male or female

z06vette387 · Post by **z06vette387** » 13 Jan 2007, 13:56

Hi All,

Ya know I haven't even bought my hermies yet and I am so addicted just by reading about them in the forums, in fact, I don't even have a tank for them.
Any ways, how do you tell a male crab from a female crab. Are the males bigger and darker than the females? Would they breed in captivity?

Matt

P.S. I don't know if this is in the right forum. If it's not I am sorry.

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 14 Jan 2007, 02:24

purple pinchers (PPs) get darker the older they get. to see if they are m or f, they have to come out of their shell far enough. you have to look under/behind their 3rd walking leg. if you see 2 little black/grey dots, it's a f, if not it's a m. in the wild they will hold their eggs in these pouches. they generally dont' breed in captivity. you can if you wish, but buy a book on how to breed them. i do know that they should be able to completely submerge themselves in salt water.

hermiesrokmysox · Post by **hermiesrokmysox** » 14 Jan 2007, 12:19

here's a link: http://www.hermit-crabs.com/sexing.html

iluvhermies · Post by **iluvhermies** » 14 Jan 2007, 16:39

Hermies cannot breed in captivity. They have to have the waves of the ocean for laying there eggs.

Jedi_Sena · Post by **Jedi_Sena** » 26 Jan 2007, 08:46

I had a hermit crab die mid-molt and one side of it's carcass had these 1/2" long curved hair-like structures. I was told that this was a female ready to lay eggs and the "lashes" help them deposit the eggs. Before then, I had thought she was a boy.