Blue legged hermit crabs

SlugSnorter · Oct 21, 2021

Karen00 said:
I just came across this post and have the same question as the OP. I just got a pom pom crab hoping he'd do some cleanup in my tank (detritus) but he's turned out to be a bit of a diva and wants me to target feed him. Now instead of him cleaning up leftover food I'm adding more food to the tank for him. Haha. Anyway, now I'm looking for a different crab and came across the dwarf blue legged crab (Clibanarius tricolor). Is this the same one everyone is discussing here? If so do they stay small? My tank is a 5g so they need to stay small. Also, are they fine with other crabs? I don't want my pom pom put in jeopardy.

yep!, they are really peaceful, give them a few spare shells too.

Calm Blue Ocean · Oct 21, 2021

Karen00 said:
I just came across this post and have the same question as the OP. I just got a pom pom crab hoping he'd do some cleanup in my tank (detritus) but he's turned out to be a bit of a diva and wants me to target feed him. Now instead of him cleaning up leftover food I'm adding more food to the tank for him. Haha. Anyway, now I'm looking for a different crab and came across the dwarf blue legged crab (Clibanarius tricolor). Is this the same one everyone is discussing here? If so do they stay small? My tank is a 5g so they need to stay small. Also, are they fine with other crabs? I don't want my pom pom put in jeopardy.

Even better if you luck out and get a female blue leg since they stay even smaller. My pom pom is also a diva but pretty quick and tends to stake out her claim away from her roommates.

Just a Wrasse. · Oct 21, 2021

100% reef safe!

SlugSnorter · Oct 21, 2021

warrasell said:
100% reef safe!

remember to keep shells with them or it could get ugly!

Karen00 · Oct 21, 2021

SlugSnorter said:
yep!, they are really peaceful, give them a few spare shells too.

Thanks for this! I'm looking for the spare shells as well. I read that was the #1 reason hermits go berserk!! Finding spare shells is proving to be harder than finding the crabs! Everyone is sold out! :-S I absolutely don't want anything to happen to my pom. I know he doesn't carry a shell but I don't want an angry hermit taking his frustrations out on him. LOL

Karen00 · Oct 21, 2021

Calm Blue Ocean said:
Even better if you luck out and get a female blue leg since they stay even smaller. My pom pom is also a diva but pretty quick and tends to stake out her claim away from her roommates.

Whew, thanks for this! I feel reassured by all of the comments on this thread, especially those that mention they're keeping poms and blues together!

Mr Cypher · Oct 21, 2021

just picked up 3 electric blues from salty bottom and a Halloween hermit he is fing huge lol didn't expect that but they play nice so far lol

EricR · Oct 21, 2021

Karen00 said:
Thanks for this! I'm looking for the spare shells as well. I read that was the #1 reason hermits go berserk!! Finding spare shells is proving to be harder than finding the crabs! Everyone is sold out! :-S I absolutely don't want anything to happen to my pom. I know he doesn't carry a shell but I don't want an angry hermit taking his frustrations out on him. LOL

I had trouble finding empty shells as well and my wife ended up finding an assortment on Etsy pretty cheap -- some were way too big but some seemed about right for next step up from the shells they currently occupy.

I think I posted this before but...
My 2 blue legged hermit crabs are pretty small and they're doing great but have NOT got ANY bigger in like 6 months.
*not sure the exact species I have but I'm guessing these are the "dwarf" ones

Karen00 · Oct 21, 2021

EricR said:
I had trouble finding empty shells as well and my wife ended up finding an assortment on Etsy pretty cheap -- some were way too big but some seemed about right for next step up from the shells they currently occupy.

I think I posted this before but...
My 2 blue legged hermit crabs are pretty small and they're doing great but have NOT got ANY bigger in like 6 months.
*not sure the exact species I have but I'm guessing these are the "dwarf" ones

Thanks for this! I finally found some shells at Big Al's but they're really small (openings only about 1/8" to 1/4"). About how big are your blues? They sound like they're the dwarfs. Geez I haven't even gotten a crab yet but I'm worried about finding appropriate sized shells. Now I'm on a shell buying binge!! :-S

EricR · Oct 21, 2021

Definitely get the crabs first and go by visual for how big you think might be next.
I'd say the opening on the shells mine are in are MAYBE 1/4" across, max.

Karen00 · Oct 21, 2021

EricR said:
Definitely get the crabs first and go by visual for how big you think might be next.
I'd say the opening on the shells mine are in are MAYBE 1/4" across, max.

