HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So there are two pet stores in my town and they both sell hermitcrabs. Neither of them have the best of conditions but one is alright and the other is kinda horrible. So anyway I decided to go out and politely educate bothe of them on proper conditions and all I got was a couple of pissed of attitudes (go figure right ).
well anyway the worst store had painted shells, legs laying around, dry, and just dry food. I wanted to buy all of them but she wanted a fortune even after she came down on price if I would buy all five that she had at the moment, so I settled on the one in the painted shell. Which she said the crab had chosen over the natural shell he came in; could that be true?? He has only been in my tank for about 5 minutes and is already looking for a new shell.
I will post a pick later, but I've got to boil some small/medium shells for him right now.

I don't think hermit crabs can tell the difference between painted and natural shells. They decide their shells based on the fit. If they like the fit then they'll wear it. One of my PP's chose a painted shell, simply because it fit better than her original one.

Most people say that as soon as they get in their new tank with natural shells, 9/10 times they will change into one of the naturals almost immediately or within a few days, BUT every crab is different!