HCA: Hermit Crab Association

All has been fine in the pp tank until recently. Jewel has been terrorizing all of her tank mates to the point that when the see her coming the high tail to anywhere she isn't She has now forced 2 crabs (that I know of) out of their shells...one was larger & one was smaller. No matter what, she does not appear satisfied I almost feel like I'm watching a school yard bully, it's awful There are a plethora of shells for them of all shapes & sizes so that's not the issue. Any clue as to why she'd be doing this?
Last night she forced my biggest hermie, Shellie, out of her shell & stole it. What I can only assume happened is after being forced from her shell, Shellie had to jump into the nearest shell for protection. I found Shellie quivering in the back of a rarely used cocohut & wearing a shell for a barely medium...Shellie is almost a large I put a bunch of shells I thought might interest Shellie up in the moss pit & I'm hoping she'll find a good fit. But who knows, Jewel might then decide she wants that shell
I wanted to iso Jewel last night but since my mastiff hyper extended my knee (long story :roll:) I didn't have the strength or energy to do it. If she is still bullying everyone today, I'm gonna have to get my daughter to help me after school.
Any ideas as to this behavior?

anytime you catch her attacking someone, pick her up, tap her shell fairly hard to give her a bit of a jolt and put her in the shell shop. I had to do this a few times with my larger E before she stopped attacking others in the tank.

Did she molt recently? Sometimes their personalities can change drastically after a molt. Or, is she a new crab who hasn't molted yet? It might also be a territorial thing unfortunately why doesn't really change the fact that she's attacking crabs, so I would definately isolate her for a couple nights, then reintroduce her for a few hours and see if there's any changes, if not, back into the iso for 4 or 5 days and try again. Keep doing this until she either molts or calms down. For some crabs, it takes while for them to understand that they don't need to fight to survive anymore (like they had to during the shipping and handling process) so she might just still be a little freaked out over all that's happened to her.
Good luck, and keep us updated

Other than my teeny rescue, who's molting in an iso tank , I haven't bought a pp since January...I don't have the space Jewel has molted w/me several times & has made some strange shell choices in the past :roll: but she's never been aggressive like this In fact, she's never been aggressive at all
Since I can't get around real well (because of my knee) I'm left w/a LOT of time to think All this thinking has led me to a possible reason for her behavior...It has been quite a while since Jewel last molted & she has been showing some signs that she may molt soon. Is she just looking for a bigger shell in which to molt? I've had crabs do this in the past so maybe that's what she's up to
I was able to put her in iso today. I had to make an adjustment in the iso tank but I'd already put her in so I had to put her back in the main tank while I fixed things. I swear, I have never seen any of my pp's run so fast or make such attempts to get away from ANYTHING, EVER! Shellie & Midge (or Monkey, I'm never really sure anymore!), who are both victims of Jewel, scaled the coco-cabana & climbed the vine as high as they could go When Shellie couldn't get any higher she grabbed on to the air tubing & scaled it to the very top. They're both so freaked out I just wanna hug 'em & tell 'em it'll be ok but that's just a bit difficult to do w/crabs
Anyway, the hermies in the main tank have calmed down significantly & maybe Jewel will molt while in time out...I mean iso
Thanks for the help I'll let you know how things work out!

I am having the same sort of issue and no idea what to do!!! We got our 2 PP's July 1, both went down right away (Bash was in and out daily however) Aug 5 we got two E's. Well George came up yesterday only to be attacked by Toby!!!!! He went back down and came back up about two hours ago or so and sure enough Toby started again. George did the same thing your Shellie and Midge did lol up the hose high as possible then ran up my arm while I was fixing the moss pit! So let him hang out on my shoulder for a bit, put him back and he runs and hides from Toby if he even moves!

Now however (this has to be beyond hilarious) Toby is going up the maple branch to the shell shop and George is literally SNEAKING up the branch about 6 inches behind him like he's gonna show that bully how it fills. It's very funny to watch (for now) since roles are reversed.

Like you there are plenty of shells in the tank, why be a bully and take someone else's. Especially a painted one that I want OUT of the tank soon as George swaps. There is something in the air with our crabs.

There must be something going on! Have you read the post nicole3 put up about her killer crab? What is going on w/all these hermies I'm just kidding though. W/so many of us on here there are bound to be multiple stories of odd behavior going on at the same time. But it sure does strike me as really weird
It seems like you have had a bunch of trouble Have you really or does it just seem that way?
I hate seeing my babies so scared & I worry about Shellie being in a shell that she can't fully pull back into My smallest baby (other than my rescue) decided to snag a striped turbo that's, hmm, just a bit too big. Too big to the point that I picked the shell up the other day & didn't even know she was in there She can fully retract to at least halfway inside the shell! I guess that's a good way to protect yourself from a bully.
Part of the problem is they all want striped turbo's. Once they've had a striped turbo it doesn't seem like there's any going back I'm gonna have to order some more but I don't have the special shell measuring thing & I never seem to get the measurements right I cannot afford to be wrong this time! Anyone know an easily explainable way to measure shells? Me & my hermies would REALLY appreciate it

Yes I did!!! Somethings in the air lol.

