HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Check out the turbo i snagged at michaels today. It was packed in the middle of a bag of crap. Any thoughts on what i can do with the offal?

Sweeeeeeeet!

If it's just useless shells, some people grind 'em up for calcium, or silicone them into pools as stepping 'stones'.

Hi Rosie. I was on that Tapatalk just writing away to you.... I'm sorry about your new shell.....I got mine today from etsy... that 24 pack for $11.99. They're cleaned and ready, I didn't inspect them yet. They are not as thick as that one so I'm sure there will be some chips, but they look great, large selection of sizes. I'm extremely excited. I'm not in a good area to buy them, and you just never know when you order. I have many that I love, but are too small. 4 of mine practically grew right before my eyes.

How are your new babies tonight?

Nice! My crabs love those tapestry turbos! Pretty aren't they? My lil sandy is in one right now. And my big guy Harry has one that he swhiches back n forth into. He's in a Mexican right now though. if there was any scallop or land snail shells in that extra crap u can stick a few in the sub around the tank and the crabs will nibble them as a calcium source. My guys end up dragging them around the tank. U can use any shells but mine seem to love scallop shaped shells and land snails for some reason lol.

Silly sheep, I think I bought those same Mexican turbos as u! 24 for 11.99 right? I got them from the nessastores on eBay though rather than etsy. Same seller though. They are nice shells and I got a lot of big ones. Pretty color variety too. My big guy Harry is in a greenish one right now. I call him "my xmas crab" cuz the shell is greenish and he is a very deep red at the moment lol. Let me know how u like them

Yeah i looked in the tank tonight and the guy in the teal had already switched out for the turbo! Honestly i was a little djsappointed because that means i was not wrong about how humongous my crabs are lol. I have 4 more big shells coming today, i cant WAIT for them to get here.

Thanks for the suggestions u guys, i was thinking i would probably do something along those lines.

That bjg bag for 12$ looks like a great deal but i think at least 2/3 of my crew need bigger! I think they need 3" shells. I should probably just get it bc it is a killer deal and i want to get 2/3 more crabs, hopefully lil ones so i can have 3 more as opposed to just 2. Honestly i think i could even comfortably have 4 more if they are dime sized or less. I feel bad for my crabs, they must be lonely with just the 3 of them in there. I feel like have a few more buddies might make them less skittish.

@silly everyone was good last night, still feeling shy tho! I havent seen the 3rd crab since i put her in the tank and i still havent been able to sex any of them yet hows ur set?

Just be careful to avoid over crowding... can lead to agression that you def don't want.

Once you've got a sense of just how big a shell you need, it's worth checking out Richards or Naples and just ordering the specimen sizes you want. Otherwise you end up flooded with shells too small & only have a few in the correct size. Naples has a 'hermit shell' section, and if you specify to Richards that it's for crabs, they'll try to help you out (though in my experience, Richards errs on the larger side, so maybe order a hairs breadth smaller than you want.)

LadyJinglyJones wrote:Just be careful to avoid over crowding... can lead to agression that you def don't want.

Once you've got a sense of just how big a shell you need, it's worth checking out Richards or Naples and just ordering the specimen sizes you want. Otherwise you end up flooded with shells too small & only have a few in the correct size. Naples has a 'hermit shell' section, and if you specify to Richards that it's for crabs, they'll try to help you out (though in my experience, Richards errs on the larger side, so maybe order a hairs breadth smaller than you want.)

yeah i have 4 more big shells coming sometime today supposedly, cant wait to see them. i was making some returns and just thought id check it out, in my experience craft stores have nothing but garbage, ESPECIALLY in the larger sizes. i felt like i kinda hit the jackpot with that one. since my crab crew have all been so reluctant to emerge and the one or two times i have picked them up since ive brought them home they refuse to retract into their shells ive really had to make some rough guesses. since these big shells are so expensive im kinda just gonna measure all the new shells coming in today and wait and see which ones get snapped up to help guide me in buying some more. will post pics when they arrive!

Rosie, did I send you the offer to babysit, if you would put a live cam in your tank..... ha ha. I don't have great luck with shells, I think I will try what you said LadyJinglyJones (I love your name, such a cool ring to it)

So, my new Mexican turbos, they have been grounded down a little right? Well, it appears mine were. I'm pretty sure that's the case. They look great though. All in good condition, good selection of sizes, just a real good thing, huh? Well tell my babies that. Mi Mi was in one, so pretty (she's in an old snail shell, stained up looking. I'm so tired of it, it even looks like it stinks...ha ha ha) She kept the new one for about 25 steps all together, now she's back in her shell.

