QuestionHello! I recently purchased two hermit crabs (I've had them before, but not for awhile). They seemed to get along great, slept next to each other in their little hut in their enclosure.
I put in a bunch of shells for them to pick from if they needed a new one (I noticed one was a little big for his shell). The next morning he had moved into a new shell. About two days later, the other crab stopped sleeping in the little hut. A few days after that I noticed that he had lost his big claw. I read several posts on this site, and I hoped that the limb would grow back when he molted. Unfortunately, I woke up last night to discover that they had swapped shells, and that the one who had lost the limb wasn't looking so good. This morning he was very much dead.
Will they fight over shells? They were almost the same size, and the one that had moved to begin with seemed fine in his new shell for a couple of days. Is he just aggressive maybe?
And I know they're social animals, but in this case should I just leave him by himself in the enclosure for awhile?
AnswerDear Suzanne,
thank you for your question.
Sometimes a crab falls in love with a particular shell and will fight another crab for it. That's rare, though, usually they are not aggressive and as long as you provide them with enough shells, they will get along fine.
I don't think that the surviving crab is really aggressive and he should have company. If you want to make sure that there are no more shell fights, get crabs that are not the same size. Small and big crabs can get along very well.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
