PP never come out

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:20 pm

See sig for what crabs I own

My PP's never come out they are buried or in the hut. We watch them at night and never see them. One E has changed shells and one Straw just came up from a good molt. We have owned them since July 07. I have taken all the crabs out of the tank and let them run around. Everybody does move around. Is it a trait that the PP's hide when they are tiny?

Why don't the Med to lg Straws never change shells? The other E's also are in the same shells. I don't think they they are molting.
Are there crabs that are more active then others.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:55 pm

Yeah occasionally large and medium sized hermit crabs just use shells to defend their super soft abdomen only and let their legs, claws and occasionally the carapace out too. Yes mostly tiny crabs are more defensive. But my viola is as tiny as my mom's nails and she's one of the most destructive and graceful crab I've owned. I guess they have a unique personality. My crabs only go out at around 10 pm and plus. So hard to see them socialize!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 12:12 am

We are up late in the evening and the Straws and E's are great sport. I am building a new big cage for them. I Have the frame and wheels for the doors but have not priced the glass. It is 36"x 18" x I not sure of the height yet, maybe 21" or 24" Sorry I don't know what that would be in metric. I could not efford the cages that were out there nor did I like there size or styles. Here my 25g tank steams up and the glass gets a mess fast. I wanted something with more ventilation but not escape holes.
My small E is in love with a strawberry. They follow each other all over the place. The E is always on his back and he carries her around. Man they are strong.
I will look for Viola's or just some other type of crab in the spring to add to their new home.
I just thought they needed to change shells more often then the six months its been.

stephaniecrabbylover wrote:Yeah occasionally large and medium sized hermit crabs just use shells to defend their super soft abdomen only and let their legs, claws and occasionally the carapace out too. Yes mostly tiny crabs are more defensive. But my viola is as tiny as my mom's nails and she's one of the most destructive and graceful crab I've owned. I guess they have a unique personality. My crabs only go out at around 10 pm and plus. So hard to see them socialize!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:23 am

I have a viola, a cavipes, 5 indos, 4 ruggies, 4 blueberries and 4 strawberries at my home...
Speaking of hermit crab love, I suspect they are going to...mate....
Unfortunately hermit crabs don't breed in captivity...but people know the steps of reproduction in hermit crabs....

1. The male carries the female around while fighting other male hermit crabs who want to mate with the female (in the wild).

2. When the female molts, the male stays with her and past his reproductive cells through the female's gonopores.

3. The female goes near the water and release the zoeas when she is fully submerged.

4. The zoeas start to be shrimp-like creatures and looks for shells to inhabit underwater.

5. They go to shore, and then become fully-matured hermit crabs.

Good luck finding violas in Spring. Crabs know when it's time to change shells....and good luck with your new tank building!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:33 am

Thanks

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:10 pm

crystalview

Es are known for rarely changing shells. I have PPs and Es and I found, for me, the level of activity depends of the crab.

I also have a tank of 13 teeny and small Es and 2 teeny PPs. The PPs are above ground most of the time, along with four or five of the Es. The rest are underground, mostly digging tunnels.

The crabs are going to do what they want to do and there's really not much you can do about it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:06 pm

Yeah...I wonder how an E with a Strawberry looks like....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:53 am

Very funny!
Since I don't have the set-up to have them mate and would really not like to go thru that. Its ok if they have an affair. :roll:

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:54 pm

PP are known as diggers more than climbers

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:55 pm

See how inconsistent they can be? My Es are diggers and my PPs are climbers. Until I introduced an E into the tank that was a digger, not one of my 12 PPs in the main tank ever dug a hole. Since I removed the digger E, the PPs still will dig some holes, but not as often as before.

Now I have two teeny PPs in a tank with 12 small Es and all the Es, except for 3 or 4 and the PPs, are diggers.

Go figure.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:02 pm

All my crabs are diggers. The Straws are the worst. It is just I never see the pp's. I had one die on me two months ago. So I worry that after six months they are not seen at all. Except a couple of months ago when I went looking. I have a Straw that is molting now so I don't want to dig yet.