Hands-off or hands-on? I'd like to bring a thought to the table

[Julsie]

Awww such pretty little friends you have! I love the one in the dark shell that looks like he’s got a grey-ish type hue, the one up on your arm in the other pic I think? They’re all very pretty crabbies!

I’d like to hear from anybody else who visits with their friends, occasionally or a little more often! I love hearing about others’ experiences doing this and what sort of results/reactions you’ve gotten from them! A good thread for the other side of the fence going on here I believe! Like, those of us who do interact with them, I feel like a lot of us don’t talk about it much for fear of backlash? Not me personally, but it’s definitely a legitimate concern sometimes.

Keep going! I wanna hear more!

This is my silly Gene- I don’t know what was into him this day- he was doing this after like 2 seconds of being picked up lol. He went so far at one point I saw the actual very end of his abdomen- whaaaa?!? I did feel bad and I immediately let him go back to doing his Gene thing but wow!



***Edited to say there is actually a hand just out of frame under the little guy! My son took the pic really quickly for us.
Dave the Wondercrab~Pat~Maggie~ Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~MissTeri~Tim~Gene~ Barry~Mr S~Princess + 5 Es + Mr EnDoh =my crabby clan!

What a cute little crabby gene reminds me of my davy jones I believe shes the one you’re talking about. The one with the same shell as gene? But yeah I interact with all my crabs but i leave the shyer ones alone more. I’d say about 3-4 of my crabs R very people friendly even when I have guests over they like to come out and say hi and they’ve never pinched !


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[Overmountain1]

Awww thank you! Gene is a sweetie. And yes! That’s who I meant. Your second from the bottom, with the lighter colors, reminds me a lot of Corn- she’s got that light colored m leg thing going on too! She eats well tho, so it’s just her as far as I can tell! She is probably one of the shyest crabs I have, and when I do get her out (for now anyway) I try to let her just walk around on the towel I have on top of her tote. We are working up to actual hands. She lets me get pretty close now before she startles, and comes out a little faster, so its progress. We visit maybe once every 1-2 months or so. For maybe 5-10 mins at a time. It’s slow going but with my number of crabbies I don’t feel as compelled to want to bother her any more often. Anyway- thanks for sharing!! I love hearing about people’s crab experiences!

Oh yeah! We did have a quick fingertip visit when I set her out this time. That’s as far as she would come out, and she spun around just like that too! Lol
This crab has the absolute longest antennae of all my crabs. It actually sticks out of her shell when she retracts!


Dave the Wondercrab~Pat~Maggie~ Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~MissTeri~Tim~Gene~ Barry~Mr S~Princess + 5 Es + Mr EnDoh =my crabby clan!

[jonathon1989]

My hermie Coral loves interaction and to be handled. Clawdia will come out when I pick her up but shes not as outgoing.


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[w h a l e b o n e]

I'm loving all the posts! Like I said earlier, I'm open for both sides of the argument! To be honest, I thought I was going to get some backlash for posting this, but it's so cool to see that people have so many different approaches to crabbing and yet are tolerant of others! Yay for crabs! My baby's still molting but has almost finished his exo meal. Hoping to get him friends soon...

[DevilNDisguise]

I'm loving all the posts! Like I said earlier, I'm open for both sides of the argument! To be honest, I thought I was going to get some backlash for posting this, but it's so cool to see that people have so many different approaches to crabbing and yet are tolerant of others! Yay for crabs! My baby's still molting but has almost finished his exo meal. Hoping to get him friends soon...

That's something that I really love about this forum. Everyone is really understanding about the fact that there are so many different methods to keeping hermit crabs. We all pretty much get the basics, but otherwise, they're very under-studied creatures, so it's truly difficult to say strictly and with certainty that "this is how it works and you must conform".

[Julsie]

That's something that I really love about this forum. Everyone is really understanding about the fact that there are so many different methods to keeping hermit crabs. We all pretty much get the basics, but otherwise, they're very under-studied creatures, so it's truly difficult to say strictly and with certainty that "this is how it works and you must conform".

