HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello! Here

Just recently joined HCA because it’s super hard finding a lot of information about hermits online. Hoping this will make things a lot easier as I’m also fairly new to having hermits myself and don’t know a whole lot other than the general information provided on google.

So my hermit Turbo just changed shells about 2 days ago for the first time since I got him almost a year ago now. Although having him that long I haven’t gotten too familiar with his personality because he’s spent a lot of that time buried in the substrate and mainly coming out once we’ve all fallen asleep. Since changing his shell he’s been out during the day and I’ve noticed him going to the water and then back to his old shell and has been hovering over it and digging about inside it for hours. I’m really curious as to what this behavior possibly means.. anyone else seen this before or know what he could be doing?

Welcome! They just like changing shells sometimes. Sounds like he's not sure about the new shell and may go back to the old one.

Welcome to HCA! You are correct, it is a fabulous source of information for everything you need to know about crabs!

Do you have a number of shells for him to choose from?
Like HG said, sometimes they just aren't quite sure if the new pants are better than the old pants or not. LOL. Some crabs change shells much more often than others. Be sure you have at least 3-5 extra shells per crab, in the appropriate sizes for them (there are proper and improper shells to buy - check out the 'shells' guide for info).

Our little guy seems to have his awake shell and his jammies shell. The first thing he's done for the past week is change out of his jammies, then go get a snack, then he can scuttle around for a while. Then it's back into his jammies for bed. Silly little dude. I surprised him by getting up early this morning before he could change into his jammies. I'm curious to see which one he goes to sleep in after play time tonight.

He seems healthy and happy. I've come to the conclusion that he's just weird.

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