Can I mix and match hermits or will they kill each other?

[flakey]

I would like some:

Red legged
Halloween
Blue legged

but are they safe together or should i stick to one species? Also, I add new hermits to my tank that currently house larger hermits, will that be a problem?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes, you can mix and match, and yes they will go after one another occasionally. Not much you can do about it other than offering extra empty shells.

 

[monkeypie102]

Try to stick with 5 extra shells per hermit... I've had minimal killings, be it snail or hermit, since they have a huge asst of shells!

 

[sellersmd]

+1 on extra shells. The biggest reason I ever see losses is due to shell thievery.

 

[Bnaum85]

I find is hilarious when my hermit crabs get into tiny battles! In the picture two blue crabs are fighting a red crab over his new luxurious larger shell. The sand sifting sea star doesn't know what to make of it!

 

[flakey]

ha ha, crab wars. in that case, i'll make sure I get some more empty shells before putting more hermits in there.

 

[Calappidae]

Halloween hermits prefer to only go in cone or triton shells. So they are pretty safe as far as harassing other hermits go (Except for other halloween hermits).

Hermits kill one another for shells and will kill snails for the same reason. I had about 12 hermits in my 29 gallon and I'm down to about 5 after a year... all deaths from each other.