I didn't think dealing with crabs would be so stressful. Haha.

EricR · Oct 21, 2021

Karen00 said:
I didn't think dealing with crabs would be so stressful. Haha.

...you mean, it puts you in a "crabby" mood?

Zoa_Fanatic · Oct 21, 2021

I have blue legs, red legs, a single large scarlet, and a single large zebra in the same tank. All of them are peaceful together. Every now and then my blue legs decide to act out Highlander (there can be only one!). But they usually stop short or actually doing any damage to each other. They mostly just grab each other’s shells when someone is trying to swap to a new one. I’ve got 2 blues, 2 redd, a scarlet, and that zebra in a 32 Gal biocube with nassarius, nerite, turbo, Cerith, trochus, and spiny nerite snails. They only snail they ever mess with are the cerith and they mostly just drag them around like lawn furniture. Make sure to provide extra shells. They’ll need them as they grow

Karen00 · Oct 23, 2021

I thought I would follow up on my part of this thread. Today I got two blues and one red and holy cow are they small!!! Their shells are about the size of my pinky nail so I'm not sure how much smaller they are! I'm glad I got a bunch of smaller shells. I originally thought the shells would be too small but nope, they're fine at this point in time. I got larger ones as well. I couldn't even get them out of their acclimation bucket with my net. The net wouldn't go underneath them they're so small. I had to put them in to my tank by hand! The guy I bought them from said my 5g could take six. He's not kidding. I'm going to wait a bit to see if I need more. Here's a zoomed in pic of one. I hope my pistol doesn't kill them.

Zoa_Fanatic · Oct 23, 2021

Karen00 said:
I thought I would follow up on my part of this thread. Today I got two blues and one red and holy cow are they small!!! Their shells are about the size of my pinky nail so I'm not sure how much smaller they are! I'm glad I got a bunch of smaller shells. I originally thought the shells would be too small but nope, they're fine at this point in time. I got larger ones as well. I couldn't even get them out of their acclimation bucket with my net. The net wouldn't go underneath them they're so small. I had to put them in to my tank by hand! The guy I bought them from said my 5g could take six. He's not kidding. I'm going to wait a bit to see if I need more. Here's a zoomed in pic of one. I hope my pistol doesn't kill them.

You don’t need more if you have a 5G. They get bigger. Mine are about the size of a dime fully grown not counting the shell.

Karen00 · Oct 23, 2021

Zoa_Fanatic said:
You don’t need more if you have a 5G. They get bigger. Mine are about the size of a dime fully grown not counting the shell.

Thanks! Ya, I'm going to hold off until they're full grown to see if maybe one more might be needed. They're so cute and are already roaming the tank doing their job! I'm just about to add the spare shells. If I have three hermits how many shells should I add and do I scatter them or just plop them in a corner? I hope my pistol doesn't bury them in a mountain of sand! Haha

Calm Blue Ocean · Oct 23, 2021

As for your pistol shrimp, the odd time a crab has found it's way into my guy's burrow the shrimp has just picked it up and thrown it out. Things that crawl don't make good building materials after all! Your shrimp will probably take a few of those spare shells to reinforce his structure, I just take them back every now and then lol.

They definitely get bigger. For comparison, I managed to catch a picture of my little female blue leg hitching a ride on the shell of one of my big male red legs today. She hasn't grown in a long time and I'm hoping he's max size because that's the biggest shell I have!

Karen00 · Oct 24, 2021

Calm Blue Ocean said:
As for your pistol shrimp, the odd time a crab has found it's way into my guy's burrow the shrimp has just picked it up and thrown it out. Things that crawl don't make good building materials after all! Your shrimp will probably take a few of those spare shells to reinforce his structure, I just take them back every now and then lol.

They definitely get bigger. For comparison, I managed to catch a picture of my little female blue leg hitching a ride on the shell of one of my big male red legs today. She hasn't grown in a long time and I'm hoping he's max size because that's the biggest shell I have!

That is funny about your pistol throwing the hermies out! My pistol came out immediately after I added them and I thought "oh oh now the carnage begins but surprisingly he didn't pay them any attention... Yet. Haha. That is a great pic of your blue hitching a ride on your red and gives a good frame of reference for size. I really hope the shells I bought provide a good range for them. That's going to keep me stressed for a bit. I have never had creatures before like hermits before!