HCA: Hermit Crab Association

A stranger reached out to me asking if I could adopt his herrmies, if course I said yes! I started asking about the conditions they lived in within the past year since they had them. I was told these 2 medium herrmies lived in a 10 gallon tank, fed store bought pellets, no top to keep the moisture in, no heat source, and no shells to change into. They did have 3 inches of coconut fiber and things to climb on. In those conditions how did these HC live? It seems like from everything HCA has about care, this is all wrong. I'm new at this, but have gone nuts on creating an ideal captive habitat. Thanks all!

I know it's unbelievable. On one hand they are stressed very easily, and are highly suseptable to toxins, pesticides. On the other hand they are hardy. However, they may seem fine for now but only live for another couple of years due to the damage already done. But at least if you can give them the best possible conditions they will at least be happier and more comfortable the latter part of their lives.

Within a couple ours of their new home they both changed

Yay- congrats! That’s one of my favorite parts- seeing what shells they pick! So far Dave is the only one, and Pat is still in an icky painted shell, bc he won’t stay out long enough to look for anything else! Anyway-
Best of luck with these little dudes- as they said, they may not live a long lifespan due to their hard past year or more, but then again they may live another 5-10- there’s no way to know until you know. He may keep his home in the 70s, and so they were ‘ok’ but likely not very active bc of it; I def can’t answer for the humidity bc that is likely where damage could occur. But if they had each other for entertainment, and IF the pellets were one of the lesser evils... yeah. It may have been adequate to sustain them, but I would boost the areas of their diet they likely missed out in the most- like the minerals for their exo, and just fresh foods in general... I’m sure someone can tell you what would be best to offer them for these things. I’m still fairly new, so I can’t answer it all for sure.
They’re tenacious but fragile. That’s how I see my little guys anyway. Congrats on your new crabbies, you did the perfect thing in coming here. These people are great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, I just got awesome HC food ( protein pack) from Etsy yesterday to boost their diet along with all the fresh stuff I give my other crabs. Yes it's amazing how fragile HC are yet they go through so much and seem to be able to live.

Totally! I’m anxious to see how Dumbo ends up doing- Idk if you’ve seen my shell finding.... emergency? Yeah, kind of an emergency. But the poor guy- there’s no WAY he’s molted in who knows how long while he couldn’t even pull back into the shell at all... heartbreaking once you know better!

Also, random question for anyone! I know that the crabbies setae are more prominent when they get done with a molt etc. They do wear down in a little time, between molts, don’t they? Would the length or wear on the setae be any sort of indicator or a thing to look for to help determine if a crab is going to be in need of a molt? I’m wording this poorly I know, and I know all crabs will look different when they emerge, but. If they have zero visible setae...? Just curious.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You always get outliers.

Some crabs have lived for years - close to a decade- on being in a wire cage, while being fed lettuce leaves. (Theres a scientific journal in the late 70-80's that the researcher kept crabs in those conditions.) And yet others fail to live past a couple of months in what we currently consider optimal conditions...

Its biology.

Biology is weird.

Biology doesn't make sense.

And biology always has a 'but' 'or' or 'majority'.


Think of it like this. Some people live for a long time, even if they smoke like a steam train and eat nothing but fast food. Others eat right, dont smoke and have a short life. Would you say that smoking and fast food is good for you? Of course not. (Same with crabs!)


Another example is diseases or tumors. Some people are more likely to get cancer - or a disease of some description - while others never have the same issue. It's very much a 'luck of the draw'.


Its amazing what some crabs live through and survive for years, while others dont seem to thrive even for a short few months.... cause in the majority of cases, most crabs dont live long in conditions that's not ideal.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

That’s a great way of looking at- and explaining- things. Thanks! That is a straightforward way I can talk with the kiddos about it. I do HOPE all 6 of mine make it for many years, but as you say, the luck of the draw and law of averages says I may well not. I know, basically, how all my crabs were living, so I am grateful for knowing what they came from. The stupid pet stores should know better than to never offer any fresh food- but of course they should know better than a LOT of things. To me, there is no excuse for ignorance anymore. The info is readily available and easily searched. So it makes me mad. I want to DO something about that, and I’m going to start thinking of ways to raise more awareness in general. Anyway-

Thanks for the perfect analogy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But, a vast majority of crabbers that do offer setups similar - I understand each group has their own little differences - to HCA, they do tend to have a rather long life expectancy and most tend to live for at least a few good years.

'Sub-par' setups on the other hand tend to have rather short life expectancy, and majority do not make it past a couple of years in captivity.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk