HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So, I am at Petco grabbing some supplies and I see a crabby in the PP tank with a completely white big pincher. Is this a very unhealthy PP in need of rescuing, an "albino" (is there such a thing?), or a different type of Hermie?? I've never seen one like this before. All the others that i could see had normal coloration.

Pic?

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I stupidly didn't take one. The coloration looked a lot like this:

But, it's body shape looked like a PP, not the stubbier legs or elongated eyes like in this pic. I will be going back up there tomorrow, I will try to snap a pic. The employee said "He just shed" but he definitely wasn't pink like I've seen when my guys are freshly molted, and he didn't have the black "toe nails" like you'd normally see, either. Plus, I'm fairly certain it'd be very unlikely for them to molt in the pet store, the conditions are not right at all and they'd probably get eaten since they can't burrow.

The pic didn't show up. But id deff go check it out. Get a manager say this crab is probably dying but i want to try to bring him back so I'll buy him, she may even give you a discount. Probably lack of a quality diet.

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Whoops. I edited the link, it should show up now. Just overall very pale, tan-ish legs and like I said the BP is white, not even a hint of purple. He seemed very active, so I'd guess it's diet related, too. Just curious if he was somehow a different species than the others, but it doesn't seem likely.

It's all in the eyes all the lighter species have the elongated eyes (E's, austrailians)! So I'd bank on the diet.

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Sounds like an Ecuadorian to me. Petco's carry them. I was recently told that Braelean got bought out by FMR. Braelean had PP & Ecuadorian hermit crabs. Perhaps an Ecuadorian got shipped to them. Especially if it was running around active. The "white" part of it could definitely be diet related, but, if the rest of it's legs were tan also, I'd bank on it being an Eccie. They can be housed with PP's. E's can be determined by the eyes, and they way they close up in their shell. Both are different from PP.

Edit - the picture you posted is an Ecuadorian

GotButterflies wrote:Sounds like an Ecuadorian to me. Petco's carry them. I was recently told that Braelean got bought out by FMR. Braelean had PP & Ecuadorian hermit crabs. Perhaps an Ecuadorian got shipped to them. Especially if it was running around active. The "white" part of it could definitely be diet related, but, if the rest of it's legs were tan also, I'd bank on it being an Eccie. They can be housed with PP's. E's can be determined by the eyes, and they way they close up in their shell. Both are different from PP.

Edit - the picture you posted is an Ecuadorian

She said the eyes were not elongated that's my thought process. Seems to be a high possibility getting E's lately though! Good luck if you do decide to purchase him <3

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We have a member who had a very pale PP before. King Felix the Pale, I think it was Crabinski's lil guy.

It happens.

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