Does my hermit crab need friends??

Question

My hermit crab lives by himself, and he seems pretty happy. But i read somewhere that they really like friends and dont like to be lonely. My sister has a crab, and they have played together once or twice and they usually fight and try to climb on each others shells. Should we move them in together? or will they both be happy by themselves??

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

They should have friend. So yeah your herbit crab should get a friend to live with them :]

Answer 2

I have a small colony of ten land hermit crabs. In the wild land hermit crabs live in large colony's and are highly social. All hermit crabs are wild caught so it is important for their health and well being to give them the social interactions with other hermit crabs they need.

because they are social animals hermit crabs can be dominant towards one another. Climbing on top of each other. Hitting each other with their anteni or trying to look big and scary to one another is all normal healthy behaviour.  It's better just to let them interact and watch them rather then pull the apart. There is no need to worry unless one of the crabs tries to physically pull another from it's shell. This rarely happens unless the animals are in a stressful situation. It's rare for a hermit crab to kill another crab. THis only happens if one of the crabs is ill or dying, the hermit crabs are not getting a well rounded diet, the conditions are not where they should be, or space is very limited.

You should put the crabs together.

I've adopted many lone crabs and they do not lead a happy life. One was very aggressive prior to me taking it. Another was terrified of being touched. And a third never changed shells before coming to me. The poor thing changed into 5 shells in an hour and ate his weight in vegetables and fruit because never had fresh food before.

Please don't force these social animals into unhealthy isolation

Answer 3

they'll be happy alone

but hermit crabs are actually quite social

climbing on shells is normal

crabs are like any dog cat or human for that matter

they can live for 15 years so sooner or later they need a friend to share the boring life in a cage with

it'll make them quite happier

Answer 4

you could try.

if they try to get into some sort of death match....

pull them away

Answer 5

i really wanted a hermit crab so one day i went to walmart to get one but the guy said they like to be in groups so i got five. I know it sounds like alot but they need friends so i think you should get some more

Answer 6

Hermits don't need friends, they're hermits.

Answer 7

I think all creatures need a friend.   But be careful.   Once I had two male ducks and so I got two females, put them in the pen and went to work.   Both females were killed.   I have never forgiven myself.   So call a vet and get advice on how to get them together properly.   Maybe slowly.

Answer 8

Hermit crabs are very social creatures, I have 6, and at night time, they climb on top of eachother, gather around at the food dish, impress eachother by climbing, and so on. My large crab Biggie Smalls gives my little crab Garth rides sometimes!

My tank is a 25 gallon, and with two golf ball size crabs, and four smaller crabs. The big ones are Purple Pincher crabs, and the others are Ecuadorian. But I'm still not over the limit. In my tank setup, I could get 4 more small crabs or 1-2 mediums. In a ten gallon tank, you should go for 3-4 mediums, 6-7 smalls, or ten tiny's. You can mix all breeds together as well as sizes and genders.

The crabs probably weren't fighting. They were having "feeler wars" which is their way of introducing eachother. Move the crab in to the biggest tank and take your sisters toys too. The crabs will have the feller wars, but if it gets aggressive, seperate them.

Definitely move in the other crab and buy some other ones, they go for cheap the most expensive I've seen was $10

Good luck and have fun  ,  

Answer 9

hermit crabs are very social and will probably feel better in captivity with other hermit crabs