Crab species

[kreblak]

What (if any) is the difference between red legged hermit crabs, blue legged hermit crabs, and regular hermit crabs. A book I am reading draws very different lines between the three, but does not explain. Obviously there are color variations, but what else differentiates them?

[OrionGirl]

Size and temperment. Red and blue will stay small--usually smaller than a quarter. Regualr hermits will get big--bigger than a fist. Blue legged crabs tend to be nicer and not kill snails just to check out the housing potential.

[kreblak]

Speaking of snails, do they grow their own shells? Do their shells continue to grow with them?

[OrionGirl]

Yep, snails build their own home. It grows as the snail grows.

[Corax]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
Blue legged crabs tend to be nicer and not kill snails just to check out the housing potential.

You've got that backwards Onion. Blues are the buttholes, Scarletts are the safe ones.

[OrionGirl]

Wups--sorry! Reverse that!

:)

[lebloom]

Blue leggs are little *******s. They tend to try kill there own. I have had so many blue leggs dissappear. Better get larger red leggs if you want to keep them together. Reds are more to themselves. Blues crawl all over each other fighting for food or whatever.

[kreblak]

Oh man, when I saw Orion's post about red legged hermits liking to kill snails I nearly freaked since I have a whole tank full of them. I was very glad to read it was the other way around! I only have one blue legged hermit, and he is tiny. He came in as a hitch hiker on some coral. I don't think he will pose much of a threat to anyone, although I have seen him literally crawl over other hermits to get to uneaten food in the tank.

[Corax]

I'd like to share sumthin from yesterday as a testament to the aggression of blues...

I have a bryopsis problem in my tank right now, and to combat it, I'm moving pieces of liverock to a covered 10g tank. Well I pulled a large piece out and some bristleworms fell off of it. 3 of my blue hermits ran right over to a living, writhing 3" bristleworm and started eating it. I shoo'd em away with a feeding prong, but they wouldn't leave it alone. Within 15 minutes, the worm was in 3 pieces and each hermit had his own little prize. Suffice to say, they make good scavengers. :rolleyes:

[kreblak]

Yeah, mine is definately the most aggresive in the tank. Fortunately, he is also the smallest by a wide margin. I get the feeling that my LFS doesn't particularly care for blue hermits, though, as they keep reds as janitors in the show tanks, and keep blues in the tanks with the lionfish and the toadfish. The blues get snacked on quite regularly.

[VoodooChild]

Here's something that probably occurs with all hermits but is still interesting. Last night I heard all of this clicking and every time I would move it would stop. I figured I had a mantis. Finally I grabbed a flashlight and shone it in the tank. One of my scarlets had ripped another out of it's shell and was casually probing the inside of the new empty one. The other one was cowering behind the back of the aggressor's shell. In the morning there wasn't any dead bodies so I assume everyone came out ok. I was just surprised to see it.