HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Some land hermit crabs in my collection choose painted shells when I put some of them as crabitat decorations in my store - perhaps because the material is Babylon top shells - that fit into C.violascens & C.rugosus respectively.

However, all of the land hermit crabs exported to the U.S. (C.brevimanus / C.rugosus / C.perlatus) that have already been in painted shells were forced to wear it - I have ever seen an exporter cracked the shell of many land hermit crabs, then focefully put the crabs into the painted shell. So I think I'll sign the petition against painted shells since I know that Indonesian hermit crab exporters have been doing animal cruelties for the sake of their business.

they should try making shells out of mood-stone so you would always know its mood.

i always thought painted shells were bad due to paint toxicity, etc, but i didn't have any idea what was done to these crabs to force them into the painted shells in the first place. i honestly can't believe the cruelty that some people will inflict on another living creature. like the motto of the ASPCA says, we are their voice!

tell me about it, it made me so angry the first time i read about how they force them into shells that i ended up with a warning for testing the sensors (btw i didnt put any bad words, just stars but i got a warning anyway)

Do we know for sure the paint used for Hermit Crabs has lead in it?? Somewhere I read that you can't paint them yourself because they use special paint that is used specifically for Hermit shells. Also anytime I've seen natural shells in form of bulk they always say for decoration purposes only. I have both painted and natural except even the natural seem glossy as if it was lacquered. Where can one go to get armed with the facts so they can make an educated decision on the topic??? I think the shells are pretty, but if it's hurting my hermies....it's time to get a UHaul cause it's movin time!

I signed!

the question is will the petition work??

i signed but do you really think this will help. i mean im not hopeless but everything can't happen at once.

I just signed it, I am strongly against painted shells, and I only buy hermies and spare shells that are natural.
Any painted ones that I have had in the past didn't last long.

I don't like painted shells b/c there is a valid concern over the safety of the paint. I just don't see how the paint can adhere permanently in an environment that is supposed to be so humid. Also I wonder about the crabs getting stuck to them. Painted shells also make the crabs appear more like toys then animals, so they are more appealing to children who will beg for it b/c of the appearance rather than the pet. Most states have laws against selling dyed baby chicks for the same reason, they become a "throw-away" pet. I have purchased a few crabs in painted shells, but they have never stayed in them for more than a day. As soon as they change into a natural shell from the "shell shop" I take the painted one and throw it away. Also, I just think it looks really tacky in the crabitat I have set up to look "natural."

I just rescued my first painted-shell crab and he took all of about five minutes to change into something a (lot) nicer. He's over introducing himself to Hawthorne as I type.

The shell he was in was painted with a GI Joe/fax military theme - just begging for that poor guy to end up dead in a tiny KK in some little kid's room about three weeks from now.

Nothing wrong with kids and pets - I have many treasured memories of my first "real" (as in, totally my own instead of a family) pet, a gerbil named Smokey I adopted at the end of my fifth-grade year. It's the whole pets as toys thing that bothers me...

I understand the dangers to the painted crabs BUT I am concerned that the paint shell crabs will not be adopted or bought which will lead to a pet store death. I personally have purchased painted shell crabs and within days sometimes hours they have switched. I would love to see a ban on painted shells But in the mean time I am concerned about the crabs that are dyeing in pet stores as well! I went to a Pet store today and observed three dead crabs....which had been in the tank for three days.(I know this because I observed the dead crab on Friday!) Thanks for all the information about the painted shells! I was not aware they remove the crabs from the shell! Thanks everyone.

sayde15 wrote:I understand the dangers to the painted crabs BUT I am concerned that the paint shell crabs will not be adopted or bought which will lead to a pet store death. I personally have purchased painted shell crabs and within days sometimes hours they have switched. I would love to see a ban on painted shells But in the mean time I am concerned about the crabs that are dyeing in pet stores as well!

This is one of the most difficult decisions in crabbing. If you buy the crabs in the painted shells, they will stock more in the painted shells. The best thing to do is try to ban painted shells or at least guide your local pet store away from them. If there are enough natural shell choices in the tank, there will be no crabs in painted shells. If we keep buying crabs in painted shells, we set back the project that we are trying to move forward. Every crab in a painted shell that is purchased gives some guy at corporate an extra little pat on the back because they have no idea that we buy them to rescue them, they just think the ones in painted shells sell better (so therefore it's time to stock more). It's incredibly hard to watch them die like that, but there are things we can do to improve the stores instead of just making the situation worse by buying more.

Now there is 562 signatures!

Thanks for all the great information signed number 563! Hope this helps! I have painted shell crabs adoption.....all changed within 12 hours!