My hermit crab is pregnant...

[SeeCrabRun]

Anyone in here ever have a pregnant hermit crab or successfully bred them?

All my research said it was extremely rare and I thought I had nothing to worry about...

But I just spotted a cluster of ruby red eggs in C1's shell as he, I mean she... was climbing up the side of the tank.

I'd love for these to be successful for her but I haven't the clue how to help and Google has been none for me.

I'll try to get a picture.

 

[SeeCrabRun]

I have a few videos of C1 and C2 doing strange things with each other. I need to upload them to YouTube to share.

 

[Aerosol]

I don't think the difficult part is getting them to reproduce. I think the hard part is getting the babies to survive their planktonic stage without starving, getting eaten, filtered, or blended in a powerhead. So, it will mostly depend on your setup. Keep us updated. It'll be neat if you're successful.

 

[SeeCrabRun]

Well with research I've learned it is unlikely they will survive even under the best conditions.

Still it'll be interesting to document. Difficult to picture.

That cloud of orange in her shell.

 

[Shawn O]

Without a kriessel tank you may not get much success. I suppose you could modify your sump for an unfiltered fuge with bubble stones. You'd also need a tone of about 1mm shells for them to move into when they get to that stage of development so they don't get eaten.


I followed a thread about someone who was able to get some land hermit crab eggs to grow out to a large enough size to leave the water for land. Some even made it to adulthood. They ate voraciously anything they could grab, including each other.

For marine hermits I would guess; lots of water movement, completely cover powerheads with screen fine enough to keep the larvae out, and lots of finely sized food, like brine shrimp eggs to hatch for food. Daily water changes (if in a kriessel) and lots of room. The Land hermit zoa tended to eat each other if they touched so separating them into separate tanks is a good idea.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[SeeCrabRun]

Thanks. I thought I had updated here but I guess not.

She abandoned the eggs. I'm guessing they weren't successfully fertilized.

 

[Shawn O]

Sorry to hear, would be an interesting event to witness.