Post by Rachel on Dec 31, 2014 12:11:19 GMT
This is something not every keeper actually knows happens, sometimes hermit crabs for whatever reason decide to start nipping away bits of their shell. It can be purely as a calcium rich snack, to take a sharper edge off, make a more comfortable fit for their eyes or even involve hollowing the shell out in a large area to make more abdomen room! This is of course one of the reasons painted shells are not a good idea, when the shell is nipped away at so is the paint which can be ingested or end up in the substrate.
Have any of our other members seen this or found "modded" shells at all? Any pictures or stories to share?
I noticed Sky had been modifying this particular shell a long time ago and (very quickly) grabbed a picture for reference and educational purposes. As you can see she was covered in shell dust and what was once a smooth edge had been nipped away at! Over the next week or so she made a notch for her eye stalks then promptly moved into a new shell to start over. Pre-modified shells are often more popular with our crabbies and the other violas often snatch them up very quickly once vacated.
In this picture you can see a newly arrived rehomer viola with a very large notch out of the shell. This may or may not have been natural damage (from experience with keeping both snails and crabs, I would say it was an existing break expanded) but it was definitely used by the wee crab in it who could peek right out of the shell while never bringing out his legs.
Have any of our other members seen this or found "modded" shells at all? Any pictures or stories to share?
I noticed Sky had been modifying this particular shell a long time ago and (very quickly) grabbed a picture for reference and educational purposes. As you can see she was covered in shell dust and what was once a smooth edge had been nipped away at! Over the next week or so she made a notch for her eye stalks then promptly moved into a new shell to start over. Pre-modified shells are often more popular with our crabbies and the other violas often snatch them up very quickly once vacated.
In this picture you can see a newly arrived rehomer viola with a very large notch out of the shell. This may or may not have been natural damage (from experience with keeping both snails and crabs, I would say it was an existing break expanded) but it was definitely used by the wee crab in it who could peek right out of the shell while never bringing out his legs.
Hellooooo
