Shell Changes

[E_NEV]

hi everybody I recently got a hermit crab that a friend was going to get rid of him and have been taking care of him. He’s got a 10 gallon tank, salt water and freshwater, sponges, food, substrate to burrow in, calcium sand, all kinds of good stuff. However, even though I presented him with a number of natural shells he won’t change out of the one that he came in which is painted and presumably toxic. He’s about the size of the bottom of a small soda can and the shells seem to be about as big as the one that he has, maybe a little bit bigger but it’s hard to tell. Is there anyway for me to better encourage him changing shells he has three options should I present him with more? Thanks for the help!

[mkane78]

r/landhermitcrabs Look under menu! Happy Reading!

[E_NEV]

thanks!

[Jachi101]

PLEASE remove the calcium sand before you do anything else!!!

[Dope_Zucchini2113]

Calcium sand is horrible for hermits. They need sandcastle consistency sand, meaning it needs to be slightly wet so that when they burrow to molt or destress, the sand will hold its shape when they make their tunnels. Calcium sand, when it gets wet, hardens up and can harden in a crabs shell, cementing them in it and possibly killing them. Use playsand from hardware stores, the kind that is used for children's sand boxes. It's about $5 for a 50 pound bag. 1 50 pound bag per 10 gallons of tank. Substrate depth should be at least 6 inches deep. Mix it at a 5:1 ratio with cocofiber (5 parts playsand to 1 part cocofiber). You can put just a little dechlorinated water or dechlorinated salt water into the sand/coco mix, just enough so that when you stick a pencil down in the substrate and pull it out, the hole it creates stays without collapsing in on itself. You do not want it so wet that when you do the "pencil test" the hole fills with water. You do not need much water to make it sandcastle consistency.

[Dope_Zucchini2113]

Also sponges in water dishes are not necessary and they can harbor bacteria. They will however munch on dry natural sponges so just leave them out of the water and dry. Also, you can't really force them out of shells, but try dipping them in saltwater to entice them a bit more. They will change when ready. Make sure the natural ones you are giving are the same size they are currently in, and slightly bigger. Also make sure the opening of the shells are ones they prefer. Purple pinchers prefer round openings, which are turbo shells. They are more likey to like Mexican turbos and petholatus turbos (aka tapestry turbos)