Wow, my little blue hermit..

[rlsdsurfer]

..has apparently eaten a nass snail and stole its shell!

Which brings me to this thought, What do hermits and snails do when they out grow there shells?
Also, having a problem with ast snails flipping over and not being able to right themselves and in this narrow tank is becoming an issue. What other snail does the same job as the ast snail?

 

[dixiegirl21191]

When hermits out grow their shells, they do as yours did. They will search for a new shell or kill a snail for his. Snails shells grow with them.

 

[chichimom79]

Put an assortment of different sized empty shells in the tank will reduce the liklihood of your hermits killing snails for their shells, but in my experience, some hermits prefer to kill for their new shell. I have put all my hermits in the sump now.

 

[rlsdsurfer]

well....I guess I need some shells. The other blue leg is the same size so might be looking also. Then I have 2 good sized red legs that also mat need shells. Are they specific? Or can I go for a walk on the beach? Live in San Diego.

 

[reefnoob]

You can probably just pick it up from the beach. Make sure its a variety of sizes. And I would clean the shells really well if I were you.

 

[Smitty]

+1 Dixiegirl...snails grow, and crabs steal.

 

[Big K]

Oh how cool it would be to be able to "just pick some up off the beach". Lol

I'm 10 hrs from a beach!

 

[dixiegirl21191]

Oh how cool it would be to be able to "just pick some up off the beach". Lol

I'm 10 hrs from a beach!

That's what I'm going to do when I go back home to FL in April!

 

[Big K]

Bah! Tennessee will always be home. Plus, it's my wife's name...lol

 

[Marinne13]

I am like 24hours from a beach :grumble:

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

Like an hour-ish to either Point Pleasant/Seaside for me. Or, like 4.5ish to Wildwood :p

 

[bjohanson1234]

Haha half hour to Lake Michigan beach... no snail shells there though:mrgreen:

 

[rlsdsurfer]

Hey guys what happens to the snail when a hermit steals its shell? Does it eat it?
Or do I need to look for a snail corpse?

 

[reefnoob]

The hermit first eats the snail, and then it takes it's shell.

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

It becomes a snack. Most people avoid hermits, I personally like them, so I know that every so often I have to re-stock my snail population lol. And that's with me throwing some shells in when I buy new hermits. Just a trade-off if you want to have them lol

 

[rlsdsurfer]

little farts

 

[rlsdsurfer]

What other good guys to hermits eat in a reef?

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

They eat/kill eachother for shells too. And, I'd be leery of putting small fish (Like a Clown Goby) with them. Chances are, they'd be fine, but it'd piss me off if they nipped at em. They can also steal food from corals if you're doing spot-feeding. So, yeah.

 

[dixiegirl21191]

My hermits tend to leave my critters alone, but then again I have spare shells in my tank and I keep them very well fed.

 

[Big K]

Same here Dixie. maybe Southern Hermits are just more courteous?