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Hermit Crabs

Shells for Hermit Crabs

Fischhaus Zepkow: www.mollusc-shells.com

While marine hermit crabs are less demanding concerning their shells, the choice for land hermits is more difficult. We offer a large collection of suitable shells, and if you consider the following advice, something fitting should be found.

  • You don't have to rush because it is sufficient to provide the shells only when you have the hermits. Normally, they don't need a new house at once, and in case some situations make it necessary (e.g. when its shell is broken), we are able to deliver fast. Besides, information on the required shells can only be collected when it is possible to see the animals.

  • Please try to measure the mouth of the presently inhabited shell, even though it is not easy to do so with the crab inside. The most important measurement for us is the width which is marked in red on the graph below, but it is also of importance whether the mouth is roundish (that is height = approx. width) or longish (that is height = approx. 2 x width).

  • In case an accurate measurement is not possible, the mouth's width can be compared to something familiar like a coin: does it correspond more to 2 Cent or 2 € coin? Provided this is made accurately enough, we have sufficient information.

  • Please keep in mind that one tends to overestimate the size of the mouth and a millimeter makes a big difference especially for small hermits.

  • Several shells should be offered to one hermit because the animals show individual differences concerning their preference of certain shells or of their shell change frequency.

  • You can go by the kind of the currently inhabitated shell in your selection and try to find a similar shell by searching the photos in our shop.

  • Should you be insecure which shell might be suitable, you can try Turbo petholatus/reevei. These shells are according to our experience very popular with the hermits, and even species which inhabitate normally shells with a longish mouth often accept Turbo petholatus/reevei.