Henry's eating/breaking his own shell!

[Jezza86]

Hi everyone. Just stumbled across this site and really inspired by all the information and love on here!

2 weeks ago one of my wife's clients who owns a pet store came into her work and dropped off a hermit crab before my wife arrived at work! My wife panicked and took the rest of the day off going around finding a tank, sand, a coconut and a heater etc etc to make the crab's life as good as possible. We have named the hermit crab Henry.

A few days ago we received a few shells for him that we ordered online (all natural shells no paint) -we sterilised them and put them in his tank. Within a few hours he had changed to one of the new shells, then when we checked on him in the morning and he had changed again - this time into an absolutely huge shell that completely covers him - he can barely walk around without it dragging along on top of him! I just checked up on him now and he's busy in his coconut hut eating/breaking the opening of the shell! the shell is massive and the opening is more than 3 times as big as his previous shell (which was far too small poor little fellow). Anyway, rant over - just wandering if this is normal behaviour, He has a cuttlebone in the tank he hasn't touched yet, so I don't think he's craving calcium. The only thing I think it might be is a method to improve visibility. Has anyone seen this behaviour before? He's astoundingly clever and has a real personality - both my wife and I are obsessed with him now! i would attach some photos but I haven't figured out how to do it yet

Sorry about the really long post!

[GotButterflies]

Hello! Welcome to the HCA

This is completely normal behavior! They modify their shells all of the time

Edit: To attach photos you would need to use Tapatalk

[Jezza86]

Thanks He seems happy enough in his new shell.I think he's just modifying the opening a bit so he can see better. Smart guy!

[wodesorel]

Some crabs will chip out space for their eyes and for their legs to sit more naturally on the sides. It's not super common, but I've had a few over the years who did.