HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello! My hermit crab has become lonely due to his buddy passing away. I saw him searching through two shells his buddy used to use, and he’s looking around the tank. I understand that I need to get him a new buddy but I’m afraid of aggression or rejection. What could I do to cheer him up until I get him a new buddy? And any tips to introduce hermit crabs to each other (especially hermit crabs that are dealing with loneliness/ sadness)?

You are projecting your own feelings onto the crab. Crabs do fine alone, what used to be considered social behavior is now known to be resource sharing.
If you do want to add another crab, give them all a quick dip in the fresh water so they smell the same. Make sure there are enough shells, enough places to hide, and that they have protein daily.

I honestly don’t feel like I am projecting my own feelings to my hermit crab. Him and his buddy were very close, he used to get her food whenever she was scared to come out and they were always together. Recently, I have been noticing him searching through her old shells, flipping them over constantly and looking through them to see if she is in them. And he’s currently digging and sleeping at her old spot in the tank where he last saw her. I was trying to get some advice on this because I don’t want his behavior to change or such.

I never disagree with Curly, but I might on this one lol.
I had 2 crabs that were together for 5 years, Beau and Katrina. Katrina passed and left Beau alone. I didn't want to buy anymore crabs but adopt, so I knew it would take a bit to wait for someone on here to come along in the right area. In the meantime, Beau just didn't seem to be himself. I found him hugging an empty shell in a coconut for hours. So I put a little toy hermit in with him. He found it and sat on that for hours. The I tried a little trick we use at the bird rescue I volunteer at. When birds that are social are being rehabbed alone, we put mirrors near their food trays to make them think they have buddies in there with them. So I took a compact mirror and popped it in the crabitat. I would catch Beau sitting by it often. When I finally found 2 crabs up for adoption, I jumped at the chance. When I introduced them to Beau he took to the one larger crab right away. He really pepped up and they were together most of the time.
I haven't see Beau in 3 months, and now he usually only comes out in the early early am hours, so now it's me missing him lol.
Maybe I'm projecting too lol. It's ok tho, cuz it's kept me rescuing crabbies that need forever homes. And Beau always seems to like new friends.
Check out Motorcrab's Etsy shop. He's got cute little mirrors with craft mesh for sale for crabbies:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1134897277 ... rt=1&sts=1

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I never thought of that idea with the mirrors, I used to do that with my old pet bird until I found him a friend. And that’s what I want to do: adopt. But it’s been hard to find any. I’ll take that idea into consideration, thank you so much! And I also saw you on another post when someone was giving away a hermit crab, I think we live around in the same area. Hopefully you could give me an eye out for a hermit crab for adoption (especially small/ medium crabs; that was the size of his buddy).

Yw! Yep, I'm in PA too. I will def keep an eye out on my end too. I don't have Facebook or belong to my neighborhood site, but my mom does. She always tells me when a crab or fish needs a home on there lol. So if she sees one, maybe I can get it first and then hand it off to you, or I can give you the info to see if it's close enough. It took a month of Beau being alone before I found his first adopted buddies, so don't give up!

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I won’t give up, thank you so much! I really appreciate it! I hope I can find one soon (:

Fingers crossed!!

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If you don't find another crab straight away, I wouldn't worry too much. Like Curly mentioned, crabs aren't exactly social, they just conglomerate in the wild to evade predation (safety in numbers) and resources scarcities.

I’ll keep that mind in too, I was always told that they need buddies because they are very social

giannaw wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:39 pm

I’ll keep that mind in too, I was always told that they need buddies because they are very social

This is one of those grey areas which is likely blown our of proportion. Many crabbers still adamantly believe this, however some of the longest lived crabs tend to be singletons and no change in behaviour is noted between crabs kept by themselves or crabs in a group - from crabbers that own aggressive crabs that remain isolated from others.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 30, 2022 11:46 pm

You are projecting your own feelings onto the crab. Crabs do fine alone, what used to be considered social behavior is now known to be resource sharing.
If you do want to add another crab, give them all a quick dip in the fresh water so they smell the same. Make sure there are enough shells, enough places to hide, and that they have protein daily.

i just want to advise you that hermits are not ok alone and to not spread fake facts because hermits in the wild live in colonies and never alone in captivity should never be kept alone for a long period of time .

My hermit is my life wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 24, 2024 4:33 pm

I am not spreading 'fake facts'.
There is no data or research that shows that crabs do better with or without other crabs. There are studies regarding behavior that was once thought to be 'social' is now understood to be 'resource sharing'.
Many crab owners have had single crabs for long periods of time with no ill effects.

That isn't true bc actually if you look it up almost all of the facts are they do not do well alone.

My hermit is my life wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 27, 2024 4:45 pm

That isn't true bc actually if you look it up almost all of the facts are they do not do well alone.

I'm really not sure why you are arguing a point that more than one of us have stated is true, on a post from over 2 years ago.
If you 'look it up' on the HCA site, you will find plenty of instances where crabs do well alone. I'm quite certain that you won't find any published research or peer reviewed studies that say otherwise.