Hermit Crabshell question (New to Board)

[Shystev99]

Hi all,

I had a question about small hermit crab shells. I got a few small mexican red leg hermit crabs about 2 - 3 weeks ago and it now looks like one has just about outgrown its shell. The crabs are living in the same type of shell, It is a cone shaped shell. Believe they are called baja cone shells. My question is more about the types of shells i should buy. Do i have to continue buying these ugly gray cone shells? or can the crabs move into any shaped shell as long as its small and light enough? Reason I ask is because we have a few trees outside and I know there are a ton of snail shells out there. I'm wondering if i can just sort through the ones lying on the ground and see if I can find some shells right outside. I was going to rinse them or maybe even boil them before adding them to the tank. They are not the cone shaped though, They are the classic round spiral shaped i believe. Is there any reason these won't work as a temporary shells until i get a chance to buy some new ones? If they work I may just use them as permanant shells, Why have some LFS charge me when all I have to do is step outside?  lol

Just curious, First time having hermit crabs, Didn't think they would need bigger shells this fast, like I said only been 2 - 3 weeks since i got them.

Thanks

Steve

 

Also first time on the boards, Nice to meet all of you.

[pulpsmack]

any shape will do, & If you don't hurry they may "adopt" one from one of your snails.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

I wouldn't make the shells too "clean", hermits prefer shells from a recently deceased snail.  I read this in a journal article somewhere.  Then when I added extra shells to my tank, some of the shells had dead snails inside, and those were the ones the crabs occupied first.  They kicked the dead snail out and then something consumed it because it was all cleaned up in a few hours.  I know aesthetically it seems kind of "icky" to us but that's what they like.  I don't advocate leaving a dead snail in your tank for any length of time though.  And my hermits do seem to go into whatever type of shell is available.  In my tank they seem to change shells as often as we change clothes.

Tasha

[Delph]

(Edited by Delph at 10:10 am on June 3, 2002)

[Shystev99]

Just to update everyone, I went to 2 different local LFS stores over the weekend looking for shells. Unfortunatley nobody seemed to sell them as small as i needed. I could tell just by the openings in the shell they were about 2 - 4 sizes larger than the crabs could have been able to move in. I did manage to find a shell outside in a potted plant, Guess it was a decoration so i snagged it, rinsed it off and tossed it in the tank. This morning I woke up and the one crab that looked like it was outgrowing it's shell had climbed out of its old shell and crawled up under the larger shell. Still way to big for the crab to actually move the shell around but atleast he has some protection. Tonight when i feed the fish i may scoop up the shell and the crab in a net and float a small container in the tank and feed the crab individual from all the other livestock. That way i know it won't starve. I'm only going to do that though if i see it hasn't come out of the larger shell all day.

In the meantime, I managed to find some shells being sold online at premiumaquatics.com. Waiting to hear back from them right now and will hopefully have a moneyorder on its way to them tomorrow. So hopefully in the next few days i will have 30 or so new shells in the tank. Might complain to the LFS next time and tell them to get some smaller shells.   lol

Steve

[lizbeth]

I would definately suggest having extra shells in your tank. I had a jar of shells that I had picked up at the beach years ago, my crabs love to change their clothes. One we call Liberace because we never know what he's going to be wearing!

 

You can also try a craft store, some sell a little bulk bag with a mix of shells.

 

Or maybe some online shop? Here's a few I found in a quick search;

 

http://www.seashellworld.com/

 

http://www.seashellcity.com/        (cool music!!LOL)

 

http://www.sharksandshells.com/shells1.htm

 

(Edited by lizbeth at 2:23 pm on April 23, 2002)

[Shystev99]

Thanks for the links, I heard back from premium aquatics so will be sending the money tomorrow. Also have a friend who lives fairly close to the beach and she is gonna send me a few of the smaller ones she has lying around. Just upset that no local LFS shops sell small shells. I know i'm not the only one looking for small shells. As for the one crab that left its shell for a bigger one overnight, It went back to the smaller shell and is eating fine now. If i didn't see it leave that bigger shell at all  i was going to pull it out of the tank and feed it seperatley. I'll just leave it alone now.

Steve

[BustytheSnowMaam]

PA will send you a lot of baja shells!  But my guys moved right in to them and are happy, so I guess that's what matters.  I had a hard time finding shells too until I found PA.  

[Shystev99]

Well i ordered the shells from PA a few days ago but still haven't gotten them. Hopefully they will arrive monday. Fortunatley i have a friend who lives close to the beach and she was nice enough to mail me 5 shells combination of seashells and snail shells. The one crab I was worried about wasted no time moving into one of the snail shells. Once he did he found a spot in the tank where the gravel had a slight slope, Still not sure if he was doing this deliberatley or not but he'd back up a few inches from the slope then get a running start and curl up into the shell right before the slope started. And it would roll down the hill. When it got to the bottom it would climb back up to the top and do it again. Did it 3 seperate times that I saw.  lol

Steve