HCA: Hermit Crab Association

How can I make them interested in extra shells? I have spent soo much money on new shells for my crabs over the past year I've had them. I've tried different sizes, shapes, thin an thick ones. I rotate them with different ones often, they are on my second shelf to keep the inside clean. Only one in the past year has changed shells. Two have grown to large to the point they can hardly pull into their shells anymore. Another is in a awful painted shell I desperately wanted to remove from the tank.

The shells even buying them in bulk is to expensive to continue buying with only a small chance they will like them. What can I do??

Wait . Crabs, especially Es, can take a while to change shells. Crabs will grow attached you could say, to their shells if it's a really nice fit. What kind of crabs do you have? PPs like mostly turbos and Es like babylonias, whale eyes, shells with "D" shaped openings. If there's no shells they like they'll wait until there is. Good luck!

I don't even worry about it anymore. Changing shells is not a sign of anything, other than that the shell available is better than what they have on - and better is extremely subjective. Crabs having their legs hang out is normal. I know it looks tacky and you think you must be depriving them of proper fitting clothes, but I promise you, they know what they want.

Have a few Tapestry and Striped Turbos that are a couple of sizes up so it's there when they want them, and relax. That's really all they need! You do not need to keep buying things until they change. You just need to make sure that what is there is the right kind for when it's time.

^What Wode said.

Three of my four PPs will wear only green turbos, despite the lovely variety of turbos (pearl, tapestry, turban) available. The fourth crab will wear only his beloved pearled tapestry turbo although he shell shops nightly, trying on everything he can possibly fit into. They have a nice selection of shells to choose from but it's like the old adage "you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." Bottom line: don't worry about it.

They are all purple pinchers. To my knowledge they all seem healthy an have molted numerous times I just wasn't sure if something was wrong or I was doing something wrong.

I do know Ecuadorians are extremely picky I had two that sadly passed who changed often but we're always back in the old shell seconds later. On a side note does anybody know where to purchase them? They were the only two left in horrible conditions at pets art. I got them not knowing they were a different species at the time, but i haven't seen any since. I loved how active an friendly they were.

Beyond not worrying about the others should I be concerned about the one with the painted shell? She was a rescue an came in a horrible mermaid shell, they used something to build up the mermaid so it stands proud from the shell. I'd hate for her or the others to get sick from the paint.

Heatherleighhh wrote:Beyond not worrying about the others should I be concerned about the one with the painted shell? She was a rescue an came in a horrible mermaid shell, they used something to build up the mermaid so it stands proud from the shell. I'd hate for her or the others to get sick from the paint.

Again, don't worry. Charles Paris, one of my two rescue PPs (craigslist last year), arrived in an incredibly hideous whale-eye shell painted to look like a cartoon turtle, complete with glued-on plastic google eyes. I always worried that one of the larger crabs would decide those eyes were fascinating and try to pull them off. He changed into a green turbo every few days but jumped back into the paint job within an hour. It was only after he had a nice growth spurt in his first molt with me that he finally changed into a green turbo for good as the painted monstrosity was just too small. Don't have to tell you how fast that nasty shell was snatched out of the crabitat before he changed his mind again .

I have about 125$ worth of shells just sitting under the crab stand, jade, tapestry, those type that remind me of a donut..o.k. I'm hungry! All sizes..I even sold a ton I had cause they weren't using them. I was going nuts trying find the perfect size, shell, ect.. bought the shell calibration thingy to make sure I was buying the right size..well that thing didn't help me at all.. if you can't read a ruler and slightly dyslexic and have short term memory loss.. forget it..so now I don't worry about it.. about every few months I throw the shells in their water, get them clean and see if they change..if not I take them out and put them up..try again later..crabby paddy was hanging from his first shell it was so small.