A note regarding shells

Older topics that are in the process of being sorted and moved into the appropriate Archived sections below.
Locked
User avatar

Topic author
Dawn
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 2:56 pm
Location: California USA

A note regarding shells

Post by Dawn » Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:26 pm

I just want to mention that all shells aren't crab worthy...I mean crabs won't even consider a shell that isn't smooth on the inside and without holes. If you have plenty of shells in your tank but still no one has considered switching...Check your shells closely. Make sure the insides are smooth and to check for holes you can fill them with water and see if it leaks out...

I'm finding that bunches of shells that I've inherited are not any good. We got poor little Lonely and he was in a painted shell three sizes too big and had four shells in his tank..All too big but they also had bumps and blisters inside. One even had a hole in it.
Hermit crab LOVER since March 2003.

If my advice doesn't help, please PM me right away. Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/ddisomma

User avatar

Tetracolor
Posts: 337
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 6:54 pm
Location: VA

Post by Tetracolor » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:50 pm

Yes, that is a very good point. :D
Crabbing for 6 years now.
15 PPs, 1 Beardie


Guest

Post by Guest » Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:09 pm

thanks for the tip i'll have a look over my shells...i've only had 1 shell change out of 4 crabs


Guest

Post by Guest » Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:13 pm

One of my crabs took like a year to change shells. He had this really ugly blue painted shell. Every other crab I had was glad to get in a natural shell, but not him. Then I noticed he would change into another shell, but then change back into his old ugly blue shell until one day I grabbed it real fast. Ha! :wav:

User avatar

Topic author
Dawn
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 2:56 pm
Location: California USA

Years ago

Post by Dawn » Sun Sep 23, 2007 10:57 pm

Years ago I bought a bunch of shells before I knew that painted ones were bad. Two were red/white/blue striped with stars...So I bought them and put them in the tank. Cesar changed into the rwb one and kept it for years. He wasn't forced to move (how could you force them unless you stressed them badly? I'm not a bad hermie mom...)in so I left him there and kept offering many his size, bigger, smaller...All checked for holes and smooth insides.

He finally changed out but I always kept that shell. There must have been something about it. A year ago it was rotated into the small guys' tank and Quagmire took it over. He's still in it and it's scuffed and beaten up but Quagy seems to really like it. All his buds have switched but he stays in that one. There's just something about that one.
Hermit crab LOVER since March 2003.

If my advice doesn't help, please PM me right away. Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/ddisomma


Guest

Post by Guest » Mon Sep 24, 2007 4:41 pm

It must be the inside of the shell that they like so much. Probably really smooth or something like that....


Guest

Post by Guest » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:21 pm

Yeah, the inside of painted shells sometimes attracts the crabs because of how smooth it is on the inside. I finally got my persistent crab out of his awful painted shell. It was sealed on the outside but was chipping on the inside, I realized that as he took a nibble and I grabbed it before anything else happened. :shock: It really makes you wonder if they like eating that stuff. :?:

User avatar

Topic author
Dawn
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 88
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 2:56 pm
Location: California USA

they're like babies

Post by Dawn » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:27 pm

Nope. They're like babies and they'll put anything in their mouths...Doesn't matter that it's nasty tasting or anything...They just put it in their mouth because they can.
Hermit crab LOVER since March 2003.

If my advice doesn't help, please PM me right away. Thanks!

https://www.facebook.com/ddisomma


Chompman

Re: A note regarding shells

Post by Chompman » Mon Sep 24, 2007 11:09 pm

Dawn wrote:Check your shells closely. Make sure the insides are smooth and to check for holes you can fill them with water and see if it leaks out...
I really recommend doing this.

When I first got my guys one of the shells looked ok and he was in it for a time but once he moved out of it I went to go wash it out and it started to leak since there was a slit that you couldn't see but it let the water out.

I have only kept it since it was his shell that I got him in and just use it to compare to how much he has grown.


Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs

Post by Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs » Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:49 am

I check my shells often for holes and so forth. I just got some new shells from Naples yesterday for my larger PPs and my new Straws and they looked decent. I am going to boil them tonight I think because they are pretty dirty on the inside.


Guest

Post by Guest » Wed Sep 26, 2007 10:47 am

:lol: Personally, I think it has something to do with the color blue. I too have a crab in a hideous blue shell. She changed out and 2 days later changed back. I've checked & double checked all my shells and even offered a bigger variety and she still refuses to budge from the ugly blue one!

Locked