Blue legged hermit crabs

**treeoflife** · 06-23-2010, 09:33 PM

will blue legged hermit crabs attack each other? I have a video of a larger one trying to get a smaller one out of its shell, I am wondering if it is attacking it or if it is trying to mate with it. At this point this has been going on for about 20 mins now and still continues

**techguy** · 06-23-2010, 10:00 PM

Do you have empty shells of various sizes in the tank for them? When the crab gets larger it needs a larger shell...maybe the big crab wants to try on the other shell (unaware it's actually smaller).

**treeoflife** · 06-23-2010, 10:05 PM

the big crab is in a turbo snail shell and the little one is about a tenth the size, and yes there are lots of other shells

**treeoflife** · 06-23-2010, 10:09 PM

here is a pic

**rayme07** · 06-23-2010, 11:43 PM

Blue legged hermits are said to be docile but to me it all depends on the crab itself and its personal character. I have noticed though that when small they are docile but when they get bigger they tend to get more aggressive eat corals, attack other crabs and snails (even when fed really good). For me when they get a certain size I put them in the sump or give them to the LFS. Hope this helps.

**CarmieJo** · 06-27-2010, 09:23 PM

I have never had a problem with them but other people have had problems. I think that there are several species of crabs we call blue leg and that is the reason for varying results.