HCA: Hermit Crab Association

my second hermit crab gandalf came up from his first molt since i brought him home. previous to this molt he had very dark colors, and he was rather shiny i suppose. he's been up from the molt now for about a week and a half and his color still looks dull and there isnt much too it.
is this a bad sign?
he's been more active than ever, and he switched into a larger shell he seems to enjoy a lot.
there are foods you can feed them to enhance the color if i'm not mistaken?

just looking for a little guidance, thanks!

What's your substrate? If it's straight eco-earth, that could be why your crabbies don't look as shiny. Eco earth has a higher acidity than sand and thus would eat away at the shine of your crabbies and the shine of polished shells. I had a similar experience.

When I made the switch to sand a few weeks ago, all the polished turbos have stayed polished. My substrate is sand (quickrete premium play sand is the one I use) with about 6 ounces of each of of the following: EE, Exo terra forest moss (comes in compressed bricks), worm castings, and soon crushed oyster shell all mixed in with the sand. So far, my crabbies really seem to like this mix. I have 3 down molting right now, so I'll let you know how they look when they come up.

Some crabs will molt into lighter colors. It could be from diet, or it could just be a natural occurrence.

Also, are you sure it's the same crab?

wodesorel wrote:Some crabs will molt into lighter colors. It could be from diet, or it could just be a natural occurrence.

Also, are you sure it's the same crab?

haha yeah i only have 3 crabs
its not hard to keep track c:

Actually I only had three crabs for a while (i now have 5). There was a shell fight, and it took me THREE DAYS to figure out they switched. So you must be positive

Mike120 wrote:Actually I only had three crabs for a while (i now have 5). There was a shell fight, and it took me THREE DAYS to figure out they switched. So you must be positive

the two that are up right now vary in size greatly so no shell fights really.
idk i know my crabs! lol

Good foods can very well help to increase the coloring of your crabs but you wont see a change until the next molt.. Offer lots of colors in the foods.. Also offer lots of coco nut. foods high in good oils are wonderful in helping with the colors of the crabs. Some things i would suggest is Fruits like berries, you can offer them freeze dried when you cant get fresh. Raspberries, blue berries, straw berries, cranberries, all berries are great for coloring, Nuts are very good as well as seeds one really great seed that is also high in protein is pumpkin seeds, Coconut is very important to the crabs in the wild its a natural part of the diet. Oils help them to grow. Cyclop Eeze Zooplankton has the most Astaxanthene that ive found in any foods for the crabs and that enhances the colors in the crabs, any sea vegetables are great, sea lettuce or seaweeds. You should also have a good mineral supplement for your crabs. The hermit crab patch offers one here http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Pet-Land ... -s/127.htm price is great and its awsome.
I also offer one that is coral calcium and different minerals in my hermit crab dollar store. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Suebeebuzz
The main thing is to think lots of different colors with a big variety.
Veggies like peppers, carrots, eggplant with the skin, tomatoes, sweat potatoes are wonderful and full of nutrition. The better the nutrition the better the coloring of the crabs. If you go to my face book page and take a look at my violas and straws you will see that my crabs have some amazing colors. Its due to the great foods. I never mix the foods, i offer them in little piles so the crabs can eat what they need when they need it. They know better then i do what stages of molt they are in and when they need what. Best of luck, Suebee

suebee wrote:Good foods can very well help to increase the coloring of your crabs but you wont see a change until the next molt.. Offer lots of colors in the foods.. Also offer lots of coco nut. foods high in good oils are wonderful in helping with the colors of the crabs. Some things i would suggest is Fruits like berries, you can offer them freeze dried when you cant get fresh. Raspberries, blue berries, straw berries, cranberries, all berries are great for coloring, Nuts are very good as well as seeds one really great seed that is also high in protein is pumpkin seeds, Coconut is very important to the crabs in the wild its a natural part of the diet. Oils help them to grow. Cyclop Eeze Zooplankton has the most Astaxanthene that ive found in any foods for the crabs and that enhances the colors in the crabs, any sea vegetables are great, sea lettuce or seaweeds. You should also have a good mineral supplement for your crabs. The hermit crab patch offers one here http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Pet-Land ... -s/127.htm price is great and its awsome.
I also offer one that is coral calcium and different minerals in my hermit crab dollar store. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Suebeebuzz
The main thing is to think lots of different colors with a big variety.
Veggies like peppers, carrots, eggplant with the skin, tomatoes, sweat potatoes are wonderful and full of nutrition. The better the nutrition the better the coloring of the crabs. If you go to my face book page and take a look at my violas and straws you will see that my crabs have some amazing colors. Its due to the great foods. I never mix the foods, i offer them in little piles so the crabs can eat what they need when they need it. They know better then i do what stages of molt they are in and when they need what. Best of luck, Suebee

this was what i was looking for,
thank you!