HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My little clan has seemingly been having some disputes : ( ...

Random background info:

Well, I had 1 hermie (Guda) in a 10g all alone (poor guy!) for quite a while until I finally convinced my parents to get him a friend (Sebastian). Then I had 2 hermies in the 10g for several months...and now just about a month ago I got our third addition to the family, Kermit, who is the smallest in the group. Anyway, total that all up and I've been crabbing for almost a year (just a couple of weeks until it's official!!! ).


ANYWAY

Guda and Sebastian have been with eachother for quite a while, and they have never been in any "fights" or shown any agression towards eachother. They have always been buddies! And when I added in Kermit to the group, nothing much happened besides the fact that at first Kermit (who is very small compared to Sebastian) climbed on Sebastian and so Sebastian started chirping. But after that they were fine. Well just last night, I was refilling the water bowls and so when I put the bowls back in, I guess the sand had collapsed and all of it was in the way. Anyway, I moved all the sand out of the way but I forgot Sebastian could be buried nearby. I hit something and of course... it was Sebastian. He's preparing for a molt, I suppose, because he had been buried for 2 weeks. Anyway I had completely destroyed his little tunnel thing and all the sand collapsed on him so I had no choice but to dig him up.

I scooped him up gently and (thankfully he wasn't molting) placed him in the sand somewhere else. When I picked him up he came out of his shell a bit and I saw that on one of his legs the tip of it had chiped off. That was definitely not there before he buried. I was thinking maybe he hurt himself by scratching on the glass or something...

Well, then literally about 2 minutes later, I look in the tank and see that Guda was running (not literally...but walking VERY QUICKLY) towards Sebastian. I turned away and when I looked back Guda was rocking Sebastian's shell back and forth so I immediately picked Guda off, but he had already taken Sebastians shell. I took the shell from Guda and set it right next to Sebastian (who at this point was "naked"). I then put Guda in the old 10g because I didn't want to stress Sebastian out even more by moving him. Luckily Sebastian changed back into the shell immediately and scurried away into the corner. I kept them seperated for the night.

I'm concerened because now I'm thinking maybe Guda and Sebastian got in a shell fight sometime when I wasn't home/was sleeping, and that's why Sebastians leg is injured. The shell Sebastian is wearing is a very popular shell and is in fact Guda's favorite shell. I put another one of Guda's favorite shells in the 10g with him and he changed into it immediately...I'm just concerned that Guda is going to continue to try and steal Sebastians shell.

They have somewhere around 10 shells to choose from, so that's not a problem. I'm not sure what I should do... Any advice? Sorry it's so long!

Sometimes, they just want THAT SHELL.


Does Sebastian have sharp black toenails, or lot's of hair?

I would offer more shells of similar sizes, and like noswad said:"Sometimes they want THAT shell". Good luck and let us now how they get this ironed out

Noswad0208 wrote:Sometimes, they just want THAT SHELL.


Does Sebastian have sharp black toenails, or lot's of hair?

No, he doesn't. So I know he hasn't molted yet. But an actual PART of his leg (not toenail) was chipped off.

Hmm.. Odd that it came off while he was under. :/

Noswad0208 wrote:Hmm.. Odd that it came off while he was under. :/

I know, it's very strange...Maybe he comes up during the night sometimes and that's when it happened?

If Guada changed into a different new shell, I'm wondering if there was something wrong with his old one. It might be too deep in the spiral to see, but maybe put your finger in and try to feel for a bump or sharp edge?
Sometimes it is just "that" shell, the shell that another crab is wearing! It's kind of like "oh, he's wearing it, so it must be good!"
I'd keep an eye on them, maybe give them both a saltwater bath to neutralize their scents, but I wouldn't be too too worried
How is Sebastian doing? Does he seem injured in any way?

RockyGurly wrote:If Guada changed into a different new shell, I'm wondering if there was something wrong with his old one. It might be too deep in the spiral to see, but maybe put your finger in and try to feel for a bump or sharp edge?
Sometimes it is just "that" shell, the shell that another crab is wearing! It's kind of like "oh, he's wearing it, so it must be good!"
I'd keep an eye on them, maybe give them both a saltwater bath to neutralize their scents, but I wouldn't be too too worried
How is Sebastian doing? Does he seem injured in any way?

