HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello there! I'm brand new here, and was wondering if someone could help me.
I rescued my Hermit Crab, Herm, from our town carnival in June 2017. I saw him in a bird cage with a leg broken off, and remembered reading that hermit crabs needed sand or substrate to burrow into to molt and fix themselves, which there was none of in the cage. I immediately decided to take him home with me and my boyfriend. We bought all the supplies to allow him to grow and heal and did lots of research to take care of him. (neither of us had ever owned one).

In August 2017 he had his first successful molt! I was incredibly proud, but he returned to the painted shell from the carnival, which i know is bad. I provided some natural shells for him, but i now realize they are much too big. After inspecting the crabs at my local pet store, i determined that he is TINY. AN ABSOLUTE BABY. I can't find any natural shells to fit him! He's like, an inch long. Everything I've found has been for larger crabs! Any suggestions? I think he's preparing to molt again and i want to be ready.


-Nicole

Hi! Welcome to the HCA.

Try Amazon or craft stores. I just ordered a 25 pack of shells from Amazon, and the seller I ordered from had a nice range of sizes. The ones I ordered are too small for my largest, but they didn't have a mixed pack. I hope you find something he likes! If/when he changes again, I'd advise taking the painted shell out.

Moonlightdreams wrote:Hi! Welcome to the HCA.

Try Amazon or craft stores. I just ordered a 25 pack of shells from Amazon, and the seller I ordered from had a nice range of sizes. The ones I ordered are too small for my largest, but they didn't have a mixed pack. I hope you find something he likes! If/when he changes again, I'd advise taking the painted shell out.

Okay! Thank you so much. I was looking at some on amazon, but when i asked about the dimensions, a user just told me not to get them. lol

nicolebaginski4 wrote:

Moonlightdreams wrote:Hi! Welcome to the HCA.

Try Amazon or craft stores. I just ordered a 25 pack of shells from Amazon, and the seller I ordered from had a nice range of sizes. The ones I ordered are too small for my largest, but they didn't have a mixed pack. I hope you find something he likes! If/when he changes again, I'd advise taking the painted shell out.

Okay! Thank you so much. I was looking at some on amazon, but when i asked about the dimensions, a user just told me not to get them. lol

Oh, dear. I hope you find some!

They can change their shells at any time, so don't stress about the upcoming moult particularly.

They actually moult while within their shells, where it's safe & there's water. It's just the exo they push out and then they pop their fronts out to eat it.

There's a shopping resource linked in the FAQ, and there are resources for shells there:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pa ... pping.html

Are we talking a crab so small it could sit on a dime, or a crab the size of a cherry or what? Is there anything you can compare her to in size?

Edit - and welcome!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Jko3oLnbJmk5obHo2



Here he is next to a nickel. He's definitely bigger than a dime but smaller than your average cherry.

I still have a few packs of tiny shells available at my store. The smallest openings are right around a half-inch, perfect for teeny tiny crabs, with sizes up to 7/8 inch openings, 20 shells per pack. I based it on what my teeny guys used to wear backwhen they were itty bitty. http://hermitcrabgarden.com/small/

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Hay I have a good bit of shells that are an inch long with an opening of 3/8 or less. If you pay them shipping I can send you some. I'm going to make a post with pictures. It feel free to email me.

nicolebaginski4 wrote:Hello there! I'm brand new here, and was wondering if someone could help me.
I rescued my Hermit Crab, Herm, from our town carnival in June 2017. I saw him in a bird cage with a leg broken off, and remembered reading that hermit crabs needed sand or substrate to burrow into to molt and fix themselves, which there was none of in the cage. I immediately decided to take him home with me and my boyfriend. We bought all the supplies to allow him to grow and heal and did lots of research to take care of him. (neither of us had ever owned one).

In August 2017 he had his first successful molt! I was incredibly proud, but he returned to the painted shell from the carnival, which i know is bad. I provided some natural shells for him, but i now realize they are much too big. After inspecting the crabs at my local pet store, i determined that he is TINY. AN ABSOLUTE BABY. I can't find any natural shells to fit him! He's like, an inch long. Everything I've found has been for larger crabs! Any suggestions? I think he's preparing to molt again and i want to be ready.


-Nicole

Hello everyone!! Herm has new shells! I was at my grandmas house earlier and remembered that she used to collect shells. She let me take whatever i wanted, so i made sure to grab quite a few shells his size. He is very interested in them, but so far hasn’t moved into any yet. very excited and hopeful.

Yay that's great don't forget to offer and few in the next size up and maybe even down. [Before a molt and every once in awhile I have a crab that goes a size down.]

UPDATE:

I am sooooo happy! I purchased some green turbo shells today and added them into Herm’s tank and after about two hours he has changed into one. He seems very happy and I’m glad he’s finally out of the shell he was probably forced into!

Yay that's great!

nicolebaginski4 wrote:UPDATE:

I am sooooo happy! I purchased some green turbo shells today and added them into Herm’s tank and after about two hours he has changed into one. He seems very happy and I’m glad he’s finally out of the shell he was probably forced into!

OH MY GOSH EVERYONE. I AM SLIGHTLY UPSET. I didn’t take the painted shell out of his tank because he was still standing on top of it wearing the new shell and I didn’t want to disturb him. I came back 5 minutes later AND HE PUT THE PAINTED SHELL BACK ON! Does anyone know what would cause him to switch back?

He prefers something about the painted one. It's size, shape, or ect. I know sometimes a crab with adjust the inside or "modify" it. So he may even spend some time between the two. Try and get a shell as close in size, shape and type to his current one.

Just Jay wrote:He prefers something about the painted one. It's size, shape, or ect. I know sometimes a crab with adjust the inside or "modify" it. So he may even spend some time between the two. Try and get a shell as close in size, shape and type to his current one.

He seems to be checking the turbo out again now. I was kinda trying to find one like his painted one but i couldn’t find any in that type of shape. it’s kind of odd, it has a large area before it like spirals off a bit? I’ll try to find a picture, I haven’t found anything that shape on the forums.