Shell Swapping

[BrisHermies]

I just acquired a medium hermit in an adoption. His previous owner rescued him from poor conditions and kept him for three years. His color is beautiful and he's active and curious, with no missing limbs or antennae. As far as I can tell, he's in better shape than most of the crabs that come to me.

But he's switching shells more than I'm used to. I've had him less than 48 hours, and I've seen him switch into four different shells multiple times, then always back into his original one. He came in a lovely jade turbo, maybe a little snug on him but not too small by any means.

He only had one extra shell in his old home, a white whale eye, so I'm thinking he's just thrilled with my large selection. It was a hour long car ride back home from picking him up, so I gave him a lot of shells to browse through in private while we traveled. He tried on a Japanese land snail shell, a Babylonia shell, and two different turbos, just in the car. Now in the tank he's going between the same four every few hours.

I doubt it's anything to worry about, but I'd appreciate a more experienced opinion. I am almost positive that there should be something in my shell shop to satisfy him. My hermits are all sizes, so I have shells that run the gambit.

P.S. Aren't PPs supposed to prefer turbos? Almost all of mine go for the oddball ones. Less than half of mine actually wear turbos, which make up the majority of my shell collection.

[Winter1]

Yeah I wondering the same thing. one of my crabs, Midnight, just today change 5 or more times, if you include going back to his original shell. And he pulled one of my other crabs out of its shell twice! Hopefully he has calmed down now. It's so crazy right now. I've had 3 come up from 5-3 month molts in one day and everyone is shell wild. Which is really pooey because I have to stay up half the night and babysit all of my hermit crabs

[soilentgringa]

I've had PP's in everything from land fairy snail shells to murex to 3 different kinds of turbos. Your new buddy is probably ecstatic at all the variety and trying on as many new "suits" as he can.

[BrisHermies]

Oh, wow. I've never had any aggression over shells, especially having someone pulled out of a shell.

I was more concerned about my new one finding one that pleased him. He's not showing any signs of wanting anyone else's shell. I think that I have so many extras in the tank that he's just overwhelmed by the choices. I would be very concerned of one of mine was showing that kind of aggression.

[BrisHermies]

I've had PP's in everything from land fairy snail shells to murex to 3 different kinds of turbos. Your new buddy is probably ecstatic at all the variety and trying on as many new "suits" as he can.

Thanks for the reassurance. I kind of thought so, especially since he only had the whale eye as a spare before. I hope he's happy with his "suits."