Can painted shells get crabs stuck in them?

Hermitcrabgirl · Post by **Hermitcrabgirl** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 4:01 am

I did a post called "Shell Addict?" that describes my hermit Banana never coming out if his shell. His shell is painted. Can they like get paint stuck to them so they are stuck to the inside? Could that be the culprit?

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Wed Jan 01, 2014 4:51 am

Yes it can happen, we have had people on here that have crabs " glued " into their shells by the paint. The only way they have been able to free them that I can remember was someone took finger nail clippers (?) And chipped away the shell(?) This is very risky because you can hurt your crab by stressing him,tearing his skin or clipping him. Once you get the shell off there will be a small part left and as far as I know there is nothing you can do to get that off cause most everything is toxic to crabs.then there is the possibility that be might not 're shell because of the left over part on him. Almost better to just leave it and sad to say never buy Crabs in painted shells, then breeders will hopefully get the hint we won't buy them.