Hermit Crab

bschuerman · 01-25-2008, 11:00 AM

One of my Hermit crabs apparently was digging around in my agronite and found a new shell.. which leads me to think that I might want to get some more shells. People are selling them for crazy prices on ebay. Does anyone have some to spare or know of a site where I can get them for a few dollars? I don't want to spend 20 dollars for some shells. I'll check a few LFS this weekend as well.

**JF2381** · 01-25-2008, 11:07 AM

I use to get them from my LFS for free out of their snail tanks then I guess they got smart and started selling them. I think I have a few...I'll look..

psychographic · 01-25-2008, 11:58 AM

Try looking in craft stores and dollar stores, you can find small bags of nice looking shells cheap sometimes, more of a summertime product at these places though.

If you do find them at a place like these, boil them for about 5-10 minutes first.

rbtwo4 · 01-25-2008, 12:12 PM

That's probably not a good sign for ur snails

bschuerman · 01-25-2008, 12:37 PM

Why not a good sign? It was a little blue hermit, tiny guys lol. Was suprised to see he ditched his shell and found the new one. Thanks Psycho I will definately check out some craft stores. I know a Michaels nearbye that is a great idea, never thought of it!

psychographic · 01-25-2008, 12:57 PM

Bluelegs are notorious for killing snails for their shells. There are a lot of people who won't even put a hermit in their tank because of the Snailacide tendancies of the hermits. Hey was'nt that Mike Miurs band Snailacidal Tendancies? "all I wanted was a Pepsi"

I myself will only put Scarlets in my tank, I have yet to see them kill a snail, but I have read about it.

You might also want to look in e-bay, but look in the craft section instead of the aquarium section. Just a thought.

**JF2381** · 01-25-2008, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bschuerman

Why not a good sign?

I think what rbt is saying not a good sign if the shell wasn't empty before he found it. Because hermit don't just evict the snail they also kill and eat them then move into their new home. LOL

psychographic · 01-25-2008, 01:08 PM

I would also suggest you only look for SW shells, I'm not sure, but the FW ones might slowly dissolve in SW.

shells, Shellcraft, Bead Art items on eBay.com

I saw some striped Trochous shells about 10-15 down, that could cahnge by the time you look though.

rbtwo4 · 01-25-2008, 01:45 PM

Sorry B but I'm kind of limited to responding cus I'm actually reading & responding to threads on my cell phone =) but like Psycho lol said blue legs are notorious for killing snails just for their shells and using them. I personally only have scarlets in my tank tho I have bluelegs in my sump. I think I mentioned the scarlets in a previous thread u had when u were looking for a cleanup crew.

bschuerman · 01-25-2008, 04:22 PM

Oh snap! No I had some kind of crap agronite shell stuff that I dumped in my tank. It was like live sand but live shells and pieces of shells. (I am trying to remove them slowly) and so I know it did not kill a snail for the shell LOL. If they are evil like that I might have to evict my hermits in the future then. Hopefully for the time being I can just drop a lot of empties in the tank and keep the hermits happy. My snails are bigger then most of the hermits right now except for the red claw ones. I guess I just figured a hermit was a hermit.

johnmaloney · 02-08-2008, 09:11 PM

I can get all the shells you want. How many, and what kind of hermits do you have? Craft stores might be okay, you have to check what the shell was preserved in, sometimes that can be poisonous to your tank. Most of the time it is alright.

mynd · 02-08-2008, 11:04 PM

Pet Shanty sells shells in little bags, like 10 shells for 99 cents.

bschuerman · 02-10-2008, 02:00 AM

I took everyones advice and found a hobby store with lots of cool shells in fact I have them in excess. I think my girlfriend might use the extra ones for candles or something. A good number of my hermits already upgraded to the newer shells. Thanks all.