My 2 E's are both in shells too small for them, and the shell Toby wants is perfect for George for a good while yet, and Toby couldn't use it since it's just the teeny tiniest bit bigger than his, but it is a snail shell. I think that's what is drawing him.......

LOL that shell is way big then!!!! It would be like George going into Sebastian's shell, I would loose him! If I was a crab I think I would go for a striped turbo too, they are so pretty and smooth Bash my turbo lover, he's in a brown turbo right now.

I don't have a shell measurement thing either, I just got a reg ruler with inches and CM on it. Did my first shell measure tonight (opening only) on Toby. his opening is right at 0.75". I did side to side rather than depth (course depth was the exact same size). I am just confused on if the measurements on the sites are shell size or opening only. Some show both sizes, others only show one size.

2 of my 3 e's are still in the hideous, tacky, ugly shells I got them in They've molted several times each & are way to big for their shells but e's are notorious for being stubborn when it comes to changing shells. I actually got lucky...I bought 4 e's (I lost 1 about a month or so after buying them ), got them home, put them in their new home & within 10 mins or so, 2 of the 4 had changed shells I was so thrilled I could barely stand it! But that "luck" has not extended to the other 2
When I 1st saw that Peanut could pull back that far into her shell I thought the same thing, that it had to be too big for her. But when she's up & walking around, you would never know that she could pull that far into it. That is also a big part, I think, of why they love the striped/mexican turbo's so much...they're not as heavy as some of the other turbo's, making it much easier for them to carry around. Besides, as long as it makes her happy, it makes me happy The striped turbo's are so popular that 1 of my ruggies & the 1 e I have that's not in a painted shell, are both wearing striped turbo's! Which reminds me, I need to go on the hcp site to order another couple handfuls of them. I guess I better figure out this sizing business quick! The problem I have, is despite measuring the way they tell you to, I end up w/shells either bigger or smaller than I expected Maybe I'll have better luck this time The owners of the hcp are so great & very willing to help that I could probably ask them to tell me what sizes I ordered last time so I that I at least have a starting point of sorts!

I found a lot of the green turbos for sale on Ebay. I found lots of nice shells on there and saved them to my watch list to order Monday or Tuesday. Toby is just so dang stubborn with these shells. Hi's and Crab Mans are both very small for them which I've read E's like but it is annoying isn't it lol.

I'm afraid I'm going to end up with a million shells that have 1" openings before he picks one lol

I have a couple smaller Es that can be the terror of the tank at times. A while back one of them kept at it over and over, even though I would intervene and move the aggressor to another spot in the tank. I finally isolated it in a KK inside the tank. He's been pretty well behaved ever since and that was 4 months ago.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... ry#p793423

I think the moon phases have something to do with it too~just a thought. I know my crabitat looked like a crab-sized tornado had swept through Saturday after the full moon. They all seem calmer now too...with the exception of the one who obviously needs therapy!

nicole3 wrote:I think the moon phases have something to do with it too~just a thought. I know my crabitat looked like a crab-sized tornado had swept through Saturday after the full moon. They all seem calmer now too...with the exception of the one who obviously needs therapy!

It does seem like yours could benefit from some therapy & crabbie prozac or xanax Hey, maybe some group therapy would work...your killer, my shell fighter & Bridgitmac80's crab Toby, all sitting in their little chairs in a circle, working thru their issues Poor crabbies & poor us They just need something & we're trying so hard to figure it out. Oh the frustration :roll:

LOL omg that's hilarious!

Toby was actually behaved last night after finally changing shells. Course Crab Man wants his revenge and confronted Toby. It was funny to see Toby run away for a change instead of C.M. But Toby still want's a different shell. He dragged one around the tank all night last night and this morning was still at it! But didn't jump into it. It's like he's claimed a second shell for himself just in case and dares anyone else to try getting it.

I have a feeling we're all gonna have about 100 shells the same size until these guys are happily covered!

I think one of the things they need the most is time Imagine going through all that they did, and then being plopped into a small space full of strangers. It'd be awful, and I've heard of a few crabs who never really get over it So time, patience, tlc and more patience.
I hope the best for you two!

RockyGurly wrote:I think one of the things they need the most is time Imagine going through all that they did, and then being plopped into a small space full of strangers. It'd be awful, and I've heard of a few crabs who never really get over it So time, patience, tlc and more patience.
I hope the best for you two!

My pp's have been w/me for a while now & everything is going really well in my tank now! Everyone has really calmed down. In fact, they've calmed to the point where I think a mass molt is on the horizon!