Telling Individuals Apart

[Teddscau]

So, I'm new to this whole hermit crab thing, and I was wondering how the heck I'm supposed to tell my hermit crabs apart. I mean, I can tell my budgies apart in the dark by just looking at their silhouettes, but how do you tell crabs apart? I currently have three hermit crabs, and I'm going to be adopting two more after they're done moulting at their current home. Basically, I'm going to have one small hermit (Oliver), and four hermits that are almost identical in size. How do you guys do it?

[C_fiesta]

I just have two right now. But I believe the general consensus is you don't. I think some have favorite spots, different activity levels, and different shells but all of those can change throughout their life.

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[Teddscau]

Nice -_-. Well, so far, we have Oliver who's small and is constantly on the go and is extremely confident, BG who spends 90% of their time hiding, and Kai who's terrified of me and is obsessed with shells (he changes his shell at least twice a day). Man, hopefully Kai is the only shell-obsessed one, so at least I'll be able to tell him apart from the rest :p. Honestly, he is OCD when it comes to shells. He's put all of the shells underneath the bridge in the terrarium, and he sits with them, caressing them and stuff (it's kind of creepy, to be honest). When he sees me coming, he freaking books it! :roll:

[cap7]

I can't tell them apart and don't try, I don't even try to name them. If they hold onto a certain shell for awhile that helps but as long as they are healthy that's all I need to know.


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[aussieJJDude]

You get use to it by judging markings, behaviour and personality (an extension of behaviour tbh, but kind of its own 'judging factor' in its own right). Takes a little time and some patience to watch them do their thing... similar to if you purchased all your budgies at the same time you may of got by with markings and colouration however, in time you begin to notice subtle differences like budgie A likes to sit with one foot tucked in while budgie B has a slightly larger crest.

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[Jellybean!]

For some reason (although I have 30+ turbos/babylonia/magpie etc.) my crabs hardly ever change shells! That's one easy way for me to know who is who. If I add new ones, they usually begin changing shells - but I'll know it's them for sure just because they're ACTUALLY changing shells. Lol. A lot of the time too with my new ones, I'll keep track by their behavior/coloring/size. For instance I have two almost identical larges, but I've figured out one likes to sit in the same spot for days while the other moves around. Also the one must have molted wrong in his old home and has a misshaped claw while the other is normal!

[GotButterflies]

I agree with AussieJJDude in the fact that behavior and personality is how you learn how to tell them apart. I have a lot of hermit crabs, and only a few have names. Those are the ones that I know their personalities It takes time!

[Teddscau]

Thanks guys! My dad picked up Kai's two other friends a week or so ago, and I was discouraged that I wouldn't be able to tell anyone apart. Then, Basil (he was the one who came with Oliver and was wearing a Babylonia shell) decided to change to an almost identical shell to what the two new guys are wearing (holy fudge, I can't believe how puny his old shell was!). Then Kai decided to wear an almost identical shell... Anyways, it turns out I can tell Oliver, Basil, and Kilimanjaro (largest new guy, and the largest guy in the terrarium) apart easily. I just have a bit of trouble with Kai and the smaller of the two new guys. However, tonight a hermit crab decided to get naked in front of me and put on a red turbo, so I figured that guy must be Kai . I mean, who else would expose himself in broad daylight to put on a new shell?

Anyways, Oliver is tiny, really active, social, male, and is orange and quite hairy. Basil is skittish, loves to hide in coconuts or under the substrate, and is a "raw" pink colour. Kai looks almost identical to the unnamed new guy, except he's obsessed with shells and is slightly more colourful, has some "scaling" on his legs, and is male (I think?). The unnamed guy is a drab grey colour, and Oliver likes to try to ride around on his shell. Last, Kilimanjaro is huge (at least compared to everyone else), has a huge claw, is incredibly strong, and is a male. I hope at least one of my crabs is female, since that'll be a sure fire way to tell them apart from the rest.

Hey, I know hermit crabs change colour as they age and depending on their diet, but do they stay relatively the same-ish colour and keep similar markings?

[GotButterflies]

Hermit crab coloring has more to do with what you feed them

[wodesorel]

Color has very very little to do with what they eat, each crab has its own coloration that changes over time during molts. I think it makes us feel better to think we have a hand in how they turn out, but crabs look like crabs wether they get pellets or all organic foods. (Will live longer with the latter of course!) Younger crabs are always paler, older crabs are always stronger, and crabs that haven't molted in a while get dusty looking.

Sometimes they can pop up with wildly different shades than what they went down with, like the time I ended up with a bright purple crab, and a hot pink crab, and one that was entirely fire engine red including the claw. But that tends to last a single molt and then they go back to looking normal. I have no idea how it happens.

I had a crab that was white when I adopted it. I mean, nearly snow white. I was freaking out about the color, thought maybe it was leucistic, it was a big crab. And she came up normal colored from her first molt even though she never ate for me. Still have no clue how or why.