my first death =

[Jezze]

Well, while stairing at my tank today.. i started to pull out the various sheds siting around.. and i found two of my scarlet leg hermis in the corner.. one shell was empty, with what i presume to be the dead hermit and not his shed a inch away.. the other hermit was "grooming" one of my big snails shell.  Now the second hermit is cleaning out the shell of the dead one.. was this an act of shell envy?  will the hermits kill eachother over that? the shell of the dead hermit actually looks smaller.. so i dont think hes taking it for his own.. but i could be wrong.    I checked my nitrates and nitrites and they were both at 0.  Should I put other shells in there so this wont happen again?

 

 

originally i thought my blue hermit had died... but i found him last night!  I hadnt seen him in 3 weeks!  and believe me i stare at this tank all the time.  hes gone again.. im thinking my big rock must be hollow or somthin.. cause i have no idea where hes been or where hes gone.    

 

 

Jesse

[SLOreefer]

you have to put other shells in there otherwise they will kill your snails or eachother. without shells they will leave theres looking for one and maybe never find one and just die.

[printerdown01]

I have never heard of a hermit killing another hermit for its shell. However, I wouldn't be shocked if this occasionally happened. There are known for attacking snails when in desperate need. I would recommend extra shells! I didn't supply my blue-legs with extras (first time for hermits) and they died. I presume that they abandoned the shells that were too tight, and when they did, they were eaten by my fish.

[jdiver]

I had two blue legs, then got two more and added 10 empty shells. Within about an hour, 3 of the 4 had switched to a new shell. The only one that didn't switch was one that is in a bumble snail shell, so I'm guessing he's as fond of his looks as I am. Anyway, the point being that hermits like to play musical shells a lot, so it's necessary to have extra shells for them scattered throughout the tank.

[My Alife 7]

I've had a hermit kill another hermit for it's shell and I had about 6-8 extra shells lying around in the tank so it does happen... And I've also found hermits to be missing for a long periods of time only to see them sitting at the front of the tank one morning when I wake up.

[Szweda83]

only reason hermits switch 2 a new shell is because they get bigger and don't fit the other one just curious =0 kinda a stupid question just curious if theres a other reason behind it

[jdiver]

My hermits switched into shells that were about the same size as their old ones, give or take. My theory is that they are like little kids, always wanting the toy that the other kid has.

[reef hugger]

i had one of my hermits walked over to another hermit, and pulled him out of his shell. tried on the now empty shell, decided he didn't like, climbed back into his orignal shell and walked off. all the while the hermit that got ousted was hiding under a rock nearby. i felt sorry for him, so pushed his shell back over to him and he climbed right in and went about his business.

 

its always a good idea to add empty shells when you have hermits. especially when they are first added to a tank. i think they get stressed and that a new shell will make them feel safe.

[Sahin]

Every time I buy something from the LFS I ask for a few empty shells.  I now have about 10 spare shells lying at the front of the tank onthe gravel.  Most are occupied by pod and small bristle worms.  

 

I have seen my hermits fight over shells once or twice.

 

But usually, they just take a bigger shell from the gravel and leave the smaller one behind.

 

But it sure is funny to watch them inspect an empty shell....I once saw a hermit turn around an empty shell for a full 5 mins before he decided he licked it!  

[Jezze]

well.. I walked over to my tank this morning.. and the empty shell was taken, and there was no extra shell in its place.. instead, the empty shell was on top of the highest piece of rock in my tank!  its just sittin there.  balanced on top of the rock peak.. kinda wierd....