HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm going to word this as best I can So I guess what I'm asking is how to hermits think... Or maybe in better words, can they tell differences between painted or natural shells? Do they know that there is paint on shells.
If the heat is too low, do they know that?
Sorry if this makes no sense but I was just wondering.

Also while I'm asking questions, do crabs go in the water? Cause mine will drink out of the dishes, and they're pretty deep, but they never really go in the water.

well im not sure if they can tell the difference between a painted or unpainted shell..im sure they must..& as 4 the water ?... I have 2 pp s that go in the salt & fresh water dishes.. I have 3 dishes..2 r deep enuff to climb in with smooth rocks & sponges & a drinking dishe w a sponge..

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Mine go in the water, completely submerge etc. Mostly my Es are bathers, the PPs are a little more dignified (if that makes sense) but I have caught them coming out of the water from time to time. My Es usually bathe in both pools, they jump in the salt then go jump in the fresh. Ok, not jump, but move quickly between them.

They probably like the feel of the natural shells better. I only have crabs that have worn natural shells, but at the pet store I saw the aftermath of a shell fight and the empty shells were all painted (and there were dead crabs next to them, so I'm just assuming that the others fought them for their natural shell and someone won and the loser was left dead by the painted shell.

I notice if the heat or humidity get too low they become inactive, so they have some sort of sense of how to act. The pet store crabs are far more lethargic than the crabs in my tank (and mine were originally purchased from the pet store too). The gauges in the pet store (if they are even right) are often too cold and too dry.

I also believe that hermit crabs can tell the difference in colours; which is a reason why they would choose natural shells. In the wild, a gaudy purple and pink shell would stand out like a sore thumb and make it very easy for predators (like how our crabs think of us) to find them.

I guess they could tell if the heat is low when they go sluggish. Off memory, hermies are like reptiles and need heat to keep on moving!
I noticed that my crabs love going in the water when i just add it in or in summer during the day. Otherwise, I don't really see them use it at all, but then again; I don't stay up all night so I can't be sure.

Do any of you think that it would be possible to use fresh rain water, & use as fresh water for them? I collect rain water for my orchids for winter& wonder if it would be a treat to the hermies?

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aussieJJDude wrote:I also believe that hermit crabs can tell the difference in colours; which is a reason why they would choose natural shells. In the wild, a gaudy purple and pink shell would stand out like a sore thumb and make it very easy for predators (like how our crabs think of us) to find them.

I guess they could tell if the heat is low when they go sluggish. Off memory, hermies are like reptiles and need heat to keep on moving!

But do they know what paint is and if it's bad? One of my PPs once (like a year ago) changed from the natural shell I got him in, into a black painted shell. He stayed in that shell from July of last year until December. That would make me think that they can't really tell differences between paint and natural shells. :dunno:

I think they are going by how it feels on them and not whether it's natural or not. Possibly the painted shell just fit the best of what was offered.

Maybe, I didn't have the largest selection then. The other thing I was wondering relating to how they think is do they get used to humans? Do they know we are for not against them?

Its hard to say without knowing what goes on in their little heads, but it seems like as they get used to you, they recognize your scent and remember that the weird thing that smelled that funky hasn't eaten them yet It really is hard to say though!

Their sense of smell is highly developed. It's even sensitive enough for my crabs to know when I change out their water pools. I kid you not, I put the fresh water in and with in minutes several of my hermits will be out at the dishes. So, I don't think that it would be a stretch to say that they would be able to know the difference between a painted shell and a natural shell just simply based off of smell and perhaps be less inclined to choose the painted shells given a choice of readily available well fitting natural shells. I do think that they also have a good "eye" for shells that will fit them. For instance I had various types of odd ball shells on offer in my PP tank for several months and none of the crabs ever investigated them or shoed the least bit of interest in them but if a new turbo was placed in the tank they always showed a keen interest. Larger crabs will only very rarely investigate shells that are obviously too small for them as well. This is probably more instinctual than anything conscious though.

fraksocks wrote:Their sense of smell is highly developed. It's even sensitive enough for my crabs to know when I change out their water pools. I kid you not, I put the fresh water in and with in minutes several of my hermits will be out at the dishes. So, I don't think that it would be a stretch to say that they would be able to know the difference between a painted shell and a natural shell just simply based off of smell and perhaps be less inclined to choose the painted shells given a choice of readily available well fitting natural shells. I do think that they also have a good "eye" for shells that will fit them. For instance I had various types of odd ball shells on offer in my PP tank for several months and none of the crabs ever investigated them or shoed the least bit of interest in them but if a new turbo was placed in the tank they always showed a keen interest. Larger crabs will only very rarely investigate shells that are obviously too small for them as well. This is probably more instinctual than anything conscious though.

Oh I know they are great with smelling, I placed food in the tank and within seconds they were running to the dish!

In regards to intelligence, I have studied animal behavior (mostly ABA applied to captive parrots) but my mentor, Dr. Susan Friedman has referred to a study one of her past doctoral students conducted using land hermit crabs.

The result of this student's behavior study was that she was successfully able to teach the land hermit crabs to ring a bell for their food (this was in the 80s I believe). Dr. Friedman said (and I quote)..."If it can eat, it can learn" and then went on to refer to yet another study involving bacteria in a petrie dish (the bacteria learned to stay on one side of a petrie dish to move away from some deterrent that was introduced to the environment, and also learned to stay on one side where food was always introduced. We were discussing training methods ie intrinsic motivations/reward vs positive punishment).

So..yes I think crabs have a certain level of intelligence, and I agree with the other posts that depending on what shells are available, they will choose the most comfortable and/or protective regardless of whether it is painted.

What are thoughts made of?

How does one think about thinking without using what he uses to think to think about it?

beats me...