HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello everyone!
I'm back!
I have two pp's one of them has a natural shell (Hallow) while the other has a painted shell (M&M)
I've been trying to find the perfect shell for M&M because ever since I've got him he's been wearing a painted shell and I want him out of it so he can be in a healthier shell
I've gotten a few shells for the both of them so they wouldn't fight but I can't properly clean them out due to not having the supplies and not sure how to clean them using a pot
and i've tried using bottled water and after i put them inside the tank they weren't interested and i'm a little worried that they won't ever change shells
please help me out I want to give them the best life I can

You don't need to do anything special, shells are relatively clean when you purchase then. You can boil them (any pot works, with tap water) but it's often overkill, so there's no real risks to just rinsing them off like you did.

What kind of shell did you buy? Small crabs under 1 inch openings can be adventurous with their choices, but medium crabs and bigger tend to like turbos the best. The top two choices are Turbo fluctuosus sometimes sold as Mexican or Striped, and Turbo petholatus also known as Tapestry.

These are the shells I have


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The shells down the left are all D shaped and not great for PPs. More in line for what Es wear. Bursa / Frog shell, Moon / Nerite shell, and a Rice / Apple shell.

The ones down the middle are all Virgin Murex. Severely heavy for their size and rarely taken by any crabs.

The one on the right is a crown / fiber conch. Wrong opening shape for most crabs.

Ah okay thank you!
I’ll be sure to find some better ones!

not at all saying you should or need to buy these.. this is just an example of mexican turbos. My crabs loved them because they are very light for their size.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/248492842/ ... A248492842

Alrighty thanks!