HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I 3D print Various Items, and as a concept item i printed a few turbo shells a few months back. Well i just got 4 new rescues today and one of them instantly started trying on shells, (i have well over 40 natural shells for my crabs to choose from 4 3d printed shells) and He chose My Shell! Like, Just hopped on in it, he tried on a few shells before he got in Mine and he has been content in it most of the night so i hope he decides to keep it. Im just so hype that one of my Hermies Decided to wear it.


Sorry if this doesnt belong here, but i wanted to share. and this seemed like the right section.

Okay, first of all, 3D printing is extremely fascinating to me!!! Very cool that you do that!! What do you do your 3D printing with? I would be a little concerned about the hermits eating it because they do modify their shells.

What is it made of? The shell i mean... That is to cool!

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GotButterflies wrote:Okay, first of all, 3D printing is extremely fascinating to me!!! Very cool that you do that!! What do you do your 3D printing with? I would be a little concerned about the hermits eating it because they do modify their shells.

I think if they don't eat the plastic plants in the habitat (I know they shred them), that they probably wouldn't eat pieces of the shell.

What is the shell made of?

One concern is toxins from the material leaching into the waters they carry, and another is seeing how the shell holds up to being dragged over and through sand constantly.

I like the idea of 3D printing shells, and I know other companies have done this with potato starches, so I think it can be done in a "crab safe" manner.

The shell itself looks great and was probably picked due to weight, if it is lighter than the natural shells.

I'm interested to see where this goes.



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Sure would be nice id buy them its hard to find shells with 1"- 2" openings!

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Wow i Didnt think my post would blow up like this,
I normally print Out of ABS but i was reading that it isnt always safe so i settled for PLA food grade Non Toxic Material for the shells, Beast (Crab Pictured) was In A New Natural Shell By The Time I Woke Up, But He Chose mine Out Of His Own Free Will, I Would Like To One day Be able To Market All The Stuff I Make With The Printer, Shells, Bridges, Bowls, Huts, ect. But as of yet everything is still in prototype stages. And like i said before, the shells were just a concept piece that i never thought that they would choose to wear. Seeing i had one success Ill be working on making more shells going up 1/10th inch in size every time and ill see if they like those better. printing isnt a complete science, We Have Machine Malfunctions All The Time, Throw Away Prints, And Just A Bunch Of Errors on occasion so dont hope for new Information weekly, ill Post updates as i go when i can.
Now For Your Questions:
Kayedeelove<3 Asked:
"What is it made of? The shell i mean... That is to cool!" | Shell Was Made From RED PLA.
GotButterflies Asked:
"What do you do your 3D printing with?" | I Am Unaware of what you mean by this question, Please Elaborate and i will get back to you! Thank you!
soilentgringa Asked
"What Do you use? And Is It Lighter Than Natural Shells" | I Use Pla for the shells ABS for everything else, and yes they are far lighter than natural shells still just as strong though some shells you can crush in your hands these you cant.
Kaydeelove<3 Said:
"Sure would be nice id buy them its hard to find shells with 1"- 2" openings!" | Once i get to the point to have stock to sell I Can Contact you about arrangements If Youd Like,

Oh yeah, as far as this blowing up...

There is a shortage of shells in the wild because of overharvesting for crafts and the tourist trade.

I bet you could even scan previously modified E shells (E's will fight to the death over them and wear a shell forever because they modify them to fit their abdomens.)



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You might be on to something here man! This could replace all the toxic shells in pet stores and I'm sure they'd be cheaper than buying real shells anyways (in the way of manufacturing vs. Harvesting)

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KayedeeLove<3 wrote:You might be on to something here man! This could replace all the toxic shells in pet stores and I'm sure they'd be cheaper than buying real shells anyways (in the way of manufacturing vs. Harvesting)

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as far as pricing it is very odd, If i send my files into a pro printer one shell made around 1.5 inch size would cost me 10+$ to make. Printing them myself does cut that price down a bit, but it takes me a good 5/6+ prints to even get the shell to print successfully, meaning a lot of material waist.

Very cool! You answered my questions in your posts


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KayedeeLove<3 wrote:Sure would be nice id buy them its hard to find shells with 1"- 2" openings!

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I search for mine at local beach shops, and shop at RichardsShells. Those are the size I use also.


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I actually just found this local shell shop which is sooo much better because i can see exactly what I'm buying!
I use Richards to he's an awesome guy.

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So Beast (crab pictured) decided to go with a jade pearled turbo shell, But Purt (one of the rescues got with Beast) just now (like legitimately 5 mins before posting this) Took that same red shell and is now wearing it, idk if she will stay in it cause she keeps swapping shells. but hey! another felt like it was safe enough to wear, i would upload a picture but i dont want to disturb her at the moment. she hasnt checked out anymore shells since she put on the red one.

That is SOOOO cool! Maybe the material that is wasted can be reused? I know what a 3D printer is but i have never used one.

HeyItsEggs wrote:That is SOOOO cool! Maybe the material that is wasted can be reused? I know what a 3D printer is but i have never used one.

Only way to reuse 3dprinter material is to get an filiment extruder which costs darn near the same as the printer, which i cant buy atm.