HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Okay, so I have two young purple pincher hermit crabs. I got them in late September, and they haven't really grown, but they haven't molted yet. Anyway, I finally decided to try and tell their genders. My braver one came out far enough that I'm pretty sure she has no gonopores, and my shyer one came out enough that I don't think she does either. (I didn't force her to come out that far! Oh, and I'm just used to calling them girls, so I'm still saying she for now) Anyway, so does that mean they're probably male? Because they're very small and young, I didn't know that if they're female, overtime their gonopores become visible?

You might have to wait for them to do a few molts before you can tell for sure. I have a small/med who is female, but two smaller crabs that I assume are males. The small/med is the only one with the holes

Telling the gender can be difficult sometimes.. My crab Frankie was one of those. She didn't come out much and when she did it was hard to tell. But a day or two later she ended up going through a surface molt and after she had fully recovered I checked again and turns out she was definitely a she!

So if you ever decide to pick up some more friends and can't tell the difference but really want to name them, you could give them a name that works for either gender Frankie Sinatra was originally Frank Sinatra but that obviously wasn't going to work once I found out the gender hahaha.

I feel bad for getting Frankie while she was finalizing the preparations for a molt but at the same time I'm glad I was able to rescue her! It was also a very good learning experience because now I know that crabs can get sluggish and become very inactive right before a molt.

My new crab Henry I got on Thursday I called a boy just cause, but that night he climbed up against the glass and I could clearly see gonopores! I'm trying to give Lola a nickname that'll make me remember his gender...maybe even something weird like Lolo or something.

robinwhiskers wrote:My new crab Henry I got on Thursday I called a boy just cause, but that night he climbed up against the glass and I could clearly see gonopores! I'm trying to give Lola a nickname that'll make me remember his gender...maybe even something weird like Lolo or something.

Low-rider?
Loco?
Cocoa?
Alright now I'm just starting to rhyme... lol

Lol I think Cocoa is a bit out of the box! I've been calling her Lolo. Ugh, I mean I'm calling HIM Lolo. Ugh I still need to get used to this!