HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys,
Just a quick pop in to say that I'm once again a hermit crab owner, starting from last Saturday. Recently saw an add on gumtree (basically an Australian Ebay) for a "complete hermit crab setup" so I jumped onto the opportunity. So now a happy hermit crab colony of 8 males. What are the chances of getting no females, which is the gender I prefer as they more active during the day and don't dig so much... Oh well; they all beautiful and rather healthy so thats all that matters.

Here is a quick vid of the tank from the previous owner:
link to youtube


Now problems:
- for some unknown reason the substrate is low (around 2 inch) using all the substrate from previous owner (however i do have a quarter of the tank around 6 inch just so they can dig if they want to) so, once I have time it's back to the hardware store for some sand (most likely on the weekend)
- On the first night, woke up to a surface moulter (yay). Quickly placed him in a deli cup (and exo) where I got to "observe" him eating it until yesterday; where he decided to join the rest of the crew.
- Magnaturals: can they be placed on top of a UTH? I was worried about the magnets interfering with the UTH...

Don't worry, will post a long pic montage soon once I get all the sand substrate in. However if to popular demand, will share a current pic.
(Its 5ft x 2ft x 2ft BTW)

Congrats! I've seen this video before, very pretty setup. Was the substrate just lowered for the move? Can't wait for pics!!

Congrats on the new crabs, and that tank is really neat

Congrats on the new babies! Looking forward to pics.

Thanks guys,
I'm pretty excited too. Hopefully the crabbies are loving it on there.

CallaLily wrote:Congrats! I've seen this video before, very pretty setup. Was the substrate just lowered for the move? Can't wait for pics!!

Probably the previous owner threw out some of the sand. Oh well; it wasn't such a big deal (besides the fact that I don't like how it looks!).

Knew you wouldn't be able to stay away for long! Awesome timing with the established set-up. Makes getting back into things so much easier!

That's great! Welcome back to crabbing I can't wait to see more pics! Have you named them all yet?

So happy for you, aussieJJDude! What a find: that huge tank, decor and crabs!! Does it still have the water feature?

I got a kick out of the "all males...what are the chances?" comment. All but two of the crabs I've had over the years were purchased from pet stores (last two adopted from craigslist) and every single one has been male...talk about "what are the chances?"!!

Y'all sure you have all boys? 'Cause I thought my first 18 crabs were all male and then realized half were in fact girls.

I read recently that they can change gender. Let me look for the source and link it.

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I believe it because Jockey is suddenly female and Athena cannot be found despite being ny only extra large female.

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At first I thought Athelas was male but later realized she is indeed female. I think in some cases, especially if the crabs are on the smaller side or you're just beginning to gender crabs, it can be very easy to overlook gonopores.

For me the gender of the crabs I've had over the years has been about 50/50, but I know I've seen others post about seeming to only find one gender in their area.

haha thanks guys,
I knew that I wouldn't stay away for too long either, just a matter of time where I would find a deal and it's mine!

megmaholm wrote:Have you named them all yet?

I was thinking of naming them along the periodic table... Too nerdy?..

Crabinski wrote:Does it still have the water feature?

Yep, it quite big too; but it's fun working with it.

Wodesoral wrote:Y'all sure you have all boys?

Yes about 90% sure... I think I gendered all of them; but honestly it's hard to keep track. Even if I did, I swear I didn't see any gonopores (unless I lost my touch).

soilentgringa wrote:I read recently that they can change gender. Let me look for the source and link it.

Yeah, I think I know what your talking about, I did see on here a few years back. Hopefully it may result in a few changing to female, males are to "active" for me... All the females i've had are rather chill and become model citizens.

CallaLily wrote:I think in some cases, especially if the crabs are on the smaller side or you're just beginning to gender crabs, it can be very easy to overlook gonopores.

For some reason; I normally find it easier to gender smaller crabs. i think it due to them being more willing to "come out of the shell". But I have noticed over the years that most of the crabs in my area are male - especially the active ones - and the females that come in are mostly micro/teeny size. Dunno; maybe the suppliers just try to catch males to keep the area sustaining?

aussieJJDude wrote:haha thanks guys,
I knew that I wouldn't stay away for too long either, just a matter of time where I would find a deal and it's mine!
I was thinking of naming them along the periodic table... Too nerdy?..

Love the periodic table idea (I, too, am a nerd)!

Hermitcrabs are actually capable of switching genders based on the number of males versus females if the female population for a given group becomes to low then some of the males will switch and vice versa which is kind of cool if you think about it.

When a female changes to a male it is called "Protogyny" and when a male changes to female it is called "Protandry", this phenomenon happens in star fish as well as a lot of other reef dwelling fish populations, marine hermitcrabs and land hermitcrabs and is caused by an usually high bias to one gender or the other in a specific population.

Here is a link to a very informative article on the subject http://www.researchgate.net/publication ... bitidae%29

I do know that a rule was passed for the harvesters about ten years ago that says that females which are laden with eggs are not eligible to be harvested and there is also a size and quantity limit imposed in several countries as well so all these things have certainly played a role in how many females are available for purchase.