Hermit Crab suddenly very active?

Question

Hi. I've got 7 hermit crabs in a 55 gal. aquarium. Recently I decided to split the tank in half to keep the 2 larger crabs away from my tiny crab. How I ended up with such a size difference is beyond me.

Anyways, after I split the tank in two, one medium sized hermit crab has been spending nearly all day and night away from the others and climbing around constantly. It's very unlike him.

Any ideas as to where his sudden urge to explore and spend time away from the other crabs came from? I don't think he's about to molt. Does he just feel safer now that the big crabs are away? Even though all they do is sleep deep under the substrate.

I've had this crab since late January, and he's never been this active.

I think I have plenty of empty shells for them.

I noticed he spends a lot of time at the corner where the new glass seperates the tank, near one of the heating pads. Maybe he roamed more than I thought. But I've got plenty of climbing material and room to explore. Maybe I'll get another tank for the larger crabs and put this back the way it was.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

Answer 1

hey there, well i've got 10 micro to small size crabs and at first they are very shy but after a month or two, sometimes takes longer for them to get used to their crabitat,

when they molt they tend to get very inactive, drinking more and more water and just relaxing until it's time. my first crab that i got back in dec. is in his second week of molting, and who knows when he'll come up. i was able to estimate when he was goin' under, cause he's missing a leg and grew a gel one before he molted, so when he comes up, he'll have all of his legs!

and it sounds like you could have some big crabs who have the "I'm Boss" attitude, and the medium size crab is happy to be away from them! some of my crabs love to explore aloneand some don't, it's just their personalities getting comfortable with humans and other crabs, it took a while for my micro crabs to get used to my small sized crabs, but everyone gets along great, they climb all over each other. lol it's soo cute, hope that helps!

Answer 2

Well, the season is coming where it's time for hermits to mate and he could very well be sexually mature. Male hermits will become active during certain months when they hit sexual maturity because they're looking for a mate, it's one of their instincts. It could also be he feels a little cramped and needs to be able to run around and exercise. You have to keep in mind, you just cut his space in half and it could be causing him to feel a little claustrophobic. I would consider putting your set-up back the way it was if the larger ones weren't being too pushy or dominant and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, then it's obvious he's just roaming in search of a mate and it should stop in... June or July, I want to say. Maybe later, I don't quite recall.

Answer 3

Did you just purchase this hermit crab? Maybe he has just come out of his shell and probably was imtimidated by the larger crabs. Moniter him and try putting one of the bigger ones in the same tank to see if that was his problem

Answer 4

ummm do you have any shells that are unused in your tank and if not i would put some in. I think it is gunna molt but im not to sure so i would just make sure there are some shells in there or it is because he or she wants to mate.

Answer 5

i could think of so, its like a sprint one. in case you provide it a number of of sugar this is going to alter into ill and sluggish and fats . yet once you feed it healthful meals it's going to be healthful and function power ! think of of popeye ! he eats spinach and gets bursts if power ! curiously like your doing a very stable job and shop getting to know ! analyze can purely help, not harm