HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Please if anyone could help, I don't know what else to do. I have had both my hermit crabs for 3 1/2 yrs. I have not had this problem till now. She is being very picky and stubborn. I have bought over 20 different shells bigger but not to much bigger and she will not go into any. Her opening measures 1 1/4" so I've bought shells with openings form 1 1/2"-1 3/4" and still nothing. Even trying different shell types, like types she has been in before and turbo which she is currently in now. It is time for her to moltbut she won't untill she finds a shell the other hermit crab is currently molting now. Please any advice or suggestion I would greatly appreciate. I'm afraid she will get stressed and come out her shell and die. I don't know what to do.

They don't require a shell change to molt.

What type of shells are you offering?

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Yeah the molting process has nothing to do with shell. Changes. I have one crab who tried on a new shell once for an hour and back to the old one sometimes their happy with what they have and will change once their ready just offer them what's they need and when their ready they will change.

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I am having a similar problem except I can't even find any shells. All the pet stores sell are either too small or the kind with a slit opening not hermit could fit into. I am in Canada and haven't been able to find anyone online who will ship here either. I have bought shells from Michaels but they don't really have anything in a size I am looking for and I hate to buy bags and bags of shells just to find one appropriate one or even none. If anyone knows where I can find shells that would be great, but alternately I was wondering about 3d printing one. I know the painted plastic ones are bad because the paint can be toxic and chip off but would a 3d printed one have issues? Do real shells "breathe" or something? I have had two crabs for 2 years now and they have both molted quite a few times . They both just came out of a molt recently and the bigger one looked like it was trying to get the smaller one out of its shell. (the smaller one always picks a huge shell and while the bigger one prefers a tighter fit I feel it is getting way too small. He couldn't even retract fully into it when he first moved into it, but he rejected a bigger shell, which the smaller one then nabbed.) I just can't find any shells and I am getting worried!

Aphin wrote:I am having a similar problem except I can't even find any shells. All the pet stores sell are either too small or the kind with a slit opening not hermit could fit into. I am in Canada and haven't been able to find anyone online who will ship here either. I have bought shells from Michaels but they don't really have anything in a size I am looking for and I hate to buy bags and bags of shells just to find one appropriate one or even none. If anyone knows where I can find shells that would be great, but alternately I was wondering about 3d printing one. I know the painted plastic ones are bad because the paint can be toxic and chip off but would a 3d printed one have issues? Do real shells "breathe" or something? I have had two crabs for 2 years now and they have both molted quite a few times . They both just came out of a molt recently and the bigger one looked like it was trying to get the smaller one out of its shell. (the smaller one always picks a huge shell and while the bigger one prefers a tighter fit I feel it is getting way too small. He couldn't even retract fully into it when he first moved into it, but he rejected a bigger shell, which the smaller one then nabbed.) I just can't find any shells and I am getting worried!

Check out the HCA Shopping Resources page. Several of the shell sellers ship to Canada (mygann on ebay and Naples are particularly good).

Yes, real shells "breathe" and a crab would not last for long in a 3-D or glass shell.

Thank you so much! I will check it out. Google search is not great for these places I guess.