HCA: Hermit Crab Association

It started with my strawberries a few weeks ago. They eat, explore, use the wheel, etc. all hours earlier than they ever have. Like, I'm talking sometimes 1 or 2 pm and definitely awake by 5 pm. About a week ago, my jumbo PPs started doing it too and, today, I caught a small PP up and about at 3:00. Previously, none of the crabs would move until their lights went off at 8:30 pm.

I haven't changed anything and their conditions have been stable. I like seeing them, of course, but I just wanted to make sure it didn't mean anything bad.

I have wondered about this too, but it certainly is not a bad thing!
Typically, my crabs would sleep through most of the day, but it's different every day.

It's a good thing that you have active crabs, because most of them are nocturnal, while very few may be diurnal and come out more during the day than any other time.

During the summer a good majority of my crabs become diurnal. (Active during the day) It's nothing to worry about! Enjoy it!!

Summer has my crabs up day and night. I also noticed a little more day activity even since adding a light to the tank. Crabs have individual quirks as well. Some prefer nights, some days and some both. My two big guys are up all the time while my smaller ones prefer early mornings and afternoons.

One interesting thing is my newest and most nervous crab used to be only active during the day. Pretty much the time when I'm least around. After having him for about five months , he's starting to become more active at night.

Depending on how long you've had the crabs, or if you have been spending more time close to the tank; they could have gotten adjusted to your presence.

My crabs have been the most active they've ever been since putting their tank basically at the foot of my bed. It took a few months for them to get used to me but they haven't stopped cause trouble since. I'll catch them when I'm in and out during the day. I hear them clunking around when I sleep and I get hours of entertainment whenever I stay up.

If none of that applies, then I'd definitely say it's the seasonal change.

I'm a newbie who just set up her crabitat a couple of days ago. The crabitat is located in a darker corner of the room. For the first day the crabs stayed in their hidey hole and refused to come out, even at night (at least before 11 pm) Then today I installed an overhead led light. Within an hour, one of the three crabs came out, then an hour later the second one is out. The last one has the hole all to himself. The light doesn't shed much heat but it increased the temp by a few degrees, it used to be 75. I don't know if the light or the warmth is bringing them out, but it's nice to see them anyway!