Thanks for the info. I checked the old shell it seems like everything's ok with it. And if there was something wrong he's changed into a new one, anyway. They seem to be doing alright so far. Sebastian buried down again, which is a good sign...when he was up for that short time he seemed like he was ok (besides the leg injury from before the shell fight). He was getting around just fine and he looked like he was ok. Hopefully a few days buried will give him some time to calm down!

They can be in danger from other crabs both before and after a molt. NEVER assume any crab you find underground is safe to be around others until you've ISO'd it and it's been acting completely normal and eating and drinking for a few days.

I've had crabs killed and severely injured that I accidentally uncovered and who I thought were okay and that had not molted yet. They were either attacked on sight and killed (one of my first Es and it all happened in less than five minutes) or they surface molted within 12 hours and were attacked (poor Jane, who ended up molting again and healed up nicely thank heavens.)

That Guda smelled him that fast was a bad sign and you both are lucky nothing more happened! I'm glad that Sebastian reburied immediately as it probably saved his life to do so.

wodesorel wrote:They can be in danger from other crabs both before and after a molt. NEVER assume any crab you find underground is safe to be around others until you've ISO'd it and it's been acting completely normal and eating and drinking for a few days.

I've had crabs killed and severely injured that I accidentally uncovered and who I thought were okay and that had not molted yet. They were either attacked on sight and killed (one of my first Es and it all happened in less than five minutes) or they surface molted within 12 hours and were attacked (poor Jane, who ended up molting again and healed up nicely thank heavens.)

That Guda smelled him that fast was a bad sign and you both are lucky nothing more happened! I'm glad that Sebastian reburied immediately as it probably saved his life to do so.

Scary story

I had a crab do the exact same thing-he is now aptly named Rogue. I kept Rogue separated from the group for a while with TONS of shells. He burrowed down and molted, came up and switched shells and has never had another problem-this was a little over 2 years ago. Something is horribly uncomfortable for your little shell thief and he is desperate to remedy it. He seems to think that because the shell is comfy for the other crab, it must be great. lol. Give him some time apart and introduce them in controlled segments-u watching closely, maybe even outside of the tank in a confined area. Rogue kept going after 1 particular crab and it was very obvious, but when he had molted and shell swapped he was as gentle as could be.

wodesorel wrote:They can be in danger from other crabs both before and after a molt. NEVER assume any crab you find underground is safe to be around others until you've ISO'd it and it's been acting completely normal and eating and drinking for a few days.

I've had crabs killed and severely injured that I accidentally uncovered and who I thought were okay and that had not molted yet. They were either attacked on sight and killed (one of my first Es and it all happened in less than five minutes) or they surface molted within 12 hours and were attacked (poor Jane, who ended up molting again and healed up nicely thank heavens.)

That Guda smelled him that fast was a bad sign and you both are lucky nothing more happened! I'm glad that Sebastian reburied immediately as it probably saved his life to do so.

Thanks for the info! I'm so happy he buried down again so quickly. I'm keeping a close eye on the tank.

I'veGotCrabs wrote:I had a crab do the exact same thing-he is now aptly named Rogue. I kept Rogue separated from the group for a while with TONS of shells. He burrowed down and molted, came up and switched shells and has never had another problem-this was a little over 2 years ago. Something is horribly uncomfortable for your little shell thief and he is desperate to remedy it. He seems to think that because the shell is comfy for the other crab, it must be great. lol. Give him some time apart and introduce them in controlled segments-u watching closely, maybe even outside of the tank in a confined area. Rogue kept going after 1 particular crab and it was very obvious, but when he had molted and shell swapped he was as gentle as could be.

Thanks for the tips I'm stopping by the store to get some more dechlorinator anyway, so I'll pick up some extra shells while I'm at it. Whenever Sebastian comes up I'll give them a bath together (as someone else suggested) and see how it goes from there...If they continue to fight I'll put one in the ISO for a while and then keep re-introducing them until they are ok. I think right now putting in some extra shells is the best I can do!