HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Dominance. When a Crab takes charge. Sure, they can get aggressive. But Still, it can create Colonies. Alpha Males, Alpha Females, it can also create things like crabs doing trust building exercises.
Any who, is it good? Sure, the Alpha Male and Female might eat most of the food. But still, it can create a good, calm Crabitat in the long run. And maybe crabs won't disturb Molters. i don't know. it seems ok. Butit can end ugly sometimes.

I've written an article on this in my blog. Take a look in my signature.

I'm too Lazy

Alright, then why did you post the question?

I don't know

Um, wow.. I try and turn this thread around for the better.. I believe dominance, in a healthy sort of pecking order sort of way, is awesome!

let's not get out of hand.

dominance is healthy, but until it gets agressive. I would check out Kili's artical, good stuff man.

What do you mean by 'dominance'? It's a pretty strong word. While I agree with most people that there's an alpha crab and to a small degree there's a pecking order. But I'm not too sure about what you're saying.

Your tank will be happier if you let your crabs establish their natural pecking order. It's rarely actually violent. Usually all that is needed is some waving of the antennae and some shoving and it's all good.

I have to agree with Lola and Grammarcia...dominance is a strong word.
Compared to the way some other animals fight for "alpha", hermies are pretty mild. A couple of antenna waves and all is right.
I've seen chickens pick each other bloody, seen 2 male dogs go at it to almost death. I've never seen an actual hermit crab fight.

I agree with the above, the "fights" are usually mild, and not actually fights at all. Antennae wiggling, maybe a little chirping.

Just yesterday night I had a perfect example of a pecking order establishment. My Viola, Ryukyu, was on top of a piece of wood. My little E, Pompeii, tried to climb around the wood, but Ryukyu got mad and tried to keep Pompeii away.

Then, there was some chirping (I think it came from Ryukyu as a signal to stay away) and Pompeii finally left. :roll:

'Dominance' is not the same as aggression as most people here know. In fact, I think it is important to let your crabs establish a 'pecking order within your colony, with larger crabs typically being at the top. Crabs do this in the wild so why not let them do it in captivity?

If you have a stable social order in your tank I have found it actually to reduce aggression rather than increase it. This is because crabs that show signs of aggressive behavior (typically new crabs added to the tank) I think are trying to find there place in the colony, which they seem to do within a week or two. Generally, the largest crabs are at the the top, the benefits being first dibs on food and shell choices. Thus, I think it is actually a good idea when getting your first crabs to get them at slightly varying sizes.

So yes, YAY to dominance!

I agree with Silent Protagonist- Dominance and Aggression are not the same. To me, Dominant means it wants to be on top of the pack, the leader, the one to eat first, get the best sleeping spots, the best shells etc...


I hear it all the times with dogs. People saying their dog is aggressive when really it's just trying to establish it's place in the pack (including it's human pack). I have a dominant ****. She's very much the Alpha dog and no one ever challenges her. She's NEVER aggressive, she doesn't HAVE to be. She can utter one low growl and give a look and the other dogs give her the respect, let her have her way. She plays well with pretty much every dog she meets, but when she tells them it's her toy, or her food, or they're being a bit too rowdy for her they immediately listen.

Granted, it's a bit different with Crabs I imagine though I know a few people have what sure sounds like a truly aggressive crab- I think Mama Zelly's Tallulah is a bit aggressive, and their's 2 indos in the adoption post that sound pretty aggressive. But I think MOST times the crabs shove each other a bit, yell at each other with their feelers and chirps.

Agreed. There Pack animals and they have the head honcho, who's the oldest and biggest most of the time. and it kinda goes from there. If you can make Captivity close to what it's like in the wild It can help lower stress...heck, they even might THINK there in the wild....Remeber, Hermit crabs can travel in a pack of like, a hundred. and that works well don't it? so a small pack of 10 should be ok. so YAY to having crabs try to be the ''head honcho''.

That's MY OPINION anyways...

Now if it gets aggressive, like, limbs flying around and stuff then yeah. seperate them. but really, leave them be.

we know. a crab most likely knows its in captivity, but can adapt. they are very smart for crustaceans. they seems to be able to live with it. i always feel guilty about owning crabs, but at least i know they are not with someone who will hurt them.