Oh NO!!! :( :( :(

<longrlbabble>
For Christmas I got two hermit crabs. One was small and hung out in a white shell. The other was big and hung out in a green shell.

They're so cute!

But they didn't seem to be eating as often as they should have been. I found one or two legs in the cage and read that that was a sign of malnourishment. I looked up information last night and found that that a kind of hermit crab anorexia could be caused by stress, namely from giving them a bath. (I had given them a bath about fifteen minutes prior to reading this.)

The white one wasn't moving as much, either, and one friend thought it was funny to repeatedly tell me that the white one was dead. The white one's legs were out so I poked to see if there'd be a flinch; there was none. I put it in the tank anyway hoping it'd move or something.

And it did! It was very alive. But I picked it up and looked at it and realized something was wrong because its eyes were close together (usually they're moving around like antennae). I was pretty upset and thought it'd die, so I just left it in the cage. The green one went up to the white one and poked at it with its claw. How sad! I thought.

I woke up this morning and just recently looked at the cage, and the unthinkable occured. Everything I had believed about the illness of the white shelled hermit crab was wrong!!! The two nameless hermit crabs were apparently at odds with eachother. The green one pulled the white one out of its shell, and now it sits in the food bowl shelless. There are other shells for it to go into, but hermit crabs are not supposed to be out of their shells--talk about a shitty situation for the white one. Worse off, the green one, despite being enormous and way too big for the small white shell, is latched onto the white shell and is moving in!!! The white one still sits and I can't even look at it. I'm making the roommate take care of the hermit crabs until some sense of normalcy returns. The green one, now migrating into the white shell, has appropriately been named the Angel of Death.


</longrlbabble>

What's the other one named?

Neither had a name until the incident; the small/white one has no name currently...

I looked on a site and it said to take the naked hermit crab, dip it in dechlorinated water to clean it off, and then isolate it with its shell. Apparently this whole fiesta has been the result of a shell fight, but the green one literally had a 0% of ever getting into the small white shell. So we were able to separate the green one from the shell and after so much self-coaxing I dipped the naked hermit crab into the water and I have it isolated now with its shell. It's suggested that I could unwrap the hermit crab's tail and help it into the shell, but my fingers are so figidy when I hold small things (it's weird) and the hermit crab is tiny. Worse, I'm really nervous touching a naked hermit crab, especially since it has that "huge claw" and all (I've never been bit, these are my first hermit crabs, so I'm terrified of being pinched, hehe)... Oh yeah, remember when I mentioned the green one was pushing around the white one? Check this out:

http://www.rsf.k12.ca.us/Grades/Gradek/Birch/hermitcrabs.html

You know you got a kick out of that. Okay, there, I'm smiling again. But since I can't unwrap the hermit crab's tail and put it in its shell, it's up to it to get itself in its shell. Le sigh. Can you imagine this is the highlight of my college life so far this semester?

Perhaps if you got more shells, so they have a choice.

I wonder if there are used shell shops

Stores definitely sell shells. But there are like 4 shells in the container so stealing the smallest dude's shell was totally not an act of necessity--it was just being a bully.

The small one still has not gone into a shell. It's tipped over and moving very, very slowly. Le sigh, I think he threw in the towel. What an awful way to go!

Maybe he's just taking a nap

It's just pining for the fjords ..

May I suggest naming them Oscar and Felix?

That's so sad! I would suggest getting some more shells so they might have a choice...

And just to be a jackass, normalcy isn't a word. It's not personal, honest!

I had a similar situation. I had a total of 6 of these things over a several year period. here is what I figured out:

Hermit crabs are territorial. The books I've checked say they are not, the people at the store say they are not, but I'm pretty sure they are.

I base this on years of keeping tropical fishes of various kinds. At the peak of my fish keeping days I had a 60 gallon tank full of African Ciclids (I've forgotten if that is the proper spelling). At the fish store you will often see hundreds of these in one tank. Take ten of them home and put them in a similarly large tank though and you have a war on your hands. Basically, when the conditions are so over crowded that none of them can carve out a territory they just swim around constantly and at most nip at one another randomly. Drop the population down to the point where they can pick out a spot and thats exactly what they do. Once the spot has been chosen they defend it ferociously. They also attempt to extend their territory as much as possible. In the wild these fish can stake out a circle of several meters in diameter, so in a home aquarium one fish that is a bit larger/faster/smarter, or just more aggressive than the others will quickly get the idea that the whole tank should belong to him (generally its the males that do most of the damage to one another).

