HCA: Hermit Crab Association

so i just picked up 2 new hermit crabs at a petco that actually takes pretty good care, anyways i got a medium sized one in a magpie shell and he quickly submerged himself in the salt water dish. in that dish i have some whales eye shells, i believe thats what theyre called theyre like a way heavier white version of a sharks eye shell or moon snail shell. very interestingly he switched into one, but hermit crabs hate those shells so i was confused, very confused. but then i noticed him cleaning and rolling around his other shell. very smart strategy to clean out his shell but now that makes me wonder if i should leave other sized shells in the dish too so other hermit crabs can do the same. its just so funny because he barely fits in the magpie and fit perfectly in the whales eye shell. questioning if maybe he just switched and didnt like it i really dont know.

PPs typically prefer round openings when they choose shells. He may have tried on the new shell since he was uncomfortable in the too small magpie but realized he was even more uncomfortable in the whale eye shell.

I had two PPs come from Petsmart in Tigrina (??) shells which are for micro/tiny crabs who like D shaped openings and Kaylee seriously wore that thing through two molts until this last molt (her 2nd w me) when she doubled almost tripled her size and tbh her head is bigger than that opening. She wasn't giving up her odd choice in shells for nothing. Anyways, odd crab stories aside.
Have you ever thought of keeping his preferred shell in sizes kinda-way too big? I'm thinking his bum wasnt comfortable in the, usually E, shell. Some crabs stay in shells seemingly too small specifically because their abdomen (bum) fits better. Others (which probably isn't the case because he seemingly fits perfectly in the one he doesn't prefer) go in shells way too big for their bum because they have an abnormally big claw. All depends on what that specific crab feels deserves more priority tbh.
In conclusion... Silly crabs


Mommy of 10 PP babies:
Poseidon (Sid), Toby, Matty, Junior, Aries, Kaylee, Turbo, Adrian, Pepper and Flower. RIP Octavius & Fred

Tiny crabs , even PPs are known to wear D shaped openings too. Isn't that strange?

hahaahaha , hes just a funny crab i guess, i put a few magpies in that are just a little bit bigger than his aswell as a few turbos, i think the abnormally big claw theory is correct, its odd because most of the bigger pps ive picked up have had round claws this one seems very oval shaped, and its not even that big of a crab the otherone i picked up who is atleast double his size has the same issue, unfortunatly i dont have super huge magpies and the other few i have are all just as big as this guys. idk perhaps i should offer both of them some shells with larger openings up front like rapa whelks, my es used to love those, not so sure