Mating Hermit crabs?

[Pucker]

I have a few Red legged hermit crabs and two of them are locked together. Their shell openings are facing each other and they haven’t moved in a little over a week. One of the crabs is basically holding the other shell and holding on tight. I have moved them once and the one holding onto the other one's shell does not retract in when the plastic claw picks them up and the one that is being held onto retracts back in as expected. What is this behavior? Has anyone seen Hermits do this before.
Thanks
Greg

 

[Anonymous]

Over a week? 8O

I have a lively crowd of hermits but have never observed anything like that.

 

[ChrisRD]

Hey and :welcome:

I've never noticed hermits locked together for so long like that either.

I'll move this into the GRD forum and leave a copy here as well to help get you more feedback...

 

[dodo99]

My blue-legged hermits have gone through a phase like that about 2 weeks ago. The longest any two were together was about 3 days - till I tapped on 'em just to make sure the smaller one was still alive. Some of them would also shake the second crab's shell - looked like humping to me... lol, so I left them alone.

DoDo

 

[Anonymous]

Congratulations.
Depending on the exact species this mating behavior can last anywhere from 1 hour to 2 weeks. Unfortunately, again depending on the species, emergence of baby hermits may take up to 12 months. Probably all of the larva will be eaten by other tank inhabitants beforehand.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

Yeah, their definitely going through the "honeymoon" phase. Give em a few years and she'll start avoiding him and getting headaches.