URGENT: I need advice on an aggressive crab situation...
Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2022 12:22 am
Hi all,
On Monday, I had to completely change out the substrate in my tank due to a flood and the fact that I had two dead crabs in my crabitat (from PPS). This was an emergency situation, so I had to dig up one molter, Raisin. Raisin was initially purchased with my other three crabs in late March and he didn't go down to molt until the beginning of June, the other three went down to molt immediately after purchase. Only one survived that molt and is named Kiwi. So, Raisin was all by himself for about 2 months and then he went down to molt and while he was molting Kiwi came up from his molt and was then the sole crab roaming the tank. Now back to this past Monday when I was changing out the substrate. I had removed Kiwi and found Raisin who was finished with his molt and his new exoskeleton was already pretty hardened up, he really only has a very slight white sheen to him. I then removed Raisin and dug up the 2 other dead crabs and changed out the substrate. I then placed both Raisin and Kiwi back in the tank and expected everything to be fine.
Now last night, I was about to go to bed and I heard a crashing sound and I went over to the tank and saw Kiwi on top of poor Raisin and he was locked onto his shell. Kiwi was shell rocking Raisin and eventually Raisin completely abandoned his shell and nakedly hid in the corner. I tried to get Kiwi to let go of the stolen shell, but he wouldn't, so I put him and the stolen shell in a tupperware container with holes poked in the top, so that I could deal with the more urgent problem of having a naked crab. I got Raisin in another tupperware container with several shells and some water and then I wrapped it in a towel, so he could have some darkness. He thankfully reshelled quickly which was a relief. Kiwi had now changed into the shell he stole from Raisin and I put him back in the tank. He was frantically searching around for Raisin (I think?) and would not calm down. I've never seen anything like it. It was 2 am at that point and I was very worried for Raisin's safety if I were to put him back in the tank with Kiwi. I decided to put both of them in tupperware containers overnight, so that I knew for a fact they could not hurt eachother. Then this morning I let them both out and they slept all day with no problems. Now this evening I knew I needed to watch them closely just incase Kiwi got aggressive again and he did just that. Raisin woke up at some point and came out of his hiding spot and Kiwi kept lunging at him and the Raisin would scurry away back into the corner, like he had gotten the message and just wanted to be left alone. This happened twice. Kiwi was guarding one specific shell, so I thought that might be the problem. I removed the shell and then eventually Kiwi went quickly over to the corner where Raisin was hiding, unprovoked, and started to get aggressive again, grabbing onto Raisin. I intervened straight away as I was watching them closely. I put Kiwi (the aggressor) in an ISO tank with several shells, including his old one that he was wearing before the shell jacking, eggs for some protein, and both types of water. He is now going back and forth between his old shell and the jacked shell and will not stop. It's just back and forth and back and forth. He seems to have absolutely no interest in food or water, only those two specific shells. I had 20 shells in the larger crabitat for him to choose from and he was only interested in those two.
I am at a loss for what is going on between these two crabs. I've seemingly tried everything, separating them, two separate food dishes, giving loads more shells to choose from, serving several types of protein incase that's the issue, they're in a 30 gallon tank, so they have plenty of room. Could it be because Raisin had to be dug up from his molt and now Kiwi is trying to attack him? Should I put Raisin in the ISO tank for awhile until he seems stronger? or is Kiwi just a super aggressive crab? It seems to me that it's not only Kiwi trying to assert dominance, it's aggressive bullying and I'm worried he may kill or seriously injure Raisin if I just let nature run its course. Any suggestions on what to do in this situation? I know hermit crabs are not inherently aggressive by nature, but I don't know what else could be wrong in the environment for Kiwi to be attacking Raisin like this. Any advice will help. Thank you so much.
On Monday, I had to completely change out the substrate in my tank due to a flood and the fact that I had two dead crabs in my crabitat (from PPS). This was an emergency situation, so I had to dig up one molter, Raisin. Raisin was initially purchased with my other three crabs in late March and he didn't go down to molt until the beginning of June, the other three went down to molt immediately after purchase. Only one survived that molt and is named Kiwi. So, Raisin was all by himself for about 2 months and then he went down to molt and while he was molting Kiwi came up from his molt and was then the sole crab roaming the tank. Now back to this past Monday when I was changing out the substrate. I had removed Kiwi and found Raisin who was finished with his molt and his new exoskeleton was already pretty hardened up, he really only has a very slight white sheen to him. I then removed Raisin and dug up the 2 other dead crabs and changed out the substrate. I then placed both Raisin and Kiwi back in the tank and expected everything to be fine.
Now last night, I was about to go to bed and I heard a crashing sound and I went over to the tank and saw Kiwi on top of poor Raisin and he was locked onto his shell. Kiwi was shell rocking Raisin and eventually Raisin completely abandoned his shell and nakedly hid in the corner. I tried to get Kiwi to let go of the stolen shell, but he wouldn't, so I put him and the stolen shell in a tupperware container with holes poked in the top, so that I could deal with the more urgent problem of having a naked crab. I got Raisin in another tupperware container with several shells and some water and then I wrapped it in a towel, so he could have some darkness. He thankfully reshelled quickly which was a relief. Kiwi had now changed into the shell he stole from Raisin and I put him back in the tank. He was frantically searching around for Raisin (I think?) and would not calm down. I've never seen anything like it. It was 2 am at that point and I was very worried for Raisin's safety if I were to put him back in the tank with Kiwi. I decided to put both of them in tupperware containers overnight, so that I knew for a fact they could not hurt eachother. Then this morning I let them both out and they slept all day with no problems. Now this evening I knew I needed to watch them closely just incase Kiwi got aggressive again and he did just that. Raisin woke up at some point and came out of his hiding spot and Kiwi kept lunging at him and the Raisin would scurry away back into the corner, like he had gotten the message and just wanted to be left alone. This happened twice. Kiwi was guarding one specific shell, so I thought that might be the problem. I removed the shell and then eventually Kiwi went quickly over to the corner where Raisin was hiding, unprovoked, and started to get aggressive again, grabbing onto Raisin. I intervened straight away as I was watching them closely. I put Kiwi (the aggressor) in an ISO tank with several shells, including his old one that he was wearing before the shell jacking, eggs for some protein, and both types of water. He is now going back and forth between his old shell and the jacked shell and will not stop. It's just back and forth and back and forth. He seems to have absolutely no interest in food or water, only those two specific shells. I had 20 shells in the larger crabitat for him to choose from and he was only interested in those two.
I am at a loss for what is going on between these two crabs. I've seemingly tried everything, separating them, two separate food dishes, giving loads more shells to choose from, serving several types of protein incase that's the issue, they're in a 30 gallon tank, so they have plenty of room. Could it be because Raisin had to be dug up from his molt and now Kiwi is trying to attack him? Should I put Raisin in the ISO tank for awhile until he seems stronger? or is Kiwi just a super aggressive crab? It seems to me that it's not only Kiwi trying to assert dominance, it's aggressive bullying and I'm worried he may kill or seriously injure Raisin if I just let nature run its course. Any suggestions on what to do in this situation? I know hermit crabs are not inherently aggressive by nature, but I don't know what else could be wrong in the environment for Kiwi to be attacking Raisin like this. Any advice will help. Thank you so much.