Do my crabs know who I am?

[Crabigail]

Can my crabs tell the difference between me and another human ? Do they know their owners?

[Craftycrabber]

Personally, I think they do. My crabs seem to recognize me both by smell ( if I ever get them out, which is rare now) and by my behavior in front of their tank. Of course this may just be my desire for them to recognize me. I give them food from my kitchen every night at 5pm and change water if needed, etc. My jumbos come to the dish even before I am through putting stuff out, but when my neighbor took over when I was gone she never saw them.....hmmmmmmm

[wodesorel]

They certainly can seem to tell when when it's me, when it's my hubby ("It's the big guy! Everyone be cautious") and my mother ("AAHHH! Unknown Lady! Everyone freak out!").

Strangely enough my bettas are the same way.

[Jackolope]

Yah they seem to know you and get used to you. When I first got Maggie (RIP) she was skiddish. As we progressed, I could have her out of the tank and walking on the floor in my room, you could pass by her and she wouldn't give a hoot. And like Crafty said they seem to know their "food rituals" well. I used to feed my crabs in a cage before I upgraded to a tank. To this day if you place a cage in front of Tappy he will take his time looking in and around it for food.

[Anorable]

I'd say yes, to an extent. Any movement outside the tank still scares my guys, and if I reach in to tidy or pick one up they go in their shells (Frodo and Pip not so much anymore, but Sam seals himself in)

However once Frodo and Pippin poke me with their feelers they extend fairly far out of their shells and start to climb all over me. Which is fun

I'm hoping to get Sam that friendly, but he's just been through a stressful molt so I'm letting him settle in for a bit.

[Jackolope]

Tappy thinks he is a dog
If you sit on the floor and he is on the floor with you he will "sniff" your shoes for quite a long time.

[Rocky]

My crabs can definately tell me apart from other people Usually by smell, though. They'll freak out if I come near the tank, but once I hold them they come out and greet me. I do have a few crabs that don't seem to even notice me moving around nearby anymore at all
The down side: No one will come out for other people (besides my dad) and then the people just think that my crabs are un-friendly (although, it's pretty funny to see them pop out as soon as the person returns them to my hand!)

[Crabigail]

Thanks for all the wonderful replies, I thought that was the case I have one little guy (sketch) he won't come out for anybody but my boyfriend! I hold him once a day so he will get use to me, he has only popped out once. I hope he gets comfortable with me I'm having trouble decidin which species he is! Lol