HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I think my new guys are purple pinchers. How big and how fast will they grow?

some can get soft ball size, crabby paddy has been in the same shell for 2 yrs now and still looks like he has room. I have had him since 2009 and he has only switched shells 3 times, once from the shell he had when we got him , it was a magpie then he went to a turbo natural then he went a turbo jade and been in this one 2 yrs.depending on what site you go to / chart you look at he is considered a lg / jumbo. larger than a golf ball bout to tennis ball size. we had a crab in 5 gal tank, then got 2 in a 10 then my son went college and left them then I got a 29 gallon at a garage sale for 8$ added more and it was to cramped, now i have 4 in a 55 also from someone who didn't want a huge tank, but need a lot replaced on it, lids lights, base, good cleaning, but my crabs have lots of room they are meds. I would start looking for a larger tank at yard sales if you are really wanting to get into crabbing and becareful not to over crowd, it gets so tempting to walk in the pet store and walk out with more crabs. I think it's easier to take care of less crabs in a large tank and they do better, no competition for space for molting space if you have mass molting, less you have spend on for shells, and supplies. easier to clean to

Purple Pinchers are in the top three largest growing species and they do grow fast provided you get them when they are very small between nickel and quarter size.The smaller crabs will molt more frequently about once every two weeks and will effectively double in size every four weeks.Crabs that are fifty cent to golf ball size will molt once every three to four weeks and won't grow as much with each molt taking six or more molts to double in size. Large, Extra-Large and Jumbos which range from base ball to soft ball in size will molt once every six to twelve months and wont grow much at all as they are nearly full grown in this size category.With the larger crabs you wont notice the crabs body getting longer or wider but the crab will seem or look noticeably bulkier after each molt as the body and limbs get thicker.