HCA: Hermit Crab Association

It seems like he is a crab that doesn’t enjoy other crabs, that or he just doesn’t have a big enough tank. How big of a tank do you have? I wouldn’t get another crab unless you upgrade to a bigger tank, even then, he may be stressed by a companion. I have a 20 gallon, and I change out some of the t...

I’ve had my crab Sim for about 3 years or so and around a year ago, he killed his roommate. This was during the other molting, Sim was able to smell and find it and ended up pinching it to death. Ever since I’ve had just him, and he seems to be doing great. He climbs around and redecorates all the t...

Yeah, and I'm also positive by your description you have a purple pincher. Strawberries are very uncommon in the US. I always thought exotic hermies (ruggies, viola, straw, indo, etc) were cool, along with the red ones (I think all hermit crabs are cool though :lol:). It's a shame most of them, lon...

CrabbyLover77 wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:09 pm

The HCA recommends 3-5 shells per crabby. So if you have that, he might like both shells and just can't decide which one is better. [emoji4]

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Alright, thanks!

Aw! They look like a strawberry lol
No, he's got smooth colors, and yeah he does have some purple.
He was bought at a beach boardwalk store and I later adopted him

Crabby7Crabber wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:45 pm

What does he look like? Eyestalk shape? colors?

He's a nice red color, when he bathes it's a deep red but all other times he's a combo of red and black in some spots. His eyestalks are long and small, with the eye part also being small and on the very end.

Crabby7Crabber wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 9:27 pm

What type of crab is he? It could be that he just likes both and can't decide, lol!

He's an Ocean City (popular beach) crab that someone bought then put up for adoption, so I'm not aware of what kind of crab

I recently posted about the death of a crab and the other taking over the shell, but I've been watching him and he keeps swapping between the two shells.. I have multiple other shells for him to check out inside the crabitat, but he seems to only care about those two. Does this mean he needs more sh...

There are probably a few things that you could do to upgrade your tank, to improve their conditions. HCA recommends substrate to be at least 6 inches, or three times as deep as your largest crab - whichever is deeper wins. Many of us use a mix of 5 parts playsand and 1 part EE (coco fiber). Other m...

I am sorry for your loss. HCA does not recommend isolating a crab to molt, and digging up a buried crab is not a good idea unless there is an emergency such as a flood or bacterial bloom. If you have proper substrate that is deep enough, and your tank is not crowded, crabs can all stay in the tank ...

Yeah, especially if you have the right humidity the smell will be all over the tank. :( Again, I'm so sorry. I know what it's like to loose a crab. I've lost 5 due to me not caring for them properly, and I feel so guilty and bad. But we need to move forward and learn from our mistakes. I like to ta...

Did you bathe the crab? If not, it might have still had the smell a molter does-- and other crabs find that smell super delicious. It is probable that the othe crab smelled it on the molted one and killed it, then took the shell. Or there could have been a shell fight. I am very sorry for your loss...

I've had two hermit crabs for about a year and a half, they seemed to be thriving and were plenty active. Recently, one underwent molting and various sources said when they were molting to move them to a separate container, as they'd be vulnerable. I did so, and when he was finished, I put him back ...