Say NO to Painted Shells

Painted shells are inhumane, unnecessary, and destroy a much needed natural resource. Please speak out about this to your local pet shops who continue to order hermit crabs in painted shells just so they can charge more for them.

Hermit crabs are forced out of their natural shell. One method can be seen in the video below, the crabs are placed in a vice and their natural shell is destroyed. Other methods include heating the shell so the crab abandons it, drilling a hole and poking the crab with a wire until it abandons the shell.

Hermit crabs are often forced into the shells while the paint is still wet. The paint could trap the crab when it dries.

Hermit crabs will not voluntarily pick painted shells. In all instances, some form abuse is used to get the crab into the painted shells. Painted shells exist solely to attract small children who will cry and moan until their parent gives in and buys the Sponge Bob shell.

Hermit crabs modify their shells to make them fit better. They may ingest paint directly from the shell or as it flakes off and contaminates the habitat as well as the food and water.

Gluing googly eyes and other junk to the shell throws off the balance of the shell making it difficult for the crab to walk or climb.

Hermit crabs have a complex relationship with their shells. Without a shell for protection from predators and desiccation the hermit crab will die. See the reference section below for a sample of research written about hermit crabs and their shell homes.

You can donate your painted shells to us for display at the exotic pet show web attend monthly. Use this form to get the mailing address and to let us know the shells are on their way.

How they are painted overseas:

Due to a lack of shells and an excess of garbage, some hermit crabs are wearing trash. Just one more reason we should all Say NO to Painted Shells. Leave the shells on the beach for the wild hermit crabs.

90 minutes into freeing him

Paint is peeling. Painted shells are inhumane and unsafe.

Ugly painted shells Photo by Stacy Griffith

Paint is peeling

Photo provided by Alyssa Kline

The paint is inside the shell too

So much of the paint is peeling off

This is just as bad as a painted shell

Photo provided by Alyssa Kline

Paint is smearing off

Look how much paint got inside and was peeling off

Newspaper stuck inside a painted shell – Robin Bownman

hooray

Beautiful natural shells are the best option:

References:

https://environment.bm/land-hermit-crab

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/beach-tourists-who-collect-shells-may-be-harming-environment-180949368/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/plastic-planet-animals-wildlife-impact-waste-pollution

Abrams, P. Shell selection and utilization in a terrestrial hermit crab, Coenobita compressus (H. Milne Edwards). Oecologia 34, 239–253 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00345169

Michael R. Conover, The importance of various shell characteristics to the shell-selection behavior of hermit crabs, Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, Volume 32, Issue 2, 1978,
Pages 131-142, ISSN 0022-0981, https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0981(78)90111-9.

Crump, Andrew; Mullens, Charlotte; Bethell, Emily J.; Cunningham, Eoghan M.; Arnott, Gareth (2020): Supplementary material from “Microplastics disrupt hermit crab shell selection”. The Royal Society. Collection. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4938171.v1

Elena Tricarico, Francesca Gherardi, Resource assessment in hermit crabs: the worth of their own shell, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 18, Issue 3, May 2007, Pages 615–620, https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arm019

Laidre ME. Social conquest of land: Sea-to-land changes in shell architecture and body morphology, with consequences for social evolution. Arthropod Struct Dev. 2021 Jul;63:101064. doi: 10.1016/j.asd.2021.101064. Epub 2021 Jun 4. PMID: 34098322.