Sillysheep wrote:Rosie, did I send you the offer to babysit, if you would put a live cam in your tank..... ha ha. I don't have great luck with shells, I think I will try what you said LadyJinglyJones (I love your name, such a cool ring to it)

So, my new Mexican turbos, they have been grounded down a little right? Well, it appears mine were. I'm pretty sure that's the case. They look great though. All in good condition, good selection of sizes, just a real good thing, huh? Well tell my babies that. Mi Mi was in one, so pretty (she's in an old snail shell, stained up looking. I'm so tired of it, it even looks like it stinks...ha ha ha) She kept the new one for about 25 steps all together, now she's back in her shell.

Anybody else take any of the new shells yet? Also, I know there's a range of sizes in that etsy bag. Were any of them 2" or more?

I legitimately would love to get a night cam for the tank. Maybe when i go back to work

Btw those shells i ordered on amazon came. Theyre really nice but they were all supposed to be 2" min and one is smaller than that which im pretty bummed about. I mean it actually isnt necessarily a BAD thing, since i havent seen the little one in the orange shell since i brought them home so maybe she needs a bit smaller. If the little shell gets taken it will be telling. I was surprised nobody took them yet! The one from michaels got snapped up the first night, i thought for sure at least one of them would get taken!

Ooo pretty! it's always good to have some that are a little smaller too. Crabs will sometimes switch into a shell that's a bit to small purposefully right before they go down for a molt. My Eugene is actually in a striped tapestry rn that's too small even though there is a ton of shells in the tank his size. He's he put it on before he went down and hasn't changed it since he came up a few weeks ago and it's starting to look really snug lol. Crabs are weird!

Happyhermiehome wrote:Ooo pretty! it's always good to have some that are a little smaller too. Crabs will sometimes switch into a shell that's a bit to small purposefully right before they go down for a molt. My Eugene is actually in a striped tapestry rn that's too small even though there is a ton of shells in the tank his size. He's he put it on before he went down and hasn't changed it since he came up a few weeks ago and it's starting to look really snug lol. Crabs are weird!

Good to know. I really wish I had a handle on how big these guys are. I'm not working at the moment so while I am trying to build up my shell collection a bit I would hate to spend on shells that arent gonna be in the right range, ya know? I'm thinking more and more than big mexican turbo grabbag might be a good idea.

The Mexicans only get to a certain size. The ones I've found top out at a smallish medium crab size. Which is unfortunate because they're so light, crabs tend to really like them. But buying banded/pearlized tapestries and greens cuts down on weight.

i ordered the same mexican turbo bag from etsy, and only one of them has an opening that's larger than 1", i.e. total length 2"+ so i put it in the tank and it was taken right away! all others has smaller openings. but i didn't know to ask for big shells in my order so maybe that could have different results. but judging by some photos i saw others posted, i think large mexican turbo with 1"+ openings are rare.

ROSIEonFIRE wrote:

Sillysheep wrote:Rosie, did I send you the offer to babysit, if you would put a live cam in your tank..... ha ha. I don't have great luck with shells, I think I will try what you said LadyJinglyJones (I love your name, such a cool ring to it)

So, my new Mexican turbos, they have been grounded down a little right? Well, it appears mine were. I'm pretty sure that's the case. They look great though. All in good condition, good selection of sizes, just a real good thing, huh? Well tell my babies that. Mi Mi was in one, so pretty (she's in an old snail shell, stained up looking. I'm so tired of it, it even looks like it stinks...ha ha ha) She kept the new one for about 25 steps all together, now she's back in her shell.

Anybody else take any of the new shells yet? Also, I know there's a range of sizes in that etsy bag. Were any of them 2" or more?

I legitimately would love to get a night cam for the tank. Maybe when i go back to work

Btw those shells i ordered on amazon came. Theyre really nice but they were all supposed to be 2" min and one is smaller than that which im pretty bummed about. I mean it actually isnt necessarily a BAD thing, since i havent seen the little one in the orange shell since i brought them home so maybe she needs a bit smaller. If the little shell gets taken it will be telling. I was surprised nobody took them yet! The one from michaels got snapped up the first night, i thought for sure at least one of them would get taken!

Those shells are beautiful. My guys are all still in the same shells. B o r I n g. Ha ha. I have offered many many. They're just comfortable, which should make me happy... Ha ha. I have a ton of shells, one reason or another, they just stay. Well, Duck jumps in and out a lot, and if anyone else wants one, she'll stand over it and guard it. When she was little, she would get in a half coconut hut (wow, she was little), I have to laugh when I remember she used to get in the hut and pull as many shells as she could to the door to cover it. She's so full of it, she probably slept with one eye open, er one eye out... Ha ha.

I did catch Dorothy walking down into the water. Guess I told you I took the air out, at least now they'll go on that side of the tank.

Didn't know I'd end up writing full update... I did get some good pictures last night.... I'll go put their where they belong. I don't mean to disrespect by posting in the wrong place... Just get carried away.

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