HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I just ordered some shells from both of these places and wanted to jot a review for anyone who was thinking of ordering from either place.

Ordering was easy, and both orders arrived promptly and in well padded packages. All of the shells were in perfect condition. For the record, I did NOT indicate on either order that these shells were specifically for hermit crabs. I was curious to see what I would get.

Here is the Naples order. I measured all the shell openings, and they matched what was indicated on the website.


And here is the Deltona order. Some of these shells did not list specific hermit crab sizes on the website, and of the ones that did, they were all smaller than the sizes listed.


One nice little bargain from Deltona was the bag of Intetcoastalis snail shells for $2.80. It contained 18 shells, with openings from 1.25" down to 5/8". The only issue with these was that a few had chipped openings, but I think a quick sanding with a Dremel tool would solve that problem. They are rough, natural shells that seem perfectly crab-ready, but it will be up to my crabbie tribe to give the definitive claws-up or claws-down opinion on that.




So that's the deal. My crabbie tribe ranges in size from small to large, so I'm not concerned about the discrepancy in the Deltona sizes; I'm sure the tribe will still be overjoyed with the new wardrobe choices. If you're searching for a specific size, I'd order from Naples.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have shells to boil and crabs to thrill.

I, too, have been very pleased with Naples: both the shells and the opening sizes received were exactly as advertised. Big Enzo quickly snagged a Naples pearled Tapestry shell but "tries on" several other snazzy ones on a daily basis, always going back to the pearled Tapestry . Deltona seems a bit more hit or miss to me but many HCAers swear by them.

I don't know if it's changed, it's been a while since I've ordered from Deltona, but they used to clearly state that they don't cater to hermit crab owners. Has that changed? Regardless, shells should still come intact, unless otherwise described.

When I ordered naples it took 2 weeks before I finally called and found out my order was backordered. I had a large crab in need of the shells as he kept streaking becsuse what he came in was too small and he was my first large. He died from the ordeal. I think had the shells come when they should have he would have made it because he wouldn't have been stressed for as long. Be wary when ordering the larger shell packs since they tend to run low on stock. Just call first. She is a very nice lady.

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I didn't see anything on Deltona's site saying they didn't cater to the crabby crowd. They list shell size and "crab opening" measurements for some of their turbo shells, others just list shell size. If this batch is any indication, they don't take the "crab opening" measurements too seriously, as some of the measurements were more than 1/4" smaller than what was listed on their site. Just a "buyer beware" heads up. The baggie of snail shells were basically a whim. I was curious to see what I would get for $2.80, and for that price I wasn't disappointed. Only two out of the eighteen shells had chips on the front. The rest of the turbos I ordered from them were in perfect condition.

I've ordered from both places several times and have loved my order. One of the few places on line that you can get the larger turbo's for larger crabs.

It is a good idea to test the shells for leaks by filling them with water (in the lower portion of the shell).They need to be able to hold the crabs shell water.