HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello all:

I have recently decided to increase the size of my cast of crabs, and I'm trying to determine what would make a good fit. I have two Purple Pinchers at the moment, and I'm not sure what other subspecies (i.e. Strawberries) to add in. Have any of you noticed a particularly good combo? Are there any I should avoid putting in due to drastically different tank requirements? Is adding only one more a good idea, or should I keep it at an even number? Sorry for the barrage of questions, I'm just trying to make sure they all have the best possible conditions.

Thanks in advance,
-Promethean

Deoends on the tank size, can it support more crabs? What are the size of your current crabs?


IMO, all species get along well, and generally require the same requirements. Exotics do better in higher temps, and more stable conditions (heat/humidity); and seem to live longer with UVB supplementation - particularly straws - and generally aren't recommended for people thats just started out, and recommend waiting a good number of years before getting exotics.


(Little fun fact; there's no current sub species of land hermit crabs, and each 'type' are actually distinct and seperate species. Some scientists even go as far as detesting the term 'subspecies'; like some of my lecturers. Haha Generally sub species tend to be 'slightly' frowned upon in zoology, as there's very little distinct criterion to distinguish isolated populations of the same species being just different populations or actually sub species.)

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Thanks for information!

I have a 30 gallon tank with plenty of hiding places, more than enough substrate (play sand and coconut fiber mix), plenty of shells, both fresh and salt water, a wide variety of fresh produce (can't bring myself to give them that commercial stuff), and it's kept at 80 degrees with a humidity of 80.

My only issue is that one of the Purple Pinchers, Settra, is pretty aggressive to anything that isn't himself or the other crab. Settra tends to be very protective of a plethora of shells that he keeps semi buried in a certain area, and is most certainly not afraid of anything else, regradless of size. I'm just afraid he might not get along with the others.

Edit: Both crabs are decent sized. I'd say close to a golf ball.