carnivorous crab?!

Hermies4Ever · Post by **Hermies4Ever** » 05 Jan 2007, 12:36

i have a crab who likes to run naked and i have never had a problem with him before. now my ruggie is attacking him and im worried. I have separated them but my iso isnt quite as stable as my main tank. is theri anything i can do to stop then from fighting?

iluvhermies · Post by **iluvhermies** » 05 Jan 2007, 16:14

You did right to put the 1 in ISO. I would try to encourage the naked 1 to return to its shell or a different shell. There is a cup way to do this. I myself have gotten a naked one back into a shell. This is how I did it:
I got me a bowl of decholrinized water and dipped the crab in it to get off any sand or debrie. I also got the shell I wanted it to be in and dipped it in the water too. I made sure there was nothing in the shell. I then placed the abdomen into the opening of the shell. Let them pull theirself into it and place it back into ISO and see if it likes the shell you can also place other shells with it incase it decides it doesn't like your choice.

Hermies4Ever · Post by **Hermies4Ever** » 06 Jan 2007, 07:34

I tried the cup method and i doesnt seem to work with him. i really think he likes being naked. this is the crab i had before with plenty of problems because of the previous owner.

hermiesrokmysox · Post by **hermiesrokmysox** » 07 Jan 2007, 01:41

biol his shell for 5 mins. And then try it. If it doesn't work, put him in ISO with a lot of other clean shells with diff. sizes.

Hermies4Ever · Post by **Hermies4Ever** » 07 Jan 2007, 13:57

well he died yesterday. I feel so bad because I rescued him and he was doing so well.

iluvhermies · Post by **iluvhermies** » 07 Jan 2007, 15:24

I am sorry to hear that. I have done that before and it is like Wham!!!! and you are left standing there like what the heck happened.

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 09 Jan 2007, 01:29

i'm sorry for your loss also. yeah, like i said in other forums. i hate the fact that there is nothing really known about how hermies die. it's just stress or something like that. usually it's nothing you can really do except put them in ISO with plenty of food and water and hope for the best.

Post by **Wai** » 09 Jan 2007, 03:36

Scary to know, but hermit crabs are in fact cannibals. They're more than ready to eat each other, usually after one has moulted and is soft without the exoskeleton. However, they usually just fight for shells or the skeleton, but some have torn and eaten others.

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 09 Jan 2007, 03:47

as awful as it is, there was one crab at the store where i adopt them, that they got in one day. they came back the next morning to find 7 hermies in the micro-medium side that were torn from their shells. they had their suspicions and transferred the new guy to the large-jumbo side and the next day they found 2 larges that were torn. they isolate him at night but bring him out during the day where they can keep an eye on him. he doesn't do anything during the day, but apparently at night he becomes evil.