HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Now that the pipe dream of breeding crabs in captivity is becoming a reality (we hope) what will these new crabs be like?

Since they will be brought up in optimum condition from zoeae to land crabs, would there be any differences in their needs and behavior?

Would they still have Post Purchase Syndrome?

How about distressing when introduced to a new environment, but one that would be almost exactly the same as the one they left?

Now they pull into their shells when they see a shadow or a person come near because they equate it to a predator. If they never have to dodge a predator, would they still hole up in their shells?

If they don’t have to search for their shells, would there be any shell fights?

If they don’t know that there’s a world out there, would they think the world was the inside of a tank and not try to escape?

Now they will walk miles looking for food and shells, which is why we believe they need as much room in their tank as possible. If they are brought up from birth in a restricted space, could you put more crabs into a tank than is currently advised?

How would being bred in captivity affect moulting, life span and growth?

I don't think that breeding in captivity would affect any of those things, except post purchase stress (and that only because they wouldn't necessarily need to be shipped in those horrible conditions).

whats important to remember is that a hermit crab, for the most part, is acting the most time upon instinct, and instinct that would not go away with a couple generations of breeding in captivity. they have the instinct to fight to steal shells if needed (but if not needed, it can lay dormant), and the instinct to try and escape a tank.

all that captive breeding will do, in my opinion, is make the purchase of a hermit crab much like adopting a crab from a well-established crabber. any advance in life expectancy or growth, in my opinion, will result from their good care in captivity, not on whether they are born in captivity or not. they will still have the instincts that have helped them survive for hundreds of thousands of years. these instincts are what makes certain crabs terratorial, so no, more crabs couldn't be fit into the same container.

hmmm....i think my answer is a bit confusing, so ill state it in another way, answering each of your questions in turn:

-any difference in needs and behavior: nope, biologically they still need the same nutrients, care, etc. and their behavior will be just as it would if they had been in captivity (born in the natural world) for a prolonged period of time and had gone accustomed to such treatment.

-will they have PPS? no, but thats just because they won't go through the horrific trauma of being shipped en masse. if you took a captive breed crab and shipped them in such conditions, he would exhibit PPS. its a reaction to events.

-destressing time less? well, if they go to and from identical enviroments, yes. but this would also be true if you adopted a naturally born hermit from an established crabber.

-will they still hole up in their shells? yes, its instinct that has helped them survive, as a species, and prospore. such instinct would take many many generations to counteract.

-change in shell fights? there is still going to be the instinct to take that perfect shell if they see it, so just like normal crabs, an adequate selection will help. but if the captive bred hermits were placed in an enviroment with no extra shells, they would engage in shell fights just like their naturally born kin.

-fit more in a tank? nope, there is still the terretorial instinct, as well as the danger of a crab, in normal daily activities, digging up a molter if there isnt adequate space.

-affect molting, life span, and growth? perhaps, but only in that they would not have gone through horrific trauma. take captive-born hermits and subject them to pet store treatment, and youd get the same effect. its all about how well they have been cared for, and not where/how they were born.

these are just my opinions. this is such an interesting topic, i am interested to see what others think! props for thinking of this Grammarcia .

Caroline

youre right, its hard to know exactly. now, im the kind of crabber who talks baby talk to their crabs, has discussions with them, loves them to death, delights in all their achievement. however, although i respect and love this animal, its, biologically speaking, a fairly simple creature. i think that there is a tendency, since hermit crabs are pets, to naturally think of them as smart (i know i do). but think about this: if we were talking about a lobster, whose probably along the same lines in intelligence/mental capacity, would you think much of their "memory" and ability to process information and experiences? this leads me to believe that most of what hermits do are caused by instinct.

Caroline

eck, didnt see the second part of your question!

my answer to that would be that a hermit, captive-born or wild-bred, would only travel so far as needed to meet their basic needs. but if you put the captive crab in a situation where he did need to travel more than 2 feet, instinct would compell him to.

Caroline

I agree with Caroline, a crab wouldn't lose it's basic instincts. Heck, even cats and dogs still have their basic instincts, and they are much more developed intellectually than a crab. For example, cats will still chase birds/squirrels/rats/etc to eat/play with like feral cats do. Even if they do come from a well established home and have been captive for thousands of years, they simply can't shut off instinct. No animal can, not even humans (do you feel sleepy when it's raining out? have a fear of spiders/snakes/heights/lightning? all those are instinct). So, I think the only thing captive breeding will guarantee, once it's perfected, is a higher success rate. More eggs will make it to maturity so there will be a larger population of crabs to choose from and thus eliminating the need to capture crabs in the wild.

Lindsay

Especially since we're talking about invertebrates here, most of their behaviors are "hard wired" as it were.....You might have a very different molting/breeding cycle since they've never been exposed to the natural cycle of the year so their bodies wouldn't "know" when it was spring/fall whatever......but that's about the only difference you'd likely see....