HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello HCA, I recently found myself looking for a new pet and ended up getting three purple pinchers! Looking for information I came across this forum, and I find personally experience from others very helpful so decided to join. Right now I have a 20 gallon tank but chances are I may move them to a 50 after my last cichlid passes.

Right now they're settling in I think, two have burrowed down almost completely and one is moving around at dawn and dusk. Are the buried ones molting? They came in painted shells and 2/3 changed into turbos as soon as I added them to the tank. Does this all sound normal? Thanks for any input!

Welcome to the forum!

They may be moulting, or just chilling underground. You never know until they come up, either looking as they did when they went down, or bright & shiny with sharp little toenails & covered in hair.

How deep is your substrate & what did you use?

Cheers!

Thank you! I have 5" of Eco Earth with some sand. I did some more research and am looking to get some more playsand, though I don't want to dig anyone up! I'm a little worried about the one that didn't change shells though.

Sounds good.

You can gradually add a bit of sand every 24 hours without compacting the sub.

The one that didn't change may just need time - some crabs get really attached to their shells & take forever to switch!

If you want to encourage shell changes, I've found that having a number of shells of the correct type, about the size your crab would actually wear and a little bigger, is key. Minimum recommendation is ~5 shells, but I personally provide more. It took one of my crabs 2 months to change her shell, and now she changes weekly. Another of my crabs changes shells every few days. But I have at least 15 shells per crab in the size they prefer, and of the type of shell they like (mine are PPs too, and I've found good deals on mexican turbos, with a few green turbos thrown in, so that's what they have access to). If you haven't seen it already, here's a link to the shell guide. http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 24&t=92552

Welcome to HCA!!!

Happy Crabbing!

Menidia wrote:Thank you! I have 5" of Eco Earth with some sand. I did some more research and am looking to get some more playsand, though I don't want to dig anyone up! I'm a little worried about the one that didn't change shells though.

I wouldn't worry about the crab that didn't change shells. Some Ecuadorian crabs keep their painted shells for a year or more before they are finally ready to change. Letting them change when they are ready is the best approach - less stressful for the crabs.

Also, glad you are not planning to dig! That can be super bad for the crabs. They know what they're doing - most of the time they turn out fine.

Thank you for the replies! It's funny because it's buried so just the top of the shell is showing, looks like a little white mushroom. I'm ordering more shells soon, I currently have 8 green turbos and two small murex with them.

Menidia wrote:Thank you for the replies! It's funny because it's buried so just the top of the shell is showing, looks like a little white mushroom. I'm ordering more shells soon, I currently have 8 green turbos and two small murex with them.

Hahaha! How cute! Sounds like he is just having fun and destressing!

When they molt, they dig down and sideways, and backfill the tunnels behind them. Sometimes you'll see them at the edge of the tat, if they've dug all the way to the edge, but this doesn't happen often (light interferes with the molting hormone). There's a great pinned post at the top of the molting forum describing common molting behavior, you might check it out if you haven't seen it yet. http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 23&t=92527

Welcome to the HCA!

You can safely add up to 1" of substrate every 24 hours as long as you don't push it down.

Substrate should be a minimum of 6" or 3 times the height of your largest crab (whichever is deeper). Mix substrate with dechlorinated marine salt water or dechlorinated fresh water to make it sandcastle consistency.

You can purchase more shells at local craft stores. Michaels, Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's all sell shells. And...they each accept competitor's 40% of coupons

Boil all new shells in dechlorinated fresh water, and then dip them in dechlorinated marine salt water to encourage them to check them out

Most of us make "Shell Shops". It is when you keep the shells off of the substrate so they stay cleaner. You can put them in a shower caddy, or a basket, etc.

Good luck!

Ooh, good to know! I ordered some new shells online. I think they're getting ready to molt, all their antennae are broken and two of them have chipped toes

The smallest has been building a crater in the substrate and eating a lot at night. It dragged carrot bits all over the place the other night, was a funny sight!

I love it when they trash the tank