How long does it take you to find a house you really want to live in? What if you had to carry that house around? What if you kept growing and growing until you don’t fit into your house?

Such is the daily burden of the Hermit Crab. Discover Wildlife tells us that Hermit Crabs generally live below the low tide mark on beaches all over the world. They eat… well, everything. Including each other and microscopic materials that their mouth bristles filter from the water. Their right claw is always their biggest claw. And if we’re being literal, they aren’t really crabs…. They are actually closer to a squat lobster…. Which is also not really a lobster. They ARE total hermits though. They can live as long as 30 years, but they only leave the house to switch to a new shell or to mate. They grow slowly and will switch shells at variable rates depending on many factors.

Like a middle-class individual human in Southern California, many Hermit Crabs have a lot of trouble finding a place to live. So they have two options. First, they can shrink or reverse their growth if they can’t find a shell to fit a bigger body. Score one for hermit crabs.

Their other option is to find some homes that look good and wait out the market. They’ll wait around a shell they like and, when that shells homeowner upgrades to a new shell, they pounce on the opportunity and move in. They don’t have to make a cash offer though.

At the same time, another Hermit Crab will have been eye balling the first crabs house and that crab will jump right into the newly vacant home. These house swap chains can really grow, with dozens of crabs trading spaces. They are a major social event too. Fights break out and mates get found.

One of a Hermit Crabs favorite ways to increase the value of their home is to get a sea anemone to live on top of it. Why? It is likely that the poison stingers of the anemone upgrade the protective value of the shell. Hermit Crabs will actually go out and get an anemone to attach to its shell. The anemone likes this because the crab moves it away from danger, will fight predators with its claws, and increases access to food and oxygen in the water. A Hermit Crab will move its anemone to a new shell when it moves if possible because good room mates are hard to find.

WHAT DOES A HERMIT CRAB LOOK FOR IN A NEW HOME?

An open concept? NO. They want things cozy. Here’s what they look for:

FIT FIRST

A Hermit Crab makes a shells opening size top priority. It will take his large claw and reach down inside a prospective shell to make sure that it is the a good fit. If the opening seems good he will proceed to begin to roll the shell around and around to empty out any possible debris and make sure that nothing else is living inside. Once he feels confident the shell is a good choice he will position his body within the shell so that it covers his soft abdomen, he is able to squeeze his whole body into the shell, and his right claw can cover the opening like a door.

If you are buying extra shells for a pet Hermit Crab use this door fit to gauge your extra shells. It's a good idea to choose several shells that have similar opening sizes as what he is currently wearing and several that are just slightly larger.

NO LEAKS

Hermit crabs carry "shell water" so the shell must not have any "leaks" to where it is unable to hold the extra water that the crab uses to regulate his body fluids against as well as drink if necessary and hydrate his gills

COLOR

Science tells us that Hermit Crabs can NOT go to Home Depot and pick out a new paint color. So while choosing a shell they have to get the color right, or move on to a different abode. This link from The New Scientist explores the study that James Rimmer made of Hermit Crabs fussing over the color of their new homes. How do they feel about hot pink? It’s not their favorite, they like to keep things low key. If they live in a darker area of water they like darker colored shells, and vis versa. They want to blend into the neighborhood if they can. But the actual “bones” of the house outweigh the color for these critters. Shape, size and sturdiness matter a lot more than the color. But they WILL move into a new shell if it fits the same as their current shell but they like the color more.

BUYERS REMORSE

Frequently when other crabs are around, he may attempt to hold his old shell by keeping a walking leg in it. Just until he's absolutely sure that he's happy with the new one. It's not uncommon for a hermit crab to get "buyers remorse" and decide that his old home was better than the new one and then move back.

Need a new home for a Hermit Crab? At SeashellSupply.com we have a wide selection of shells with both D shape openings and round openings that will work great. There’s also a wide selection of styles, because some crabs want some bling. We have everything from polished Jade Turbos and pearlized shells to natural land snail shells