# Dumb and dumberer hermit crabs



## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Just thought I'd share a couple of the zany antics of my hermits...

Woke up one morning stumbling across the floor with my eyes still half open, there's this piece of garbage on the floor I bend down to pick up. It moves! it's my zebra hermit who has climbed out of the open tank lid and began to mosey across the dining room. If he was lucky he had a few nice snacks along the way, peas, cheerios... anyway he's back in the tank and knocking stuff over... 

I've got this other weird hermit that somehow many moons ago turned all white except for a tiny part of his claw that is still red. Even his shell is white... anyway he will pick a spot to graze, and will stay there. For weeks. Usually wedged in between rocks and I think he is stuck so I rescue him. And find him right back there the next day. Right now he's wedged himself in my green acro, I've moved him 3 times already, but right back he goes.  I guess my new acro crab is one hot chick that he can't get enough of...

Anyways share your wacky hermit retardedness here. Because really, we all know that we dont really keep hermits because of their awesome clean-up skills, but instead it's for comic relief...


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## J-P (Feb 27, 2011)

cool story thanks for the share


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

LOL, as I'm typing, I'm lying in bed watching a zebra hermit try to climb the 24" wall of my cube tank. It's been terribly neglected, and there are spots of coralline all over the front glass. He'll reach for one, then struggle to hang on and stretch far far far for another, and so on. He's making it more than halfway up the glass! Then he falls and tries again...and again...


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Sounds like my kids climbing a rock wall...

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

When there's enough of them in one tank, I enjoy watching them play king of the castle.

Also sometimes when they change shells they hide or bury their other one. Greedy buggers.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Will said:


> When there's enough of them in one tank, I enjoy watching them play king of the castle.
> 
> Also sometimes when they change shells they hide or bury their other one. Greedy buggers.


Aww, makes me want to get some hermits! However, I'm worried that they'll attack my snails...


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

solarz said:


> Aww, makes me want to get some hermits! However, I'm worried that they'll attack my snails...


Oh yeah, them killing your snail, then trying on the victims shell for a day, only to decide to switch back to their old shell or another shell. Good times!

When they find a shell they are considering using, some hermits have a long inspection process. They reach inside, then look inside, then they tap the shell all over, thoroughly inspecting it. The actual changing process takes less than a second.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

That's exactly what happened in my tank. I bought 2 hermits (one blue and one red) 2 nass snails and 2 turbo snails. Next thing I know the red claw decides to eat the snails one by one and try on the shells. So the noob that I am I replace the snails only to be fooled by the red clawed hermit. Now I have a graveyard of empty shells in the back of my nano that he just keeps switching every other day. 

Now he ate the blue claw and has the place to himself...

I think sometimes he just knocks over frags to piss me off


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## Telanni (Aug 18, 2011)

I have a blue leg hermit that likes to travel everywhere backwards. I don't get it and it looks really awkward but he just shuffles backwards around my tank doing laps and sifting for food. I get a kick of watching him climb up the live rock backwards, especially when his shell overbalances him and he's forced to climb parts moving forwards, he looks so cranky when that happens


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## Syed (Oct 20, 2010)

One of my red hermits hitched a ride on my astrea snail. Snail went vertical a good 16 inches and the hermit eventually lost its grip and fell lol. Also had a hermit fighting frenzy where all the hermits were clawing each other for hours.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

The other night my big giant zebra was taking a stroll and around the corner came 2 nassarius snails cruising along the top of the sand. He took one look at them and turned right back around as fast as he could from where he came. Once he got to the other side of the tank, he forgot what all the fuss was about, and started to mosey along back. He pushed aside a big flap of devil's hand that was in the way, and there he saw one of the nassarius coming right at him still. He jumped up backwards and almost flipped over; then ran as fast as he could right back to the corner (I have never seen a hermit move so fast in my life, LOL)


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

All great and funny stories, I find hermits dumb as you say Kevin and very clumsy.
I have a particular one that stops every single crab is on his way and tap it few times losing interest very quick I guess he is only interested in big shells.
Well his name is stampee and he is a fast running crab ohh boy this guy goes crazy when I feed the fish and start running knocking anything on its way looking for food....
Here some stampee shots...


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