HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I need a lot of help when it comes to shells. I have never fully grasped the concept of buying the right ones, especially online. My crabs are medium to medium small. I don’t have a measurer for the openings, so I don’t know the exact size. They are PP’s. If I can’t order online, where should I buy shells? I’ve gotten some good ones at some odd places when traveling, but the hermies have since our grown them. I just want to give them the best possible life and I know the shells they have are getting too tight. Thank you.

I think a lot of people overthink shell sizing. So long as the shells are bigger but not too big then they will move when they are ready. There isn't much in the way of interaction or playing with when it comes to hermits and I have noticed that many people make up for this with fancy food and and insane shell selection. If it makes a person happy I see no problem with it, but it is not required.

You can never go wrong with Petholatus/Tapestry turbos and Striped/Fluctuosus turbos. I have 40 some crabs and a rather insane shell collection, and every single one is one of those two. Even for really big crabs you may not ever need to go over 1 & 1/8 inch openings. They like lighter shells and even though I have a couple dozen who could - and are given the choice of - larger, they show no interest in them.

Crabs golf ball sized and larger can take 1 & 1/8. Anything smaller and you may be looking 1 inch. Crabs who have shells around the size of a quarter would be more likely in 3/4. If they want to move up they will go larger than what would be expected if that is what is available, and sometimes (in my experiance often) that is what they choose to do even with a basketful of size choices. You aren't doing anything wrong if you aren't offering a bigger range to them, they just need to have some options they can fit in if needed.

Outside of online there are not great options if you don't live near beachy tourist traps. Some craft stores and even some Walmarts have bags of mixed shells with some decent hermit options in them. Check out the shell ID thread to know which ones to look for. They aren't the shells they go crazy for, but they are better than what they see in the wild and will happily live in them not knowing any better!!

wodesorel wrote:I think a lot of people overthink shell sizing. So long as the shells are bigger but not too big then they will move when they are ready. There isn't much in the way of interaction or playing with when it comes to hermits and I have noticed that many people make up for this with fancy food and and insane shell selection. If it makes a person happy I see no problem with it, but it is not required.

You can never go wrong with Petholatus/Tapestry turbos and Striped/Fluctuosus turbos. I have 40 some crabs and a rather insane shell collection, and every single one is one of those two. Even for really big crabs you may not ever need to go over 1 & 1/8 inch openings. They like lighter shells and even though I have a couple dozen who could - and are given the choice of - larger, they show no interest in them.

Crabs golf ball sized and larger can take 1 & 1/8. Anything smaller and you may be looking 1 inch. Crabs who have shells around the size of a quarter would be more likely in 3/4. If they want to move up they will go larger than what would be expected if that is what is available, and sometimes (in my experiance often) that is what they choose to do even with a basketful of size choices. You aren't doing anything wrong if you aren't offering a bigger range to them, they just need to have some options they can fit in if needed.

Outside of online there are not great options if you don't live near beachy tourist traps. Some craft stores and even some Walmarts have bags of mixed shells with some decent hermit options in them. Check out the shell ID thread to know which ones to look for. They aren't the shells they go crazy for, but they are better than what they see in the wild and will happily live in them not knowing any better!!

Does it matter if they are polished? Is that a natural occurance? Or man made?

Hermiesguardian wrote:

wodesorel wrote:I think a lot of people overthink shell sizing. So long as the shells are bigger but not too big then they will move when they are ready. There isn't much in the way of interaction or playing with when it comes to hermits and I have noticed that many people make up for this with fancy food and and insane shell selection. If it makes a person happy I see no problem with it, but it is not required.

You can never go wrong with Petholatus/Tapestry turbos and Striped/Fluctuosus turbos. I have 40 some crabs and a rather insane shell collection, and every single one is one of those two. Even for really big crabs you may not ever need to go over 1 & 1/8 inch openings. They like lighter shells and even though I have a couple dozen who could - and are given the choice of - larger, they show no interest in them.

Crabs golf ball sized and larger can take 1 & 1/8. Anything smaller and you may be looking 1 inch. Crabs who have shells around the size of a quarter would be more likely in 3/4. If they want to move up they will go larger than what would be expected if that is what is available, and sometimes (in my experiance often) that is what they choose to do even with a basketful of size choices. You aren't doing anything wrong if you aren't offering a bigger range to them, they just need to have some options they can fit in if needed.

Outside of online there are not great options if you don't live near beachy tourist traps. Some craft stores and even some Walmarts have bags of mixed shells with some decent hermit options in them. Check out the shell ID thread to know which ones to look for. They aren't the shells they go crazy for, but they are better than what they see in the wild and will happily live in them not knowing any better!!

Does it matter if they are polished? Is that a natural occurance? Or man made?

It really depends. Some are "polished" with a clear lacquer coat (Not safe). Some are just well...polished to a shine (Safe)

And the (unlaquered) polished shells are often preffered over unpolished shells because the polishing process removes material from the shell, making it lighter. Pearl-striped turbo shells are currently all the rage in my tank.

Petsmart's individual shells are kinda expensive and I can't often find ones that would fit my small PP's. However, every now and then I'll see a good sized one and I'll buy it and now I have a good amount. Craft stores might also have good sized shells.

I had gotten some shells at Michael's and Hobby Lobby. But they are so varied, it's hit and miss. I received my 1st order of shells from etsy. Green jade turbos. So excited. But...I guess I didn't understand how to size correctly. The batch seems too small.
I have another batch coming. We'll see if I made the same mistake.

It may not be you - some sellers don't consistently measure across the widest point, or don't tell you how thry're measuring.

You can measure the opening with just a normal ruler, you don have to have a guage. And if the seller lists the overall shell size, and not just the openings (actually, sellers are more likely yo list overall size) you can remember that for the round mouthed shells, the opening will typically be half the size of the overall shell.

I usually err on the (slighyly) larger side when ordering and that works well. Like wodesorel said, you don't have to be super precise. A crab will be comfortable within a range of sizes. (It's not like they can be super picky in the wild.)

LadyJinglyJones wrote:It may not be you - some sellers don't consistently measure across the widest point, or don't tell you how thry're measuring.

You can measure the opening with just a normal ruler, you don have to have a guage. And if the seller lists the overall shell size, and not just the openings (actually, sellers are more likely yo list overall size) you can remember that for the round mouthed shells, the opening will typically be half the size of the overall shell.

I usually err on the (slighyly) larger side when ordering and that works well. Like wodesorel said, you don't have to be super precise. A crab will be comfortable within a range of sizes. (It's not like they can be super picky in the wild.)

Actually the 2 sellers I bought from (so far only got 1 shipment) did have both sizes listed. Shell and opening. So I ordered a 3rd batch 1 size up. That should do the trick. For the 3 crabs that have been buried since October and the 2 that are above ground but don't seem to be doing much of anything.

my favorite place to buy shells is the thrift store! people collect them in jars and vases as decor and eventually donate them! i usually find large jars for like 15 bucks full of shells, a lot of shells are unusable or i just use for food dishes but i usually still find about 10 that are good for hermit crabs in there!