You know you have a boring life when the most interesting thing that happens to you is a very slow, two-day-long, nearly-stationary fight between two of your pet land hermit crabs over the same fabulous bit of real estate. Ricky and Fred had been locked together for about two days. I couldn't get in because Ethel, ever the jokester, decided it would be a good idea to spend all of her time hanging from the lid, which slides to open, so I couldn't get in. Lucy, the smallest crabbum, was terrified of the very "violent" conflict (like I said, they were actually completely stationery, Ricky just locked onto the face of Fred's shell like some sort of bizarre alien mating ritual).
As a side note, all of the behavior I am describing is perfectly normal and healthy, except for the duration of the fight. If it hadn't gone on so long, I wouldn't have intervened. I am a trained crab keeper and do not recommend intervening if you have crabs and such a situation arises- I was very careful that nobody got hurt. This particular form of combat was not, as some might assume, over mating rights (they will rarely mate in captivity) or dominance (that fight is considerably more interesting to watch and should be stopped immediately), but literally over Fred's shell.
Ethel finally moved to the leading edge of the lid so that I could open it wide enough to reach in and grab her (she promptly decided that I was far more interesting to climb on, so I got to chase her over my arms- she's definitely the fast one). Once I had the Ethel situation sorted, I found Lucy and stopped to say hello and make sure she was well. Then I got the dueling gentlemen out.
DO YOU KNOW HOW STRONG THOSE LITTLE BUGGERS ARE?! Holy fleeping crabcakes, Batman. You can't just pull, either- they'll be pulled in half before they risk giving up a shell. I had to just gently nudge Ricky's walking legs around the rim of Fred's shell to get him to lose traction, then rock back and forth to loosen his grip, applying a gentle pressure the whole time. It took almost fifteen minutes to seperate the two of them. My core and arm muscles still kinda ache a bit. I need to get in shape...
Anyways, Fred has rejoined his lady-friends, while Ricky is in the Naughty Room- a little tank kept expressly for isolation purposes. He's got some moss to dig in and keep humidity, several new shells to pick from (NOT that there's anything at all wrong with his lovely green shell), a temple to hide in, and plenty of time to think about what he did.
TL;DR: Always be careful when naming your hermit crabs after sitcom characters- you might be very prophetic in the worst way.
As a side note, all of the behavior I am describing is perfectly normal and healthy, except for the duration of the fight. If it hadn't gone on so long, I wouldn't have intervened. I am a trained crab keeper and do not recommend intervening if you have crabs and such a situation arises- I was very careful that nobody got hurt. This particular form of combat was not, as some might assume, over mating rights (they will rarely mate in captivity) or dominance (that fight is considerably more interesting to watch and should be stopped immediately), but literally over Fred's shell.
Ethel finally moved to the leading edge of the lid so that I could open it wide enough to reach in and grab her (she promptly decided that I was far more interesting to climb on, so I got to chase her over my arms- she's definitely the fast one). Once I had the Ethel situation sorted, I found Lucy and stopped to say hello and make sure she was well. Then I got the dueling gentlemen out.
DO YOU KNOW HOW STRONG THOSE LITTLE BUGGERS ARE?! Holy fleeping crabcakes, Batman. You can't just pull, either- they'll be pulled in half before they risk giving up a shell. I had to just gently nudge Ricky's walking legs around the rim of Fred's shell to get him to lose traction, then rock back and forth to loosen his grip, applying a gentle pressure the whole time. It took almost fifteen minutes to seperate the two of them. My core and arm muscles still kinda ache a bit. I need to get in shape...
Anyways, Fred has rejoined his lady-friends, while Ricky is in the Naughty Room- a little tank kept expressly for isolation purposes. He's got some moss to dig in and keep humidity, several new shells to pick from (NOT that there's anything at all wrong with his lovely green shell), a temple to hide in, and plenty of time to think about what he did.
TL;DR: Always be careful when naming your hermit crabs after sitcom characters- you might be very prophetic in the worst way.