I agree. In the end we all love our crabs and care for them. it’s my crab and it’s your crab and as long as they get the basic care requirements each side is entitled to their own opinion and we live and we learn from our mistakes


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[Veritasx626]

I try not to handle mine too much because they're small mediums but when they get bigger I plan to try and hand feed my willing crabs by offering them treats. Right now I'm more focused of making sure they grow and are nice and healthy. I feel like being so small theyre a little more nervous with interactions although hermy ( my longest owned crab) will sometimes not hide while being handled while zoidberg when handled wont hide but is very intent on getting away.

[Overmountain1]

I try not to handle mine too much because they're small mediums but when they get bigger I plan to try and hand feed my willing crabs by offering them treats. Right now I'm more focused of making sure they grow and are nice and healthy. I feel like being so small theyre a little more nervous with interactions although hermy ( my longest owned crab) will sometimes not hide while being handled while zoidberg when handled wont hide but is very intent on getting away.

That sounds like a great plan to ease them into it to me! I’m sure they’ll come around with time and age, at least some. And if not, who cares? They’re still fun to watch. Am I right?
Ps- I had to say I love that you named one Zoidberg!


Dave the Wondercrab~Pat~Maggie~ Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~MissTeri~Tim~Gene~ Barry~Mr S~Princess + 5 Es + Mr EnDoh =my crabby clan!

[aslansgirl89]

Kind of on this topic, occasionally I will get my crabbies out and put them in a small dish tub with a little treat for them to snack on and my female, Shallan, is a complete treat hog! I just watched her with her treat in both claws, tucked under her body, walk the entire length of the tub just to stick out her leg, not her claws mind you because they were full of treats of course, and push my male over backwards because he was peacefully eating his own treat!

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[aslansgirl89]

Kind of on this topic, occasionally I will get my crabbies out and put them in a small dish tub with a little treat for them to snack on and my female, Shallan, is a complete treat hog! I just watched her with her treat in both claws, tucked under her body, walk the entire length of the tub just to stick out her leg, not her claws mind you because they were full of treats of course, and push my male over backwards because he was peacefully eating his own treat!

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Here's a picture of her back in the tank with her treat!

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[Hermiesguardian]

Kind of on this topic, occasionally I will get my crabbies out and put them in a small dish tub with a little treat for them to snack on and my female, Shallan, is a complete treat hog! I just watched her with her treat in both claws, tucked under her body, walk the entire length of the tub just to stick out her leg, not her claws mind you because they were full of treats of course, and push my male over backwards because he was peacefully eating his own treat!

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I saw one of mine shove some food inside his shell and walk away. Guess he wanted a midnight snack.

[CrabbyLover77]

I saw one of mine shove some food inside his shell and walk away. Guess he wanted a midnight snack.

Why walk all the way to the food dish when you can have your snack in a shell that previously had another crabby butt in it? Lol

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[CrabbyLover77]

Here's a picture of her back in the tank with her treat!

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Too funny!!

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[Hermiesguardian]

Why walk all the way to the food dish when you can have your snack in a shell that previously had another crabby butt in it? Lol

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[Links]

I’ve gotten to the point I don’t even like opening the lid letting in 65 degree air. So I try to limit it to once a day when I add food and water the moss on the wood which will never becomes established with crabs snacking on it. Although they seem to prefer one variety in particular unless they just liked the location. They’ve finished that variety and haven’t done much to the others. But am I just paranoid? I’m thinking of my fish keeping days, being very cautious when doing water changes to add water of the same temperature. My tank is about 80°F and usually over 80% humidity and sometimes over 90% after I water the moss. My basement, where the crabs reside is 65° and 45% humidity. Wouldn’t that be a shock? Or just a minute or two is ok? I’m not sure the health of my two bigger (golf ball size) crabs. They don’t seem very perky. If they’re stressed I don’t want to cause more.


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