Hermit Crab Behavior???

[Tjlance1]

We have a blue legged hermit crab. A couple days ago I noticed it had wedged itself between a rock and a coral. I was able to get it un-wedged without hurting the stony coral. A few minutes later it was in the same spot. I moved it again. Sometimes during the night it went back to the same spot but this time it molted.
I left it for two days and just moved it again while doing maintenance on the tank.

Lo and behold it went back to the same spot even though I moved to the other side of the tank. Anyone have any idea as to why it's doing this?

 

[TX_REEF]

maybe something in there he's trying to eat? you could hit the area with a turkey baster or small scrub brush to dislodge what he may be interested in. I have also seen large hermits consume stony corals firsthand, especially unhealthy ones.

 

[Tjlance1]

maybe something in there he's trying to eat? you could hit the area with a turkey baster or small scrub brush to dislodge what he may be interested in. I have also seen large hermits consume stony corals firsthand, especially unhealthy ones.

Funny thing is I just got doing what you were suggesting..the big clean of the tank. It doesn't go after the coral at all..just wedges itself between the rock and the coral as in the picture...can hermit be obssevive compulsive??

 

[KrisReef]

Funny thing is I just got doing what you were suggesting..the big clean of the tank. It doesn't go after the coral at all..just wedges itself between the rock and the coral as in the picture...can hermit be obssevive compulsive??

If it's wedge in it can float there without effort. It may be waiting for food to drift by on the current. They have to hunker down in the environment when a storm comes or else they will get swept away. It may be traumatized from being removed from the ocean and it doesn't want to get swept away again?

 

[reef2021]

It could be that it likes the spot or there’s still food there that it’s trying to get. There’s a few spots in my reef that my hermie likes to just hang out in that I thought it was stuck lol.

 

[littlefoxx]

I had a hermit do the same, turns out when I moved the rock there was a dead snail he was trying to eat and pull the shell off. Now he wears the shell like a crown of achievement lol

 

[Tjlance1]

I had a hermit do the same, turns out when I moved the rock there was a dead snail he was trying to eat and pull the shell off. Now he wears the shell like a crown of achievement lol

I just did a thorough cleaning and there is nothing there.. it's weird. I put him on the complete other side of the tank and he or she found its way back to the same exact spot. You can see that its not trying to eat anything. I'm more worried about the coral. Its not bothering it, but the coral does not like that its there.

 

[Tjlance1]

If it's wedge in it can float there without effort. It may be waiting for food to drift by on the current. They have to hunker down in the environment when a storm comes or else they will get swept away. It may be traumatized from being removed from the ocean and it doesn't want to get swept away again?

This hermit came from an LFS about two months ago. Changed shells three times and molted twice. This is a new behavior starting this week.

 

[Tjlance1]

It could be that it likes the spot or there’s still food there that it’s trying to get. There’s a few spots in my reef that my hermie likes to just hang out in that I thought it was stuck lol.

We've had this hermit and a few others for a couple months now and this is the first time this one has acted this way. All the hermits have changed shells and molted several times and are actually hand fed mysis shrimp. It's strange that I moved it to the other side of the tank and in minutes it went back to the same spot..three times! Lol

 

[dadnjesse]

Mine does the same thing he wedges in between coral branches. I think he's stuck and move him and he keeps coming back to the same spot.