HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I currently have a tank with 8 medium crabs. They are all fairly similar in size. I am considering getting a teeny crab, but would this is be a good idea? Would the tiny crab be liable to be bullied by the large ones?

Most fights between crabs start over picking shells the same size. A smaller crab will have smaller shells compared to you larger sized crabs.

When you introduce a new crab it is always best to dip them in your fresh water pool so they don't smell like an intruder.

Crabs will also bat antennas at each other and create their own line of dominance. It's natural. Just keep an eye on him so other crabs don't try to climb on him and shell locks. That usually happens when a crab was that shell.

How large is your tank?

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As long as the tank is large enough to support new additions, more crabs are fine. As for size differences, half the time I feel they couldn't care less.

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I personally have had tiny, medium, and large crabs together in the same tank with no problem. They've grown so much this past year or so that I feel like I now have two jumbos, a large, and a medium coexisting peacefully.

Only incident I've had with a small/tiny crab is back when I first got my crabs. My parents sent me a picture of my large crab while I was at work saying it looked very strange. It hanging out of its shell a bit but I couldn't actually make out much from the picture. So I finally get home and about died laughing; my small crab somehow managed to bully the large crab, which was a good 5in bigger, out of its shell. The poor big guy could only fit the end of his abdomen in the smaller shell. Placed him in a box where he quickly picked a shell that actually fit and the little bully struggled to move for a full day before giving up and taking it's small shell back.