HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have two Hermit crabs, and one of them likes to come out of his cage and walk around. I let him out today and all he wanted to do was hang onto my hand so I let him, and then he started walking across both my palms, and suddenly he went sideways and fell off my hand. I caught him, he heck maybe a ft and I caught him in my hand against my leg. He was in his shell by then, and after I put him on the floor and he crawled around normally but is now scared of being held. I put him back in the tank and he dug under ground. I feel awful. really Awful. I just got him a week ago and I feel I already lost his trust. What can I do for him?? I feel bad for my baby

Hello Angela,

That kind of thing happens to the best of us at least once. Thankfully he is okay. It sounds like he is just really stressed from the experience. Digging down in the substrate is a way for them to calm down, so I would just let him do his thing for right now; there really is nothing else you could do for him. He should be okay though, just imagine how many things they fall from in the wild!

Unfortunately he may be afraid of being held for a while, but there is a good chance of him being more comfortable with you after some time. I have had a bunch of shy crabs, and what I do to try to get them more comfortable with me, at least at the start, I put my finger within reach of where their antennae will surely be, once they come out of their shell from hiding, and I let them 'inspect' my finger. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it has worked for me in the past. Sometimes they just get more comfortable as they get bigger.

I feel so bad cuz he was just starting to like me. The other one runs away as soon as i walk in the room where his tank is. I feel like a terrible crab mommy

I know I can't really tell you not to feel like a bad mommy, but you really shouldn't. It is common for them to behave that way when they are still new to captivity. If they haven't already dug down and molted for you, you might want to not handle them until after they do come up from a molt. You might find them behaving a little differently after that; when they haven't molted for a while and need to, you can imagine how they might be extra stressed out. Trust me, give it some time, maintain proper conditions for them, and they will grow to love you.

He was trying to climb the wall of his tank today so i brought him out for 5minutes.at first he was just standing still but within a minute he crawled on my hand, and kept crawling up my arm when i tried to put him back in his tank :3

That's so sweet; I'm glad.