HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi all! I'm new here and wasn't sure where else to post my question. I had hermit crabs a few years ago and and decided to get them again, except do a LOT more research and make sure I have everything I need before getting them! I just purchased a 55 gallon tank, and have a huge list of things to get. I plan on getting about 5-10 Hermies at first (Is that an okay number, should I get more? Less at once?) and want to make sure I have around 100 shells because I do want to gradually have more hermit crabs. I've been searching around for websites where I can buy a lot of shells at once for them, I came across TropicShells.com and they have SUPER cheap shells (50 Medium Fancy Shells for $15.00!). They also have LIVE hermit crabs for really cheap which kind of worries me if all of this is legit or not. Has anyone had experience with this website/company? If not are there other websites or stores near me (I live in Pacific, MO) where I can buy around 100 shells for pretty cheap? Thank you!

I've also found 0 reviews online for this store and that scares me also, just throwing that in there

I hate the term pet smart uses "fancy hermit crabs " you mean a crab in a green turbo as.opoosed to the one they were in when you captured them.

Anyway i don't know this site seems a bit shady i wouldn't buy stuff from them I'd stick to the trusted hermit crab patch.

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They fact that they sell.crabs in painted shells and critter keepers should be a dead.give away to stay away from this place.

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isadoraisacat wrote:I hate the term pet smart uses "fancy hermit crabs " you mean a crab in a green turbo as.opoosed to the one they were in when you captured them.

Anyway i don't know this site seems a bit shady i wouldn't buy stuff from them I'd stick to the trusted hermit crab patch.

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Thats what I was thinking, Apparently its a shop somewhere in Florida? But thats all I really found about it and I'm not even 100% if thats even true. I just dont want to risk anything :/

LizBug wrote:

isadoraisacat wrote:I hate the term pet smart uses "fancy hermit crabs " you mean a crab in a green turbo as.opoosed to the one they were in when you captured them.

Anyway i don't know this site seems a bit shady i wouldn't buy stuff from them I'd stick to the trusted hermit crab patch.

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Thats what I was thinking, Apparently its a shop somewhere in Florida? But thats all I really found about it and I'm not even 100% if thats even true. I just dont want to risk anything :/

I wouldn't I'd buy your supplies from hermit crab patch. This def looks suspect.

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isadoraisacat wrote:

LizBug wrote:

isadoraisacat wrote:I hate the term pet smart uses "fancy hermit crabs " you mean a crab in a green turbo as.opoosed to the one they were in when you captured them.

Anyway i don't know this site seems a bit shady i wouldn't buy stuff from them I'd stick to the trusted hermit crab patch.

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Thats what I was thinking, Apparently its a shop somewhere in Florida? But thats all I really found about it and I'm not even 100% if thats even true. I just dont want to risk anything :/

I wouldn't I'd buy your supplies from hermit crab patch. This def looks suspect.

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Ill definitely stay away from it. Hermit Crab Patch looks like its out of stock on shells at the moment, do you have any other websites that sell shells that you could recommend?

LizBug wrote:

isadoraisacat wrote:

LizBug wrote: Thats what I was thinking, Apparently its a shop somewhere in Florida? But thats all I really found about it and I'm not even 100% if thats even true. I just dont want to risk anything :/

I wouldn't I'd buy your supplies from hermit crab patch. This def looks suspect.

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Ill definitely stay away from it. Hermit Crab Patch looks like its out of stock on shells at the moment, do you have any other websites that sell shells that you could recommend?

http://www.richardsseashells.com/

Is a good one you can also get a big bag of shells.at.micheals
I think i bought out thcp out of shells 2 months ago when they got shell packs back haha sorry.


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Haha no problem! Id probably do the same thing if they were all still in stock. I'm loving the ones on Richard SeaShells! Ill more than likely get mine from there! Thank you so much!

I've heard that Joann's fabric also sells bags of green turbos and I found a bag of mixed ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-mixed-sea ... ls&start=2) and also a bag of the "cheetah" looking ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-cheetah-m ... s&start=13)

PinchersAndShells wrote:I've heard that Joann's fabric also sells bags of green turbos and I found a bag of mixed ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-mixed-sea ... ls&start=2) and also a bag of the "cheetah" looking ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-cheetah-m ... s&start=13)

Ohhh I love those! And the price! What's a good way of cleaning them before giving them to the crabs to potentially use?

LizBug wrote:

PinchersAndShells wrote:I've heard that Joann's fabric also sells bags of green turbos and I found a bag of mixed ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-mixed-sea ... ls&start=2) and also a bag of the "cheetah" looking ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-cheetah-m ... s&start=13)

Ohhh I love those! And the price! What's a good way of cleaning them before giving them to the crabs to potentially use?

I boil mine in the hermie's dechlorinated salt water for five minutes or so. Then wait until they're not extremely hot, but still warm to put it in the tank. From what I've heard this can mimic something recently living in it.

PinchersAndShells wrote:

LizBug wrote:

PinchersAndShells wrote:I've heard that Joann's fabric also sells bags of green turbos and I found a bag of mixed ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-mixed-sea ... ls&start=2) and also a bag of the "cheetah" looking ones (http://www.joann.com/gathered-cheetah-m ... s&start=13)

Ohhh I love those! And the price! What's a good way of cleaning them before giving them to the crabs to potentially use?

I boil mine in the hermie's dechlorinated salt water for five minutes or so. Then wait until they're not extremely hot, but still warm to put it in the tank. From what I've heard this can mimic something recently living in it.

Ill definitely do that when I get them, thank you so much!

Richard's Shells (online), Naples (online), Hobby Lobby, Michael's, JoAnne, Mygann (Ebay/Etsy/Amazon).

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Boiling in salt water will dull shells. You can boil in tap water and rinse in dechlorinated fresh or dip them in salt water before placing back into the tank.

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soilentgringa wrote:Boiling in salt water will dull shells. You can boil in tap water and rinse in dechlorinated fresh or dip them in salt water before placing back into the tank.

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Oh, I wasn't aware of that I usually just did salt to try to speed up the process