Crab grabbing onto other’s shell and holding on

Where we discuss the behavior of our hermit crabs, as in fights, pecking orders, shell swaps, etc. Please post all naked-crab posts in the Emergency forum.
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DragonsFly
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Re: Crab grabbing onto other’s shell and holding on

Post by DragonsFly » Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:01 am

Upgrading to a larger space may help them to feel less compressed, but again, adding new members to an established pair or group in captivity will always cause upheavals no matter how large their habitat is. Sometimes they will re-establish new patterns of interaction and re-stabilize, sometimes you may end up with intractable problems between certain members that can only be solved by separation. Still, bigger is always better for wild animals in captivity (as long as the "bigger" habitat is still high-quality, with all the resources they need), so if you can upgrade to a bigger tank, that is always a great thing for them. Remember, even if your crabitat was as big as a whole room, it would still be a confined space for wild animals built to wander for miles every night on a whole island.
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Hollym2247
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Re: Crab grabbing onto other’s shell and holding on

Post by Hollym2247 » Fri Jul 16, 2021 1:38 pm

DragonsFly wrote:Upgrading to a larger space may help them to feel less compressed, but again, adding new members to an established pair or group in captivity will always cause upheavals no matter how large their habitat is. Sometimes they will re-establish new patterns of interaction and re-stabilize, sometimes you may end up with intractable problems between certain members that can only be solved by separation. Still, bigger is always better for wild animals in captivity (as long as the "bigger" habitat is still high-quality, with all the resources they need), so if you can upgrade to a bigger tank, that is always a great thing for them. Remember, even if your crabitat was as big as a whole room, it would still be a confined space for wild animals built to wander for miles every night on a whole island.
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They seem settled in again and clustering up like a functional colony. I’m looking into a bigger set up, but it would be so much work and space.


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Hollym2247
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Re: Crab grabbing onto other’s shell and holding on

Post by Hollym2247 » Fri Jul 16, 2021 2:40 pm

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KyMart
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Re: Crab grabbing onto other’s shell and holding on

Post by KyMart » Fri Jun 30, 2023 12:53 am

DragonsFly wrote:
Tue Jul 13, 2021 8:58 am
If there's no aggression happening, it looks most like mating behavior--Stripes trying to keep any other males from getting to Teeny. As long as Teeny is able to get food and water, I'd just let it go. And if it is mating behavior, you can congratulate yourself on having very good conditions! :)
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I have 5 PPs in a 40 gallon breeder!
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