HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello all

Just out of curiosity, how does your "top crab" act? You know, the one at the top of the pecking order.

The top of my main tank's order is Settra. He's the smallest crab by a bit, but that doesn't seem to make much a difference. Other crabs follow him around when exploring a recently redecorated tank/new area.

If someone else takes his favorite spot he will NOT hesitate to climb on top of them (regardless of how many new/better spots I add he only wants that stupid whiskey barrel decoration).

He scales things far more often than the others.

Whenever I feed my cast they tend to duck and hide for a a few seconds... except Settra. He usually immediately runs toward my hand, and he is the only crab to pinch me. Twice now

And this is just an odd tidbit, but he will only wear green shells. Despite having a dozen options, it's always a green shell.


These are just a few weird quirks of my "top crab", and I just wanted to share them today in hopes of hearing how other crabs act in his position.

My first crab I got, Pine, is I think the biggest of the group and the top of the pecking order. She doesn't hide when I move stuff in the tank around, she loves to hang out with the other crabs, and I like to think she is their guardian of the colony. They all like to say hi to her and she has never shown any aggression over shells or food.

My top crab is Beau. I've had him for over 8 years now. He loves new friends. Whenever I bring in a new buddy, he has to check them out and follow them around. He's never been aggressive toward any of the newbies and seems to always enjoy a new friend. He bonded the most to one of my first rescues, Kaulder. But Beau doesn't mind any of the other crabbies hanging out or cuddling with him.

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It's so amazing how they make friends. I always find it so interesting.