HCA: Hermit Crab Association

it took me awhile to figure out how to make a new post but i did it yay lol. around 2 hand a half weeks ago i got 3 hermit crabs (all purple pinchers), shelly, sebastian, and clawdia. since the first day i got sebastian, he has not moved from his corner at all (i’ve check almost every night at different hours) and i only got him to eat once, and never seen him in the pools. shelly burrowed for the first day, but has been active and eating and drinking since and is having pre molt symptoms now. and clawdia was super active like shelly until the last 2 days she has been hiding with sebastian, in the exact same spot and position. i’m worried about sebastian and clawdia:( . they have 5 inches of 5:1 ratio of playsand to eco earth, saltwater and freshwater that have been primed with seachem prime, i feed them mostly food and complete meals from HermitGrub from etsy, the have and greensand and worm casting dish, and the heat is around 80-85 during the day and 73ish at night and around 80%-90% humidity. is there anything i’m doing wrong? i really love them and want them to be ok!

Your tank sounds great along with everything you feeding them!
Maybe add more things for them to hide in so they aren't stressed and know they have a safe place to go to. And if you just got them they could just be stressed and getting used to the new tank. Adding different levels to their tank can also help encourage them to be more active and climb around.
I hope this helps!

Agreed, this is normal for new crabs


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I<3mycrabbies wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 31, 2024 3:16 pm

Your tank sounds great along with everything you feeding them!
Maybe add more things for them to hide in so they aren't stressed and know they have a safe place to go to. And if you just got them they could just be stressed and getting used to the new tank. Adding different levels to their tank can also help encourage them to be more active and climb around.
I hope this helps!

thank you for the tips! i have lots of climbing toys and a rope that shelly loves to climb! i did some more research as well and i definitely think shelly is going to molt she has dug 8 deep holes all over the tank and has been in the deepest one since yesterday night, and she is super ashy and changed into a bigger shell. i hope sebastian and clawdia are just destressing or maybe preparing to molt too.