HCA: Hermit Crab Association

what dose every one think about the glass shells??and i saw vids on youtube with crab races, whats to get ur thoughts on that as well

The glass shells are AWESOME. You can totally buy them. The only thing is to hope your crab picks them because they cost like $20 and up!The crab races are mostly inhumane, I think... the crabs are not in proper conditions... a lot of painted shells... From what I've seen no bueno

I think it's cool to be able to see the crabs butt in the glass shell Just hope they don't dive off the ceiling onto something hard.Normally a glass shell would not be ideal because it would be too air tight and thick. The crab shell should be slightly permeable and cooling and calcium shells are thinner.But a crab can figure out what kind of shell they need so I figure if they choose a glass shell and don't have a problem with it, props to em.Crab races totally not cool though.

I wouldn't recommend glass shells because (if I recall correctly) some glass is made to be used with food, other glass is not. If the glass has a lot of lead in it, it can leach out when in contact with your pet.The glass shells I saw didn't say anything about this. But they did offer an option where they were tinted gold or platinum. The chemicals used to make them are probably not safe if I recall. I don't think they archived the research I did, so the links are lost.If I thought they were safe, Azazul would be driving around in a platinum shell.

I don't like glass shells at all! I mean they're not natural. I don't care what they're made of...They just don't feel right !

I don't think glass shells should be used. Crabs go into their shells to hide/have privacy, and clear glass really doesn't do that too well.

I think glass shells would not be any more breakable than regular shells. And the crabs don't see the way we do so I doubt they have any concept of "see-through" or privacy. The point about lead is valid - I'm quite sure the tinted glass shells are no good.I still think - providing you could verify what kind of glass was used - if the hermit crab chooses a glass shell it would be pretty cool. I mean, it's not like we're forcing them in there.And actually all the shells we humans buy and sell are putting wild hermies out of a home. In a lot of places there aren't enough shells for the hermit crabs who live there. So trying to find synthetic ways of making shells (even though it's not "natural") is something that will help the hermit crab world population as a whole.