HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've been maintaining a tumblr blog with regularly queued pictures of my crabs for some time now, purely for the sake of forcing myself to keep up with some kind of ongoing project. So the blog's low follower count isn't so bad. On the other hand, having more of an audience will help me keep up with it. Plus I know the folks here at HCA just love some good crab pics! So I plan on semi-regularly updating this thread with my best blog content. Without further ado,

Welcome to Crabtown!


[ for videos and more content visit the blog ]

I'll start with introductions from recent pictures - I'll usually only post one or two at a time, but I've recently taken a lot of good ones! I had another post where I introduced each of my crabs, but these are much better pictures, and represent who's on the surface right now (for the most part).

This little indo just came up from a molt. It's as shy as ever, and still needs a name! I almost never see the thing unless I'm awake into the wee hours of the early AM.


Ranger, this small E, always patrols the edges and high reaches of the tank in a particular patrol route. It's faster and better at hiding from me than most of my other crabs.


Bill is my large PP, the biggest in the tank by far. Huge, clumsy, lethargic, utterly destructive - but it has a special place in my heart. Been with me the longest of all my crabs, since the summer of 2012.


Reginald is an ill-tempered, highly nocturnal viola that spends most of its time hiding in shady places like this.


Little Stuffy is an itsy bitsy straw that's barely outgrown its stripes. It has a habit of sitting still facing out toward me under perfect lighting. The most ludicrously photogenic crab of all time.


Peaches, a favorite of mine! This smallish-mediumish E is hyperactive, doesn't often shy away from my presence, unbelievably fast, and yet somehow neither destructive nor aggressive. I have never seen it instigate so much as a gentle nudge against another crab. And just look at it! Beautiful.


And finally Rutherford, my other favorite. A little viola that hasn't quite grown into its species-trademarked color yet. It's always on the move at all times of the day, easily the least shy of all my crabs, and a beauty to boot. It wore the shell I got it in until it was so ill-fitting that it could barely fit its squishy abdomen out the opening!

Wow absolutely beautiful!

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Gorgeous crabs and such a variety! I love Ranger and the fact that he has an unchanging "patrol" routine -- anyone who says that hermit crabs don't have individual personalities has just never taken the time to really observe them.

Edit: Just visited the Crabtown blog and am blown away by the startlingly clear pics and the videos (Ranger and Bill with the coconut is so sweet). How large is your tank?

Wow they are all so beautiful!!!


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Great videos and photos


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what are all your different species and how many do you have of each? Are they all in the same tank?

Where did you get your crabbos?


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First of all, thank you all so much for the compliments! Having an appreciative audience is really nice, haha.

Crabinski wrote:anyone who says that hermit crabs don't have individual personalities has just never taken the time to really observe them.

I agree completely! There are definitely pronounced stereotypes per species, but I have found that even among my samey-as-heck PPs there's things that really set them apart.

Crabinski wrote:How large is your tank?

ErikRasmussen wrote:Are they all in the same tank?

And now the part of the post where I start listing my regrets.

Sadly, I've only got a 29 gallon setup at the moment. I determined during a dollar-per-gallon sale a number of years ago that this is pretty much the largest size I can feasibly own while I'm still attending university and moving between apartments every year or two. This has proven itself to be quite true; gently relocating a glass box with over a hundred pounds of sand inside has been the single biggest nightmare of my last three experiences moving. I cannot imagine how I'd accomplish this with anything larger, other than scooping out all the substrate and having to dig up molters. Crabtown 4.0 will be at least twice the size, but it's simply unfeasible to go any bigger at this point in my life.

ErikRasmussen wrote:what are all your different species and how many do you have of each?

I mentioned regrets - this is one of them! I have eleven crabs, which has to be 30 - 40% over the ideal carrying capacity of my tank. I wasn't always as educated about their needs as I am now, and I have room neither for a second tank nor a bigger tank. However, most of my crabs are on the small side; thankfully the somewhat-cramped conditions haven't been a problem yet. Definitely feeling pressured to upgrade in the next year or two, though.

As to the species - I've got three each of PPs and Es, two each of straws and violas, and a lonely indo.

karlsisocoolike wrote:Where did you get your crabbos?

Regret number three. My PPs and Es are from a local pet shop which kept them in absolutely deplorable conditions, which I should not have supported monetarily. Thankfully they're out of business now! The rest are from livehermitcrabs, and I assume their sordid reputation is still known enough around HCA to need no explanation. There's further ethical quandaries I've had about supporting the exotic import industry, but this isn't really the thread for long-winded advocacy. To be fair to LHC, though, only one of the six crabs I was shipped (horribly mite-infested, lacking for food and water, packed like sardines into a tiny burlap sack) died from PPS.

(I plan on keeping images to their own posts)
Reginald hanging out in the open - a rare sight! Super hard to get good pictures, my phone camera gets blurry pointing at dark stuff. Like this crab, for example.

Wow much varieties! Very nice pics. All your hermies are cuties!!!

Awesome crabs and pics! Can’t wait to see all the updates!