HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi everyone! I’ve had these two crabs for about a year now, and this is the first I’m seeing behaviour like this.

We’ve had a few days of rain this week, and I woke up this morning to what seems like Barry chasing around Rambo my other crab, and attempting to mount him. Barry is about half the size of Rambo, so a shell jacking seems out of the question. Other than a couple dominance spats, these two crabs are quite tolerant of each other with Rambo normally being the more dominant due to his(her?) size.

I’ve included a video I downloaded from my Wyze cam for all of you to see, it’s 4.5x and records three separate incidents happening within minutes of each other.

For all the experts here, is this behaviour amorous or aggressive? As well does this mean Rambo is female?

Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tesXjcBAJaBVTVuq7

Thanks everyone!

I think it's just shell envy. They aren't the smartest at figuring out size difference until they can get their claws on something. At least he's too small to be a danger!

I think you may be right! I haven’t seen it repeated since. The persistence of Barry had me a little suspicious, as they usually threaten each other and then run.

Somehow the shell two sizes too large with a crab already in it looks better than the other shells that are exactly the same but better fitting and empty hahaha.