Hermit Crab Activity in Different Tanks

[Sandbeard]

I have two hermit crabs, and when we got the first one, we brought him home in a pretty small tank that we switched out after about a week. When we got my second crab, we brought her home in the same small tank, before putting her in the big one. We were just on a long car trip and we put them in the small tank, which is now their travel tank, to transport them. What I have noticed is that they are both much more active in this tiny little travel tank than they are in their big, nice one. I was wondering why this is?

[HermitGuy3]

I'm not that experienced on this, but I think that they might be more stressed and are trying to find a more humid/ warmer place to hide. The same reason they are so active outside the tank. They are frightened and slowly suffocating. (Assuming the travel tank is not set up right)

[Sandbeard]

I'm not that experienced on this, but I think that they might be more stressed and are trying to find a more humid/ warmer place to hide. The same reason they are so active outside the tank. They are frightened and slowly suffocating. (Assuming the travel tank is not set up right)

The substrate is super thin and they don’t have any toys or anything in there. It is basically a tank made for tiny crabs, b/c we misjudged the size of the first crab, Crusty Sean and thought he was smaller than he was. It has a correct lid and everything though. When they were in there, it wasn’t just that they were more active, they were actually playing with eachother, which I haven’t really seen in the main tank. You’re probably right though.

[curlysister]

I agree that they were probably more active because they were stressed, and didn't have anywhere to hide and feel safe. They were probably not playing, they probably simply couldn't avoid each other in the small tank.