Murder & Mayhem

Do crabs or snails attack each other? I thought these guys live peacefully amongst the live rock. Today I see there are a few piles of hermit legs which look like hermit crab remains........interesting. There are also the odd empty shell laying about.....:-[

 

Sometimes they get shell envy
They are scavengers for the most part, sometimes they die off or are killed by someone who is hungry for a crab snack. Look around, there might be something , there might not.

Jim

 

Hermits will shed. So its normal to see some remains once in a while. I never heard of snails killing hermits but ive seen hermits kill snails to get there shell.

Marc.

 

m_lacom is right. Hermits shed a lot, so if you have a nice number of hermits, they will shed and the molted shell will scatter and shred as time passes by.

 

The hermits will definately take out a snail, given the opportunity. For the most part, they peacefully coexist, but if the snails fall on their backs, and the hermits get to them first, look out. We call it "Shell Jacking" in our house. Several of my red leg hermits are now living in astrea snail shells.

 

In my vast expirence of hermit homicide there is a very high chance that the hermits will turn murderous and kill others for their shells...i have seen many a dead hermit body in my day...best thing to do is make sure to have alot of extra shells

 

Extra shells are the best bet, but from my experience scarlett hermits are a little bit more peaceful than other hermits.

 

Hermits will attack snails if given the opportunity. I've had big Mexican turbos that have been attacked and killed and chowed down on when they fall off the glass or rocks. That is part of the reason that the 300 is going hermit free.