HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys one of my crabs just came up looking extremely pale and he is sort of hanging out of his shell. One of his legs also looks a bit bent. I put half a soda bottle over him so the others cannot hurt him. What do i do? It looks like he has literally just molted. Maybe on of my others disturbed him I don't know.


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Update: I just moved him into a big sectioned off place in the tank, there is food water and larger spare shells because he is in a really small one. He is walking around fine but one section on one of his legs looks pretty bent. He is also hanging out of his shell a fair bit too but that could be because it is small. Is there anything else I can do for him?


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Another update: he is moving around still but when he got into the water bowl he nearly came out of his shell, I could see the start of his tail. I don't know if he will live, yes he is still moving but he looks very very grey. Is that normal? When my other crabs molted the came out a creamy colour or in my other big ones case a paler shade of orange. Should I be feeding him something to bring him colour back? I have prawns, dried mango, goji berries and coconut in there for him and it looks like he has had some of it. Also I have shells in their for him because I really need him to change but he just won't. That's happened before with my other crab and I had these shells in there for ages and the second I got one he liked he changed. How do I know what he likes? What can I do to help him?


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Hopefully someone with knowledge will respond soon....sure hope your guy is ok!!

He'll be fine, he just needs to finish the process of hardening up and his leg will probably repair itself next molt.

Typically they darken as well during this stage.

As long as it's moving around well and eating and drinking alright then it can go back into gen pop.

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Did you have a look at the shell guide re- which types of shells are suitable for which types of crabs?

Yes but it is hard to find shells that size for him unless I order them on eBay which I might have to do. He is in a whales eye at the moment and I do have a large whales eye for him but he may not want to change into it. Most of my crabs either like whales eye or turbos- majority are in whales eye


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Madi.crab wrote:Yes but it is hard to find shells that size for him unless I order them on eBay which I might have to do. He is in a whales eye at the moment and I do have a large whales eye for him but he may not want to change into it. Most of my crabs either like whales eye or turbos- majority are in whales eye


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Lots of good stores here in the shopping link section for shells. I’ve bought from several of them and have always been pleased with what I got.

I tried to get some good photos of him, as you can see in number two his back leg is bent at an odd angle and he is pretty close to being out of his shell. He is still moving around and stuff but I'm worried that his back being exposed may harm him


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He does look like he needs a new shell!

I could be wrong but this crab doesn't look like a PP.

The shells pictured aren't types they usually wear and if this is an E or other species, some modify the insides of their shells so when they have one they like they will keep it for a long time, in spite of others offered.



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soilentgringa wrote:I could be wrong but this crab doesn't look like a PP.

OP is in Australia so they are Aussie crabs. The color may be normal for that species.

wodesorel wrote:

soilentgringa wrote:I could be wrong but this crab doesn't look like a PP.

OP is in Australia so they are Aussie crabs. The color may be normal for that species.

Good catch!

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All my crabs are Aussies. Is this normal for them? And should I let him back in with the others. He seems to be trying to talk to them a little and he is always up against the yellow card stock as if he wants to get out


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Also on one side of my tank the sand is really dry and I need to mix some water in with it to keep it moist but some of my crabs are buried. What do I do about that?


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