Crab evicts snail

[earman88]

I purchased 3 snails last week. 1 turbo and 2 asteria snails. Over the weekend, my red-leg hermit crab moved into one of the snail's shells. So I guess he killed it and stole his house.

It's funny to see because he looks totally different in this new, larger shell.

Anyone ever seen this?

 

[bjohanson1234]

Thats why I, along with many others, don't have hermits in their tanks. They will kill snails just for their shells. You can help prevent this by making sure that there are lots of spare shells laying around for him to move into.

 

[wontonflip]

I purchased 3 snails last week. 1 turbo and 2 asteria snails. Over the weekend, my red-leg hermit crab moved into one of the snail's shells. So I guess he killed it and stole his house.

It's funny to see because he looks totally different in this new, larger shell.

Anyone ever seen this?

My lfs used to have this one hermit crab that they wouldn't sell because they knew it to be a snail killer :)

 

[ErinCahir]

I had one that got banished to my sump after he killed my fighting conch.

I'm still mad about that.

 

[Cathic]

I would have banished him to the toaster.

 

[Mattyice008]

I had one that got banished to my sump after he killed my fighting conch.

I'm still mad about that.

I guess he didn't put up a good fight..

pun intended.

 

[ErinCahir]

I would have banished him to the toaster.

I thought about it. Believe me.

 

[earman88]

Ok so I caught my crab last night killing another snail(equal in size). He had the snail meat pulled completely out.. it was kinda cool to watch.

But I've gotta get rid of this thing. Going to try to trade him in to the LFS for a new snail. This thing has always been such a nuisance but for some reason I keep him because he's so interesting to observe.

 

[Mattyice008]

Ok so I caught my crab last night killing another snail(equal in size). He had the snail meat pulled completely out.. it was kinda cool to watch.

But I've gotta get rid of this thing. Going to try to trade him in to the LFS for a new snail. This thing has always been such a nuisance but for some reason I keep him because he's so interesting to observe.

I bet feeding him to my mantis shrimp would be fun to watch too :P
death by mantis!

 

[RockStacker]

Even with an abundance of empty shells in the tank, a hermit can still have its eyes on a particular shell that happens to be still attached to a living snail.

For some reason hermits tend to be very particular about their shells. I would see a hermit every now and then just popping in and out of several shells looking for the best fit and it could do this for several minutes.

 

[tonyg]

Far too often my blue leg crabs kill a snail only to decide they didnt really want their shell anywayse.

They have plenty of extra shells too.

 

[earman88]

I bet feeding him to my mantis shrimp would be fun to watch too :P
death by mantis!

I would gladly feed him to your mantis.