I have a hermit crab, but I am freaked out about holding it?

Question

I got a hermit crab TODAY, but I am sorta nervous about holding it. You see when hes crawling and I pick him up to hold him, he spreads out his claws and THAT makes me not want to hold him. But I guess the main reason is I do not wanna be pinched. Does it hurt or what???

Answer 1

Oh, I know exactly how you feel.  I used to have a hermit crab, for quite a while, and I've taken care of many other peoples crabs.  Hermit crabs generally don't pinch you unless they are nervous, or you aren't nice to them.  My hermit crab didn't pinch even once, out of the many years I had him.  My neighbours hermit crab did though.  They sometimes pinch if you aren't holding them right, or if they're stressed.  That hermit crab was stressed out so it pinched me.  I'm sorry to say that itdoes hurt, actually, it hurt me alot.  I had a blood blister for quite a while.  Don't be nervous about holding him, if you aren't he won't be.  Let him walk around your bed or on the floor a bit first, so he can get used to the eniroment.  Make sure he has a nice cage, and he will be fine.

Good luck with your new crab!

Answer 2

Well you shouldn't hold it on the day you got it. Let him roam around in his crabitat and let him do his own thing for around a week so. If you need to move him in his crabitat, (which you won't need to do much unless crabs are fighting or you are cleaning the tank) I just hold him by the back of the shell. As for handling him...

I would start off my holding smaller crabs as they tend to be less aware of what could happen were as larger crabs lived longer and experienced more predator encounters, plus if you get pinched, it doesn't hurt as much!

This sounds a little silly, but I talk to my crabs. I think you should too! They learn to recognize your voice and will be less likely to pinch. When you hold the crab let him sit on your hand until he emerges. Don't Let him emerge before he goes on your hand. Put him on your hand while he's still withdrawn into his shell. He will come out when he's ready.

Also hold your skin out flat, as they wont have as much skin to pinch if they do. Hermit Crabs usually only pinch if they think they are going to fall, or if they feel threatened, which is rare for me.

If you get pinched, which you will EVENTUALLY, don't panic. If you panic you are likely to move around frantically and this will frighten the crab and he will pinch you longer and harder. It hurts, but its not SHJ@!J)*!EW!@@#!K@ kinda hurt. hen he pinches do one of the following

• Lay your hand on a table. He should let go.

• Put your hand in the tank. He will smell the crabitat and will feel safer and most likely let go.

DO NOT DO THIS

Don't put the crab under a tap of water as alot of people say you should do. This is bad for the gills and if you put the water on to hot/cold, it could kill them. I tried this and it scared the crab and he pinched even harder.

Well thats it lol sorry for the huge answer. I've been with crabs for a while so I just wanted to say all I knew lol...

Good Luck!

Answer 3

he wont pinch you my sister had hers for 5 years... and he never pinched her she was always holding and playing with him ....she use to let him roam around her room .... you have to put bigger shells around too cause they change shells they outgrow......

Answer 4

Hermit crabs are a little scary at first and I would never go near one when I got my first! My dad told me to wear tough gloves and let them crawl on my hands. I put on my gardening gloves and let them crawl on my hands and when they did try to pinch it did not pinch me. Just like us hermit crabs get scared! Never move fast in front of them and if they feel like they are going to fall they will pinch. If you ever get pinched and the crabs will not let go put your hand under hot water and they will soon let go. Don't be mad at your crab if it does pinch you because it is their natural instinct to pinch! After a pinch make sure you clean your cut(if it leaves a cut)with some kind of liquid that will clean it! I hope that this long answer really helps you like it helped me!

     Hope and Faith,

                                  Hermitcrabgirl

Answer 5

He is just spreading out his claws because he is in the air.  My cousin had hermit crabs, and I never got piched by them, so you should be okay.  If he does pinch you, it will probably only happen once or twice until he isn't afraid of you anymore.

Answer 6

i used to have a hermit crab and i was scared of holding him but i noticed that he would not hurt me because he was more scared of me than i was scared of him.       so i hope i helped you with all of this.

Answer 7

I have a hermit crab too. I hold it all the time. When you pick it up it spreads out his claws only because he feels like he's going to fall and he's trying to hold on to something. But he'll get used to it. I go pinched once because I put my finger too close to my hermit crab's claws. It doesn't really hurt. So hold it by the very end of the shell. Don't drop the hermit crab! The shell will crack!

Answer 8

the hermit crab won't pinch you as long as you don't do anything weird to it. pick him up my his shell, and the set him in your palm. he won't pinch you. if that freaks you out, set him on a table, and let him crawl on to your hand.

Answer 9

All hermies do that when you go to pick them up. He is just defending himself since you are so much bigger but the more you handle them the more they will get to know and like you.

Here's my hermie question to those with knowledge PLEASE!

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 10

It depends on how big the crab is. But, yes, it's gonna hurt, at least a bit. But you'll live through it. They rarely pinch unless you really force it.