HCA: Hermit Crab Association

hi. i have been on this forum for a while now, so i am confident that i have the conditions right in my crabitat.

I have had my hermies for over a year now. my substrate is 5 inches deep, but i noticed my largest crab digging a lot after his molt. my smallest crab has just gone down for a molt. lately, I noticed a meaty claw above where acorn was digging. acorn has all his limbs, so i think he ate chip.

this has happened once before with a different crab, shadow. he went down to molt a year ago and never came up. I feed my crabbies 4 times a week, usually waiting a day in between each feeding. acorn is always moving around, never resting. he is very sweet and lets me hand feed him. I give them a varied diet, with lots of greens and protien.

the worst part is, acorn is now the last crab in the tank. (i had 3, one died while molting. also, my substrate is VERY moist(not soaked, but moist) and is eco earth, 5 inches.


any help to figure out why acorn ate chip would be nice, and since we are in quarentine, i cant get acorn a buddy. he is now alone. what should i do?

Are you offering calciums?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

We usually recommend at least six inches of substrate to protect molters.

I wouldn’t worry about trying to find Acorn a buddy for now. He’ll be fine. Honestly if he’s attacking his tank mates he may need some time to himself, anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yeah, he is still REALLY active so that is a good sign.
also, i have been trying to get them a 20 gal with 7 in of eco earth/sand mix, but every time oe crab comes up, ANOTHER ONE GOES DOWN

it is so frustrating, we have been planning this tank for a couple months now. they literally traded off salsa-acorn-chip.

ugggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

my dad is wondering if we are doing something wrong, or if it is just hermit crabs being scavengers.

please help

and also i offer them cuttlebone. they are all OVER those things. i sometimes sprinkle cuttlebone bits over thier food.

Like JoeHermits said, if you could squeeze another inch of substrate in there, that might help. When you say you feed them 4x/week, do you mean there is no food in the tank at all on the other days? If so, maybe Acorn is a big eater and needs to have something to eat everyday. So if there's no food he's going after molting crabs instead. Just a thought.

I just upgraded my tank, and had 2 hermits that were up and active, and 2 hermits molting. I already switched the 2 that were up to the new tank. I know there is probably no way all 4 will be up at once. I'm sorry you're having a tough time with Acorn.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

no, i keep the food in all the time. in fact, before i fund the possible remains of chip, acorn ate a big ol' plate of sliced carrots.

I sadly can't help because in all my time crabbing I've never had cannibalistic crabs (thank goodness). He should be okay though, being alone. I'm sorry for your loss But please listen to the advice above! It's all very helpful and useful!

purplepincher wrote:no, i keep the food in all the time. in fact, before i fund the possible remains of chip, acorn ate a big ol' plate of sliced carrots.

That's so strange! Maybe he's the exception to the rule and doesn't like friends. It doesn't sound like you are doing anything wrong.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

How big is your current tank?
How big is your crab?

GREAT NEWS! chip came up, and he has all his limbs! right on time, too. he was molting for 3 weeks, which is his normal molt time!
the claw i found must have been from shadow, though it seemed too big... must have been an exo from another molter.

he came up the day before my birthday, so woohoo!

Yay!

purplepincher wrote:GREAT NEWS! chip came up, and he has all his limbs! right on time, too. he was molting for 3 weeks, which is his normal molt time!
the claw i found must have been from shadow, though it seemed too big... must have been an exo from another molter.

he came up the day before my birthday, so woohoo!

Hooray!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

i know, right? what a suprise!

sadly, he went back down 4 days ago and still hasnt come up again

Great that he came back up! If you can change your sub out to 6” of the sand/coco 5:1 ratio, I think it would be better. I know people have had luck with all ee but I really think the substrate being mixed to the recommendations really makes a big difference, especially if it is a little too wet. It’s a pretty cheap, easy thing to fix. I hope your crabbies continue to do well for you.