a partial surface molt (I think it was molting close to the surface, and another crab kicked it up while digging), so it did have to be iso'd for a couple of days. However, it seems to be doing well back in the main tank.

One Indo and one Ruggie that dug have not been seen again, and one Indo has yet to dig or molt, though it has been active at night.


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