HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Well whenever I get new crabs, I just plop 'em in and let 'em duke it out. I haven't had any problems with anyone not getting along as far as I can tell (I've only ever had one crab killed and I THINK that was over a shell) but I guess if they really don't get along, you give 'em their own tank unless the tank's so big it doesn't matter. As for who to add to my tank, I just go for the healthiest, most active crabs I can find.

I've only had to remove a new crab once because he was repeatedly, and I'm still what caused that issue.

The rest of the time I have added a crab to an existing crabitat without any complications.

I just got 2 more crabs today actually, and i just check for mites and if they look fine, i plop them into the tank with everyone.

I just look for any signs of sickness or signs of mites and if there are none I just let them go in the tank. My crabs get along fine, but I did have to split up a fight over a shell in my cousin's crabitat because I gave her new shells for them and they all wanted the SAME one. Destructor (they are class pets named by the kids lol there's even a Black Ops in the tank) managed to get into it first and so I just took the crab out and held him for a while so he would stop being a bully while the rest shopped around. I put him back and he seemed to have chilled out and wasn't so aggressive anymore.

I let them eat themselves silly for a day or two and let them have a huge selection of shells to themselves so they can find something good, and then they go right into main tank. Whenever I would just toss them in the new crabs would often try to rip my existing crabs out of their shells, or pull off legs to eat out of desperation. A full belly and a comfortable shell contributes to crabitat nirvana.

I only had issues once with a very small PP that was extremely aggressive to me and the other crabs, but after a few weeks by herself she calmed down enough to put with the others. She was one of the ones abandoned at the shelter, so I have no idea what her backstory was other than there was a bunch of crab parts in the tank with her and her five tankmates. Only two of them surived more than a couple of months, one of which was her! I think she just needed time to eat and recover her senses before she was able to be a normal crab again.

When I had overcrowded my Es (without knowing at the time they were overcrowded), I did rehome three medium males to another member here since they weren't getting along and it was getting dangerous. From what I was told they did great at their new home, and my tank went back to normal. I do think it was just that there were too many in too small a space, and that was what caused the problem in the first place.

I let them eat and sit in iso for a little bit to check for any health issues before letting them in the main tank. Though I haven't had to get new crabbies for a long time. I've only ever had problems once, and that was when everyone was figuring out the tank pecking order.

I'm adopting in 10 more crabs to add to my existing 8 in the morning.

Basically what I'm going to do (and what I always do) is put them in a container with a dry paper towel in the bottom (usually some kind of large bowl or cake pan type thing). I get a salt water bath ready and put them one at a time in the water and let them walk around a bit. Then I move them to the paper towel and look for bugs. If I don't see any, they get put into a bowl that has a little food and some shells for about an hour - maybe two depending on if I find them eating or shell shopping.

After an hour when I check on them, whoever is just wandering about or just sitting there gets put in the main tank to duke it out for dominance. Anyone found eating or checking out shells gets left until they're done, then they go in the tank.

They always have little antenna "fights" to determine hierarchy within the tank, but I never have any issues.

I also make sure to feed a nice big variety of food the day I get new crabs.

Totally forgot to mention that the shoving and feeler fights are normal. These guys calmed down after a couple of hours, and they've been great together for two and a half months!

When I add new crabs I give them a bath in salt water place them in a Tupperware container with a towel to dry off and put a ton off shells in there and once they dry off a bit I put them into an iso tank with a huge variety of food, shells and both water bowls, climbing stuff etc. for a few days and whoever hasn't dug down I then add to the main tank. Whoever did dig down I wait until they're back up and running and then add to the main tank.

I have nothing to add to this since I'm pretty new to crabbing, but I just wanted to say that this is all really great information. I'm glad I read the thread

wodesorel wrote:Totally forgot to mention that the shoving and feeler fights are normal. These guys calmed down after a couple of hours, and they've been great together for two and a half months!

Yep.

The only crab fight I ever broke up was when one crab was chasing the other around the crabitat at high speed.

wodesorel wrote:I let them eat themselves silly for a day or two and let them have a huge selection of shells to themselves so they can find something good, and then they go right into main tank. Whenever I would just toss them in the new crabs would often try to rip my existing crabs out of their shells, or pull off legs to eat out of desperation. A full belly and a comfortable shell contributes to crabitat nirvana.

That is excellent advice wodes! I haven't given a lot of thought to intro problems or aggression between crabs in a colony since I've never had an issue with it myself (knock on wood). Any time I've added new crabs to an existing colony, they're given a saltwater bath, checked for mites as much as possible, and then put into the main tank. But I can definitely see where a very hungry crab and/or one in an uncomfortable shell, would do things like trying to rip another crab out of its shell (which as humans, many people would interpret as aggression), when in reality, they're doing what seems necessary for survival instinctively. They don't know that there are actually an abundance of empty shells available in their new, strange environment to choose from, or that food (and not just the commercial petstore pellets either!) is going to be available at pretty much all times. Giving a new crab the opportunity to eat however much it wants from a variety of foods (I'd especially be sure a couple of good high-protein choices were made available also) and given a wide variety of appropriately sized shells to inspect and choose to change into if it wants to, is going to benefit any new crab (or at least not be detrimental in any way), but this could make a huge difference with ones that you either already know were not being kept in appropriate conditions or you don't have any information regarding its prior care at all as far as it being able to peacefully integrate into a colony.