HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Queen Peaches is a large crab that I've had for almost 5 years now. A year after I got her, I noticed that anytime I would do a deep clean, I would find empty shells of my little guys under the sand. It got to the point where I only had 2 crabs left ( Her and another large crab). So 3 of my small guys had vanished. I believe she has been eating my little guys when they go down to molt. I know that generally, a lack of protein and calcium can cause cannibalism. I always have egg shells and a cuttlebone in the tank and offer protein at every meal, so I don't think that is the issue. I also know that crabs give off a scent when molting. Just wondering if you guys have any advice or experience with your bigger crabs hunting the little ones? She is definitely a dominant crab and just recently I moved my 4 small crabs into the big tank with her. I'm a bit nervous.

Thanks everyone!

How large is your tank and how deep is the substrate?

40 gallon breeder with 12 inches of substrate on 3/4 of the tank and then it slopes down to about 8 inches where the water dishes are.

I am planning on doing a deep clean next week. It's been over a year since I've done it. I think I'm just going to make the substrate 12 inches everywhere to give them the max amount of room to dig/molt.

So she only has 4 inches to move around at the top? She is probably extremely bored!! Crabs can get cabin fever from cramped conditions, and it causes them to act unnaturally.

Don't forget, they're also climbers.

That makes sense. I do have cholla in the shallow end that goes to the top, but it's not easy with such a short tank. I'm considering a topper. Thanks for the advice guys, I'll work on adding more things for them to climb on and rearranging the tank!

If you can find one cheap and/or used, the medium exo-terra fits perfectly on top a 40!

Thank you so much for letting me know!!! I'll try and find one

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk