Help! Aggression, Dominance or fighting?!

[Pixilocks]

Okay so I am new to Crabbing I have 6 pps - 3 currently under and 3 above ground.

Im getting a little worried every time one of my crabs see each other the have feeler fights/ lunge at each other?! (Ive had them 1 Month and a half) They all keep to separate parts of the tank but when they do see each other its normally the same.. They dont ever run for each other if they do see another crab, it always happens if they just happen to come across each other when walking about the tank or near food.

Ive read that feeler fights are a sign of dominance but is it normal for them to be so aggressive? They haven't done anything worse then lunge but im so scared that none of them get along or that it will progress further?

Any advice whats normal/whats not?

Thanks so much!

[Crabinski]

Felix (my pale avatar crab) is the undisputed "King of the Tank," has lived with as many as four other crabs at once for the past 7 years and his current three tank mates for at least a year but still gets in the face of the others on a daily basis. He can be walking past one of the others, no food or deluxe perching spot involved, and will turn towards the other crab, lean in and start waving his antenna, often accompanied by little shoves with his BP, until the other backs up a "safe" distance or departs the scene. Heaven help the other three if Felix gets to the food dish first --- even Big Enzo has to take a back seat. Mr Pinch acts as Felix's toady: if Felix is sleeping in the moss pit or up in the netting, Mr Pinch will take over antenna-waving duties but will back up himself once Felix appears. Fortunately, poor little Charles Paris and Big Enzo pal around together so no one is an outcast.

[Crabber85]

Hermitcrabs actually exchange a lot of information through the pheromones that they secrete from their antenna, body posturing and antenna movements such as age, gender, readiness for breeding, food and water locations, shell locations and what species they are.

They also do a lot of verbal communicating through chirps and chortles, chirps are typically done in short rapid successions and chortles are long slow drawn out vocalizations.

Chirps are typically done to communicate the location of food, water or shells by alerting the other members of the colony that something interesting and useful has been found.

Chortles are reserved more for emergency situations where the crab who is being bullied will sound off to let the aggressor know hey I don't like this or if they are angry about something.

Chirps have been heard coming from hermitcrabs who'd become stuck and were trying to get help S.O.S fashion this style of chirp is very frantic and is highly distinguishable from the normal hey I found something chirps.

It's likely that your crabs are just exchanging useful information between themselves and using these moments of interaction to bond and establish connections relating to pecking order and group structuring.

Hermitcrabs have to really trust a newly introduced member to the group in order to allow them into the inner circle as it were which is why those of us who've had the same hermitcrabs for several years are viewed as members of the group which allows the crabs to be less fearful of us as time goes by until they actually come to us when they see us because they are no longer viewing us as outsiders.

It's a subject of debate as to whether the long term crabs have just learned to accept us because they see us a way to get food or if they are really trusting of us or if its a mix of both.

[RiannaPerryMullins]

I'm having the same problem. I have 2 hermies and one just surfaced from burying itself for a couple of weeks. I put them in a bath so that any dirt and strange smells get off of them, and they started fighting when I put them in the bath...

I need help too...PLEASE!