Hermit crabs behave much the same from what I've seen. The store where I got mine is walking distance from here so I've been there many times. They keep them cooped up with hundreds of them in a small space, so that they are literally on top of one another. I noticed they do keep them arranged by size however, with at least three tanks of small medium and large.

When I got mine (just two at first) they were both medium sized, but one was a bit larger. the smaller one died fairly quickly and I figured it was just not healthy to begin with, so I got a couple more. One of the two new ones soon started picking on the other two I noticed. Like the fish, it seemed to have a corner that it preferred to stay in, but the plastic thingy I had them in was so small that it would "chase" (they don't move all that fast after all) the others around the cage, probably until they were worn out. I witnessed it going after one that had given up and retreated into its own shell in defense. Still believing what the books said I told myself "oh, they are just playing!", but the next thing I knew the aggressive one had snipped off the other ones legs and was going back for more. At that point I put the bully in a separate cage. After that the remaining peaceful ones got along fine and the bully had to live out his days alone.

I can only assume that the research on these things hasn't been nearly as extensive as for tropical fish. I don't think there is any hope of breeding hermit crabs in captivity (I think their young actually start out in the ocean) but from what I observed they act exactly like the more aggressive tropical fish. I suspect that males tend to pick on one another while females get along for the most part.

Here are some other observations:

They like to either climb on top of things, or bury themselves in the sand. This difference may have to do with sex, or aggressiveness. For the climbers, I think having a complex structure for them to climb all over is a healthy thing (and might keep down on the fights). The ones that dig a hole are a problem. They are not much fun to watch, as they can stay in one place for days it seems. If you have a choice in the store it might make sense to chose only climbers.

As they grow they both shed their skin, and change shells, but not necessarily both at the same time. Some of the nicest looking shells you can get in the store don't seem to appeal to the crabs nearly as much as they do to you. Mine tended to prefer the plain ones to brightly colored ones. I think the thickness of the shell and hence its relative weight may have been a factor too. I watched one get in a thick shell, attempt to move around in it a bit, and then switch back to the old one. The new one was just too heavy for him/her.

The in-shell part of a hermit crab is rather disgusting. Sort of like watching a couch potato such as myself out on the beach in a thong type swimsuit. Gag.

But unlike me, the hermit crab actually "breaths" through it's back end. Another disgusting thought. For that reason, they rarely leave thier shell, and they keep their backsides WET, just like your lungs are moist to allow for the exchange of oxygen with the atmosphere. A hermit crab out of its shell will dry up and die rather quickly. The books tell you to spray them with water regularly, and if you don't mind risking your fingers, you can even dip them in a bowl of water for a bit. I'd use bottled water, not distilled, because there is just too much irritating stuff (like chlorine) in tap water. Once dipped, even the ones that bury themselves will be active for a while. Maybe they are just mad, hehe, but the exercise will do them good.

When they shed their skin you may or may not be aware of it. They don't like to be observed doing this because they are most vulnerable to predators at this point. They are also capable of eating much of their own shed skin. This may be a defensive thing, or may just be a way for them to get calcium etc. into their system to aid in growing a new skin. While their new skin is still soft they grow the most and after this they may find that they have outgrown their old shell and go looking for a new one. They recommend that you keep several larger ones available to them at all times for this. They will dies without a shell that they can fit into (because of the breathing requirements) even if there are no other animals to pick on them.

One final thing. I heard stories about this and didn't believe them 'till it happened to me. Hermit crabs can do a pretty good job of convincing you that they are dead. For example, they can shed their skin, then get into a much larger shell and go all the way to the back of it so that no part of them is visible. You throw the "dead" skin away and put the "unused" shell on your what-not shelf as a memento of the dear departed. The next thing you know your memento is crawling across the floor.

I took what I thought was a discarded shell out of the cage and washed it with BLEACH in very hot water. Fortunately I put it in a closed bag with several other shells and put it away. When I checked that bag weeks later the crab was still alive and probably very hungry. The moisture retained by the plastic bag probably allowed it to live. How it survived the bleach I'll never know. But they can be tough little critters.

Hope you enjoy yours. I'm sure most of them die within weeks of being purchased, but in theory they can live for many years. I can't say I was the best pet owner in that regard, but having kept at least a couple of them alive for 3 years or so I guess I was doing it at least partially right.

ROFLMAO

Hah. Yeah, me too.

My housemother used to have a hyooge vat of sand, water, and hermit crabs -- about two dozen or so. Guess that explains why they didn't kill each other.

I do still remember being squicked a lot the couple of times that a hermit crab decided to commit suicide by crawling out of its shell. *skeeve*

Thanks for the informative post, Mac!

Thanks so much for that, Nergal!

