Shells for crabs?

[Melissa]

What shells would be good to add for my hermit crabs and where do I get them?

[MKramer]

Mellisa,

 

First, not to be a nag, but you may want to try a different color for your posts. Magenta on a dark blue background is near impossible to read.

 

On to your question, though.... Go to any of your local fish stores and ask for empty shells. All of mine are more than happy to give away a handful of vacated snail and hermit shells.

 

You can also order a bag of them from http://premiumaquatics.com.

 

Matthew

[Melissa]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry about the font color, I noticed my mistake a tad bit too late.

[NaNO ReeFiN]

Welcome to the boards Melissa! :woot: Shells from any LFS will do just fine. Do you have a tank that's set up yet..? Got any pics of it? We love pics!

[Satchmo]

I got shells from my LFS, but most were too big for the little hermits. I ended up going to Rag Shop (any craft store will do), and bought a bag of assorted shells. These were all much smaller, and there were some really cool looking ones (not just typical dead snail shells from a fish store). My hermits are now marching around the tank in their designer shells.

[Sahin]

Whenever I buy any supplies/coral etc, I ask for free hermit snail shells--even if they arent needed. That way, the hermits always have shells lying around and dont fight each other or kill snails.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

If you have blue-legs, they love baja snail shells (zebras like them too). Hermits don't care for nice, clean shells- they prefer one with a newly-deceased snail inside. Aesthetically not pleasing to us but those are the first shells they'll go for (I don't recommend leaving dead snails in the tank for any length of time though). Premiumaquatics has great shells (baja shells are .15 each on their site), some with dead snails. Their conch shells are great for larger zebra hermits.

Tasha

[BustytheSnowMaam]

If you have blue-legs, they love baja snail shells (zebras like them too). Hermits don't care for nice, clean shells- they prefer one with a newly-deceased snail inside. Aesthetically not pleasing to us but those are the first shells they'll go for (I don't recommend leaving dead snails in the tank for any length of time though). Premiumaquatics has great shells (baja shells are .15 each on their site), some with dead snails. Their conch shells are great for larger zebra hermits.

Tasha