HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi!! I just purchased three large hermit crabs this past weekend and have their crabitat all set up. Two are pretty active, the other buried himself and hasnt been out yet. I have them in a 35 gallon tank. Humidity and temp are perfect. I was just given a nice 55 gal tank and thinking of transferring them to the bigger tank so I can add more landscaping etc for them. Is it too soon to transfer them to a larger tank? One, I dont want to disrupt the buried crab. Two, the other two seem content they buried the first day to destress but became active the day after. One even changed its shell already and she perches herself on top of one of the huts in the tank. Also, if I do transfer to the 55 gal, do I need to stick with similar sized crabs? Or are smaller ones ok to add? Any advice given is appreciated. I love these guys already!

Just make sure that the larger crabs don’t bully the small ones or not allow them to get any food or water

You’ll get more use out of the shells if you have different sized crabs too. In the wild they will line up by size to change shells. Different sized crabs will also prevent ugly shell fights


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Thank you! Good info!

Hello! Welcome to the HCA, and the wonderfully addicting world of crabbing! It would be okay to move them as long as the heat and humidity are sufficient. I personally recommend a minimum of 80/80.

I keep hermit crabs of all sizes together, and they get along just fine.

You don't want to dig crabs up ever, so you would need to wait until that crab comes up on his/her own to transfer to the new tank.

Advice: check pictures here, and DIY here - lots of great ideas. Pinterest has great pics too. I love pictures. Check out our care guides-
Take pictures it's always nice to look back on your progress. I wish I had taken pictures from when I first started. My stepson had a hermit crab in a 10 gallon tank, and I only have 1 picture of that....it's always nice to see how you change your care when you learn! Search through the pages here - so much info!

Thank you for the tips I appreciate it tons! I am excited to add some other natural pieces to their tank...and switch them over to the new one, but I'm def going to wait until the one little dude surfaces first. Thanks again!!