A friend came over and helped the "dying" hermit crab into its shell. Before he came over the hermit crab was laying on its side and barely moving. But, when in its shell, the crab clinged on as if to say "finally." So, it's in its shell, and it's back in its cage. (The evil green one is in a separate box. Don't worry, despite it being a verocious beast, we won't kill it.) However, the little guy is sitting in the same position it was in since we re-shelled it. Its legs are still hanging out. I don't want to touch it anymore because I have a feeling it's thru with being toyed around with for a while. It's very clearly weak so I set it near the food bowl. I hope something good comes of this.

Darwin:

4 entries found for normalcy.
nor·mal·cy ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nôrml-s)
n.
Normality.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


normalcy

( P ) normalcy: log in for this definition of normalcy and other entries in Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, available only to Dictionary.com Premium members.


Source: Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.


normalcy

\Nor"mal*cy\, n. The quality, state, or fact of being normal; as, the point of normalcy. [R.]


Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.


normalcy

n : conformity with the norm [syn: normality] [ant: abnormality]


Chew on that!

Bully on left...

Eek, didn't mean to be bad. -_-;;

The only pardon I can offer up is that I've been operating in close-up mode all day. >_< So I wasn't thinking very well when I posted that -- I apologize! -_-

Whoa, ack! I thanked the wrong person--I mean, thank you, Nergal, for um... everything. But I meant to say thanks to Mac--I misread who posted that long bit on the hermit crabs. Thanks much for that, Mac!!!

Sorry, Nergal, that "Thank you" was not a sarcastic response to you. Thanks, really, for your post.

Oh, and Mac, I just have to say, I agree. In their shells, I think hermit crabs are cute. Outside, though... oh goodness. It's a mix between hiddeously gross and pitiful. Part of the horror of cleaning it off by dipping it in water was having to touch it, actually, just because of how gross it looks.

Aw, those are your hermit crabs, mean one and all? Haha. Ohhh I hope my little one makes it.

I had 2 hermit crabs a few years ago, they were given to me as a gift. The problem was, the big one ( I referred to him as hubby) used to chase the little one around (She was the wife) I used to get so angry with him for harrassing her all of the time, I thought he was such a bully. One day I came home (2-3 weeks after I got them) and he had eaten her, all that was left were some legs and her shell. I was mortified and immediately took him, tank and all to the pet store and told them to do something with him.

I will never have those things again.

There are many species of hermit crabs, you didn't specify what you had, so I will just relate some general experience from saltwater aquarium keeping:

- hermit crabs can be pickey about just what shell they want. I have had lots of shells in the tank, but still a crab will kill a snail just to get it's shell.

- hermit crabs are generally not agressive among themselves, so long as they have adequate room, food, etc. When they do fight, usually the worst they do to each other is sever the big claw, which will regenerate.

- tiny amounts copper is lethal to crabs and related critters. Make sure the water you are using is reverse-osmosis processed at the very least. Never use tap water, no matter how pure it is. Also, if you are hosting these crabs in a tank that used to be fish-only, it may have copper traces from previous use. There are copper reducing chemical treatments, but they are not 100%, and I have read that one should avoid converting a fresh water tank to reef.

Doesn't this whole thread seem even a wee bit surreal to you guys?

So it's a word. However, it's not a word in English, but only rather in American. Quite why people should refer to MW (a good dictionary, but of the American rather than English language) to define what is correct, I don't know. I mean, I wouldn't use MW or the OED to say what's correct in French, or German...

Sorry for not specifying what hermit crabs I have; mine are not saltwater, they're land, so they're in a somewhat dry cage (with a wet sponge, dishes of water, etc.) ... And I believe the small guy died this morning, so that will have to be disposed sometime today and I've gotta run to the store and buy a crapload of shells for the picky hermit crab that's left. Also, last night, it literally woke me up with its chirping--first time I ever heard one chirp. Then I heard it knocking on another shell (the two hermit crabs were separated in the cage by a carefully placed magazine, but still I freaked out as the "knock knock"ing was previously the portentous message of "I'm going to kill you, other hermit crab." It wasn't, though; it was knocking on another shell on its side.

Well then. Now I'm just telling stories about The Evil. That can't be fun. I really, really appreciate all the help and support everyone gave me here, I now know what kind of mental work goes into owning hermit crabs. You could rear a really cute pet or Jack the Ripper.

It's listed with Oxford too, isn't that English?

I have never had a Hermit crab, nor have I ever known anyone in RL that had one, and I'll probably never get one in the future.. BUT

I found this whole thread amazing! Learned a ton and enjoyed myself. So just wanted to share and say Thank you.

At least you never named it. It can remain a mysterious being that has passed.