HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So Piper was climbing around the upper hammock last night, waving his antenna and tapping on the glass. He must be getting more comfortable because he didn't hide or withdraw when I came in and stood next to the tank to watch.




But then he peeled the suction cup off the tank wall while he was hanging from it. He bounced off the white wire and moss platform and then bounced down onto the substrate below.

You can just barely make out his shell through the black mesh in the lower right hand corner of the tank.


A different angle, he basically went from the upper left part of the picture, rode the hammock corner down to the moss platform, and then bounced down to the substrate in the lower right.

He seemed ok afterwards, and I saw more havoc and dismounted suction cups this morning, so I'm not too worried.

My question is, should I be? Does this situation pose a hazard to the crabs? He seems to love getting the tips of his legs under the edge of the suction cups and pulling them off. He didn't seem to be hurt, but is this likely to cause an injury if I keep these installed as they are where they are?

Advise and comments appreciated.

He should be fine. A few inch drop onto the sand won't easily hurt them. If he fell off a table onto a hard surface then you might worry

Mine take headers from my 2.5 foot tall tank all the time and are okay. He'll be fine!

(Side note - how much substrate is in there? It's a little hard to tell, but it seems shallow?)

It's just 6" Wodesorel, you're not the only one who's caught that. I still have someone molting, (I hope, it's been awhile now) when he comes back up I'll probably add a few more inches the next time I do a big clean out.

Sorry. Didn't see the other conversations! Just wanted to be sure.

Mine take tumbles all the time. I admit I get worried to, but I'm sure all is fine. I believe the worst could be them cracking their shell, but it would have to be from a really high point to a really hard surface. Like what hernitcrabdc mentioned.
It funny he keeps doing it. Depending on how many times he has done it, do you think they would learn the cause and effect to some degree? Lol maybe he thinks it's a thrill, like a roller coaster. Hahaha that would be funny!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G925A using Tapatalk