HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Good afternoon!

I’m a newer hermit crab owner and am concerned. We recently lost a crab after a molt. He was doing amazingly and then next thing you know he passed away. Prior to his molt he was changing shells frequently and went back into his old shell. I now have another crab who is changing shells and going back to his old one. I have hundreds of extra shells in various sizes and shapes in their tank. I’m not sure what else to do. I don’t want to lose another crab. I measured his shell opening and made sure there were several shells within an 1/8-1/4” bigger. Is there anything else that I can do? Maybe there are too many shells in the habitat?

I don't think you can have too many shells, as far as that being a reason why things went wrong. But it may be why your crabs seem to try on a lot - because they can! I know I'm going to try on more shoes to see which ones fit just right, if there are more pairs to try!
How long have you had these crabs? Had they molted before, or was this the first molt?