HCA: Hermit Crab Association

How many shells is a good amount per hermit crab? I have approximately a dozen tiny to medium sized hermit crabs (with a large that my friend found wandering in her front yard). For a dozen hermit crabs I have approximately 45 shells in the tank. Most of them were purchased from the Hermit Crab Patch. Is this a reasonable amount of shells for a dozen hermies???

I think I heard somewhere about five shells per hermit crab and 12 times 5 is 60. But I could be wrong because I cannot remember where I saw that. You have almost 4 shells per crab. Maybe another 12 shells? Sorry I know I'm not huge help but I figured one answer is better than none. Someone will come along and give you a better number

I go by the size of the crabs rather than a set number of shells per crab. I try to have around a dozen for each general size of crab (so 12 teeny, 12 small, 12 medium, 12 large, and 12 extra large) and then around 3 or 4 of the Jumbo sized shells at any given time. That way there is a selection in their size, and there's enough to go around in case more than one wants to change. If I get a new crab I'll double the amount of shells in that crab's size so that he has lots of choices to pick from. I also try to rotate out shells every few weeks so that there's always something new getting "washed up".

I have shell "packs" that fit into 1 shower caddy. I keep 2 shower caddy's full at all times and have a 3rd pre-set pack ready to swap in at any given time.

In each "pack" I have 1 of each size stripped turbo, 1 of each size regular or pleuth turbos, 1 of each size Babylonia, 1 of each size Jade Turbo, one of each size of the "tune" style D shape shell and 1 of each size of whatever else comes next.

So I have around 15-20 shells per pack, which makes avg 30-40 shells in the tank at one time. That's for 11 crabs. If they take on a new shell and go a week with it, I take the old shell out and add it to a pack or put it aside if I'm not going to use it again. But I will then replace the shell in the pack that's now missing one because it's being worn. I have not had a real shell fight yet, and all my crabs who needed new shells have taken on new shells. Only 3 crabs are still in originals and they fit well enough that i wouldn't change either

Yeah I go based on # of shells per size, not # of shells per crab. You want at least 4 shells of the same size, as your crabs, and then 4 shells a little bigger.

If you have all sizes of crabs then it's easy, need all sizes of shells. But if you only have a couple of sizes, it's important to remember that you need shells that are both bigger and the same size. Sometimes crabs like to stuff themselves into tiny shells for who knows why though.