HCA: Hermit Crab Association

One of my little Ecuadorians has recently changed shells and is now not quite as big a jerk as he was before. He has gone from being a bully to being kind of laid back. Has anyone else experienced this with one of their crabs?

Are you sure it's the same crab?

Sometimes we lose track of them in the moment, when one crab changes, sometimes a bunch of other crabs change too!

What likely happened is that your crab is either adjusting to the new shell, or maybe he is no longer the "alpha" crab in your tank. Hermit crab dynamics are a bit mysterious that way. Overnight it is possible that some other crab came out on top of a push fight. Or maybe he is feeling different with his new shell. I used to have a super shy crab until he changed shells, then he was outgoing and active!

It doesn't sound like a problem but keep watching him just in case. Let us know if he is doing anything else strange like not eating.

Cheers!

I had a super pinchy turn into a sweetheart once given the time to change shells. I only had maybe 6 crabs at the time and he was very uniquely colored. Sometimes getting into a new shell can make a difference.

Hey when my pants aren't tight enough I could get pretty grouchy. But when I find tighter pants I become myself

LOL. His previous shell did seem a little small... Maybe he just needed a bigger size to squeeze into.