HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i have 4 rugs and all of them behave differently. one is very shy and only comes out at night. whereas another one pinches me till my finger bleeds. the third one is very friendly and the fourth one is very active. are all your rug's behaviour the same or different? i haven't got a chance to observe the behaviour of other species as only rugs are allowed here.

I love Ruggies! I think they do have different personalities. Gemmie likes to hang out in the bottom of the tank by the heater, while Nibbles likes to hang out in the moss and look out at the world. But, in general, crabs seem to have different temperaments. Some come right out and look at you, some come out and try to pinch you, some come out slowly and are skittish, and I have a couple of PPs who choose shells that are so big for them that they can pull way down inside so you can hardly see them! I almost got two for free once that way (but I'm disgustingly honest).

Frankly, I've been nervous about handling my Rugs too much since my one really "friendly" Ruggie was brand-new molted, but we had her confused with a different crab and handled her and hand-fed her honey. Then she dug down a little and died. That was really traumatic for us all, so we've all been ruggie-shy since . But I really love the Rugs -- you're lucky to have them so available .

my rugs dont dig but like climbing a lot. what about yours? rugs are very easy to find here and occasionally another species gets mistaken for a rug and comes here too.my rugs are pink, black and greyish. actually coenobita cavipes can be found here in the wild too.

I think ALL crabs have different personalities

i only have 1 ruggie, but he is the biggest daredevil in the tank . he climbes up the back wall and hangs from one leg. he just changed into a shell to small. lol. he is skittish but very friendly

oh yes, ive had ruggies with all kinds of different personalities-shy ones, friendly ones, one who seems to think that theyre an E...

Caroline

They say rugs are sweeter than Es, but mine are all in one tank and as a group they seem similar, though my Es seem to dig a lot more just for the sake of digging . My rugs dig down for long periods for no apparent reason -- although I think they molt more than Es, which grow more slowly.

in the wild, rugs hide under leaf litter, maybe that is why your rug likes to dig. that is also why i dont put cocohuts in my tank. instead i provide a heap of coconut husks for them to dig and they like it a lot.