HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi, I have had my crab for about 1 1/2 - 2 yrs. I acquired my crab from someone who asked me to watch him. Thru babysitting I found that this “veterinarian tech” who had me watching the crab while he moved wasn’t taking care of it properly so I decided I was going to keep it but he never did ask for it back. I have researched, been to a couple of pet stores, read books as much as I can do but still feel like I don’t have a handle on this. This is one of my questions and that is he keeps changing shells but then goes back to his old shell after a couple of days. I have several shells all slightly larger to larger than the shell he is n. I kinda feel that this is stressing him out because shortly after this shell changing behavior then he will bury himself for months (approx. 3 months). Is this normal or am I doing something wrong?
Thank u for taking the time to read this.


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Some crabs are very finicky with their shells. Do you have the right types? Different types? Some photos could help

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Burying for a few months at a time is normal behaviour. Maybe molting, maybe de-stressing. Does he look like he has molted when he comes back up (hairy legs, little black toe-nail tips on the end of his legs, maybe a bit different color)?
My question would be the same as Scarlet - how many and what type of shells do you have?

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Hi everyone, thank u for your replies. I am sorry that this is the first chance that I have had to respond. I will send pics soon of the shells.


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Here is the pic of my shells. The fork is for perspective.


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tiesa1 wrote:Here is the pic of my shells. The fork is for perspective.


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Ok so , usually crab like a very open space for there shells . If you don’t get what I mean by that look up “turbo shells” and you’ll get it . I think you can get them on amazon . Anytime I go to a beach gift shop they have really good shells . You might already know this but don’t give them any painted shells at all . They can however have buffed shells which look kinda like they glossed them with Lacquer but it’s really pretty .




This is an example of the one I have . I have a green and pearliesh white one too but my crab is currently using it and I don’t like picking up my crabs
You can tell rather they are polished or buffed by boiling them . If they stink after boiling they are not safe and have paint on them . If the shiny ness doesn’t come off and they smell fine they were actually buffed and are safe . Always boil your shells before putting them in the tank crabs are very vulnerable to bacteria.

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That is one of my problems is finding shells. I have looked on-line but they are all very expensive and hard to tell how big they are. Unfortunately, I live n the desert so no beach shops around. I have tried the pet stores and none of them want to have anything to do with crabs. I even tried one of the stores that specialize in very exotic animals, reptiles and such. It’s like going to the zoo. Anyway, after all that, where do u find your shells? I know u said Amazon but is there a particular store that u go to?


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tiesa1 wrote:That is one of my problems is finding shells. I have looked on-line but they are all very expensive and hard to tell how big they are. Unfortunately, I live n the desert so no beach shops around. I have tried the pet stores and none of them want to have anything to do with crabs. I even tried one of the stores that specialize in very exotic animals, reptiles and such. It’s like going to the zoo. Anyway, after all that, where do u find your shells? I know u said Amazon but is there a particular store that u go to?


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So I actually live no where near a beach but when I went on vacation with a friend I found them so I figured it was worth a shot telling you but I am literally struggling with that exact problem . All of the ones I have are from when I got my crabs from petco a long time ago and they haven’t outgrown them yet . They have bags of them on amazon with a lot of different sizes and idk if I can trust them but here lately I don’t see another choice . I’m just scared of getting them and them being the wrong size . If it’s possible try measuring the opening of your crab’s shells and get a couple centimeters bigger when buying shells . It should tell you on the description on amazon . Sorry if that doesn’t help much . I’ve literally only seen the right shells on amazon .


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I recently bought my turbo shells from Naples Sea Shell Company. I got a set of 8 small ($8.50) and 8 large ($13.50). I paid $8.65 for priority mail shipping. If you don't want to buy a group of shells, you can by individual shells there too. It was so worth the price though because the shells were beautiful, and within a day my crab Beau had changed into 2 of them (he had been wearing his previous shell for years).
Here is a website that explains the kind of shells crabs like. If you have a purple pincher, they tend to prefer shells with round openings like turbos. I think most of the shells you have probably won't get used, as the openings are too narrow.
https://pethelpful.com/fish-aquariums/H ... rab-Shells

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Once again I can’t thank all of u enough for taking the time to respond to my shell problem. I am going to the Naples Seashell Company web site right now.


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tiesa1 wrote:Once again I can’t thank all of u enough for taking the time to respond to my shell problem. I am going to the Naples Seashell Company web site right now.


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You're welcome!
I hope you can find something you like there. They packed the shells very well too and all arrived in perfect condition. Let me know how you make out!

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