HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi guys, I thought that this may be a fun thing to do.
I do not want this to seem like bragging, etc. I want it to be fun for everyone, just to see what everyone keeps around and how they store them, etc! Basically I just thought it would be nice to see pictures of all the shells, where they come from, how we keep them, all that sort of thing. I'll start by sharing my pictures and I really hope other do to as I love looking at pictures of shells. Thanks :p

This is my shell collection, minus the ones I lost behind the dresser and the ones in the tank, (and on the crabs of course!) please excuse the mess lol



Closer pics..





Shells that I use as treat dishes



Smaller treat dishes for ISO etc



Decoration only shells (unsuitable for wear etc)



I have been collection shells for a long time, even since before I knew what a hermit crab was. Some of these are from then :p

Pretty much all of the green turbos and feeding dishes are from Walmart, Along with a couple others. The larger shells and the tapestry turbos are from Naples, along with a couple larger magpies and some snail shells. The moon snail shells are from Walmart and the dollar store!

The rest of them came with the four crabs I have now when I adopted them, also I have a couple from crabs that passed or shells I bought from a pet store.

It took me quite a few years to accumulate all of these shells, but I would say that I am pretty proud of my collection at this point. Especially because I have not spent very much money on them at all! I only bought when I was getting a good deal.

I really hope others join in and post their collections as well.

Happy crabbing! (And shell collecting!)



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where did u find the big turbos

Haha which ones? the biggest brown one (2" opening, top left corner) is from Naples, if that's the one you were looking at!


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Dang, that's a lot of shells! What a collection!

It's hard for me to find shells for cheap here in Durham nc

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I hope you know you've inspired me to go through mine and sell off what I don't need. I started pulling mine out of where I've squirreled them away and it covered the dining room table in stacks 5 inches high. Probably didn't help that I had bags and boxes in like four different places.... No way am I going to need that many going forward. Time to turn the too small stuff into hand me downs. I just washed up a 5 gallon bucket worth tonight, and that was just what was sitting stuffed in the back of the pantry! Not sure how that happened either. I do NOT remember getting that many!

@ purpleperson: that is an impressive collection of shells. I noticed that you're from Manitoba too, I've found it hard to find decent shells for sale here but I didn't think of looking at Walmart! The bag in the sixth picture is from Michael's isn't it? I bought the same bag when I desperately needed shells but I got hardly any usable (wearable) shells for the price I payed.

@wode wow that's sounds great will we be seeing any pictures?!

@Katastrawphique you're in Manitoba too?! Awesome. Walmart and Naples have been the best places for me at this point, though it depends on the location. The bag in the 6th picture is actually from Walmart. I ended up getting 17 jade turbos, 11 moon snail shells and a Babylonia in that one! For only 6.99!


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The bag in the 6th picture is actually from Walmart. I ended up getting 17 jade turbos, 11 moon snail shells and a Babylonia in that one! For only 6.99!

Wow! I'm definitely going to Walmart then.

Here is my current shell collection. I plan on ordering more online as soon as two of my crabs are up from their molt (so I can measure their shells). The shells laid out in the first picture were in the crabs' shell shop and the ones in the second picture were in the bag.

Looks like you have a pretty good selection! Where are all of those Japanese snail shells From? I used to have a crab who was a die hard for those shells how many crabs do you have? I don't think I've ever met anyone else from Manitoba who has them yet well, other than a local friend of mine.


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You asked for it. This is every empty shell I currently own.

I think. I remember there being some that are missing and I don't think the crabs are wearing them....

I'm going to find another hidden box in the next couple of years and scream. I know I am.

For scale, the green ones in them middle are 4 to 5 inches long.

......... I think I just died and went to shell heaven!!! This is GREAT! That must have taken forever to collect them all. Where are most of them from?


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I bought in bulk whenever I could find/afford them, and then got many more with adoptions. Been crabbing since 2009, so it's apparently added up over time. All my guys are so big now that they only fit into a teeny tiny fraction of what I have. They used to be that small!

How did you buy in bulk? Online etc?


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We had a business licence, so we were able to shop wholesale.