New - How to get crab to change shell...

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MandM
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New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by MandM »

Hi, we are pretty new to crab care. We started the first week of May 2009. It was a vacation buy that seemed simple enough. When I read the care sheet they gave us, it didn't agree with what we were told at the beach shop. We did as the sheet specified and then searched info online and bought a few more crabs so they would have more company. Then we found out that the painted shells that some of them had were bad for them. We had already gotten natural shells for changing into because brightly painted crabs just seemed weird to me anyway. One had already changed and I had already taken that shell away. The problem is a few still haven't changed into natural shells. One has molted and the other is in the process of molting and still no shell change. Is there anything I can do to encourage them to trade their painted shells for natural. Thanks.
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by bobo »

Well, you can't make them change shells. But you can encourage them by rinsing the natural shells in dechlorinated salt water. Also, it would help if the shells you have were the kind that your species likes,(ex. purple pinchers like turbo shells) also a large supply is good. But you don't have to go busting the bank for $3 shells at Petco or Pet Smart, you can go to any craft store and they will most likely have good shells. I got mine at AC Moore for $2 and there were about 10 great shells in there that were better than the Pet Smart shells. And if you have the proper size hermit crab shells for your crabs to move into, they would be much more likely to move into them. Good luck, and welcome to the site!
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emmac350
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by emmac350 »

Your crabs can be encouraged to change shells a variety of different ways. First, like bobo said, try keeping the inside of the shells moist with ocean water. Take the shells out every week and boil them in dechlorinated water so that the shells will get cleaned out inside (obviously, make sure the water gets inside of the shells before it starts boiling) and will smell 'new' to the crabs. They seem to overlook shells that they're used to being there, so taking them out and putting them back in will help. You can also try putting them down where the crabs will find them no matter what - scatter them on the substrate level instead of putting them up in a shower caddy, for instance.

Try to get some shells that are the same shape, size, and thickness of the shells that your crabs are currently wearing; they'll be more likely to be satisfied in them. Every crab has its own personal taste as to how thick they want the shell to be (my Rocky prefers thin shells whereas Benny is always in the thickest shell he can find, even though they're the same species), what shape the opening is (O vs. D - Purple Pinchers usually go for O shaped openings and Ecuadorians for D shaped openings, although every one of my Es is in an O shaped opening and one of my PPs is in a D shaped opening), and what size the shell is (this goes along with the opening size - some crabs enjoy huge shells, the bigger the better whereas some crabs seem to prefer a shell that is almost too small for them). Good luck on getting those nasty painted shells out of there!

Oh, one other thing - you can find large batches of shells on ebay (I got 80 of them for $8 USD), and you'll get a variety of sizes, but you have to watch out - not all of the shells are good crab shells. Delphinula shells are fairly common to see in those shell lots, but it's a great cheap way to get a variety of sizes and opening shapes at a low price, then you can fine-tune from there. You can also get more size-specific lots (Small-Medium shells vs. Medium-Large) although those will be smaller in size and so will cost more per shell than the bigger lots are.
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MandM
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by MandM »

Thanks so much. I didn't know that the shells were called turbo shells. Those are the ones they like. Thanks for the tip about taking them out for a little while so that they seem new. I have been boiling and dipping them in step one and two hermit stuff, takes away chlorine and adds salt. I'll try and switch them out with some other boiled and treated shells. The pet stores around here usually don't have any good shells, mostly painted or holes. I got one at the craft store but it was $8. I'm def. going to check out ebay. Thanks again!
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by CrabbyJo »

MandM, I hate to tell you this but the hermit crab step 1 and 2 is not a good water treatment for your crabs. Step 1 does not remove heavy metals from the water, and any house that is not pretty new will still have copper pipes, and the copper does leach into the water. You can find some water conditioners that remove chlorine and chloramines as well as heavy metals at Walmart. I use a brand called AquaSafe that I got at Walmart.
Another option is to use distilled water only, but then you have to be sure to provide them with ocean salt water to replace minerals and electrolytes removed in the distillation process.
Also, the step 2 says it adds salt water, but it's been found that by the next day, there is no salinity to the water at all.
Best bet is to buy an ocean salt water mix, found in the aquarium section of the pet store. Many use Instant Ocean, but there are other brands of ocean water as well.

Here is an article you can read to find out about salts: Ocean salt water mixes]

Emma has great advice about the shells, and I have found that there are some good shell sellers on ebay who combine shipping so it ends up being rather cheap, as well as a couple online sellers like Beauty Shells and El's Shells.

Whenever I pull shells out and boil them, it's shell shopping time and those guys start playing musical shells. I lose track of who is who!
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by ladybug15057 »

Little note too about public tap water. Even if your home is new... remember how old the public water lines are that your water comes from usually under the ground from the roadside somewhere. These too can leech metals into the tap water.
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by MandM »

Thanks for letting me know that. I thought I was doing the right thing since the labels pump up how good these products are for hermit crabs. I passed over Instant Ocean and other stuff because I thought the stuff designed for hermit crabs would be better, what the girl at the store said, and I didn't want to cheap out on them. (Instant Ocean and the fish dechlorinater minus slime coat is cheaper per use.)

Sadly I had a crab pass today. We just got him last week. He was sitting there yesterday and we thought he might surface molt. He kept setting there and didn't move. This morning his legs were off, all of them except his claws, and they still had his actual legs inside. He was hanging out of his shell. Does anyone have a clue on what happened. Paradise has only been with us a few days but when we got him we were instantly attached. He was a very calm and friendly little guy. We're so sad! All of my readings are good and I did put a mesh cage with a top over him when I thought he was moulting. It was the cage we bought on the beach, just upside down.

Oh, and I did buy a new shell and Ribbon Snapper aka Big Love changed into it. He's crazy and runs all over the tank like a mad crab but at least he's safe now. It's really shiny. I read that they liked that. It's too bad I couldn't find a few more suitable ones at the store. I still plan on checking on ebay.
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by emmac350 »

I don't quite get what you're describing - is he inside of his shell with his exo hanging in front of him? Look in the shell (without moving him) and see if he's in there, because if he is, it was a surface molt.
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by Wai »

And for those who have the Australian land hermit crab species, C. variabilis, I've noticed that they tend to like babylonia-shaped shells the most. Except for Ceres, Huya and Sedna, everyone else in my tank is wearing a babylonia-shaped shell or similar.
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MandM
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Re: New - How to get crab to change shell...

Post by MandM »

By the end of the second day, he was face down in the coco substrate. He had fallen out of his shells slumped forward but barely had his back abdomen resting on the edge of the shell. He was dead for sure. We've had three successful molts since we starting keeping crabs. That's not much but when I see leftover legs and such they are hollow. His weren't. I don't know what happened to him.
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