HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I also read the same about when they are given baths. I read where people say after a bath, hermies run all over and feel all happy and glad they had a bath but reality is, they are totally stressed out and scared and running due to anxiety and stress.

Ahh...if only we knew what they really were thinking instead of guessing huh? I seriously doubt that all hermit crabs like being held by humans. There may be some that have come to trust us and know us in a form of "bonding" that is, crab to human bonding and how possible it may or may not be. However, I also read that only a small percentage of hermit crabs like human interaction and pefer their own species to mingle with so when a human handles them, that also stresses them. They wouldnt hide in their shell otherwise.

I have wondered about this also. How could we know for sure? They can't tell us, but I imagine there are people who have studied them enough to be able to "read" thier behavior..... I'm interested to see what folks here have to say about this!

The main reason I stopped bathing my crabs was because somebody pointed out that the salinity of their shell water gets messed up whenever you bathe them. This makes sense to me, we all know that they mix salt and fresh water to suit their liking, and obviously it would get messed up anytime they were dunked. And crab stress isn't the same as mammal stress. For instance, on wildlife programs featuring crocodilians, it's pointed out that stress can kill them, due to a build-up of lactic acid, which is their "stress hormone" like cortisol is for humans. I don't know if crabs release lactic acid, or if it's another substance, but stress will kill them, too.

Willow wrote:The main reason I stopped bathing my crabs was because somebody pointed out that the salinity of their shell water gets messed up whenever you bathe them. This makes sense to me, we all know that they mix salt and fresh water to suit their liking, and obviously it would get messed up anytime they were dunked. And crab stress isn't the same as mammal stress. For instance, on wildlife programs featuring crocodilians, it's pointed out that stress can kill them, due to a build-up of lactic acid, which is their "stress hormone" like cortisol is for humans. I don't know if crabs release lactic acid, or if it's another substance, but stress will kill them, too.

Yeah, I read that today actually, about messing up their "shell water balance".

Yea I never bathed my hermit crabs, I always thought they would do it themselves on their own time. Also like Willow said that the salinity of their shell water gets messed up when you bathe them makes sense to me as well. If they were in the wild would they have humans out there bathing them? the answer would be no, so if they were in the wild I guess they bathe themselves some how on their own so I let them do the same. I mean it not like they are going to die if you dont bathe them at all.

Critterkeeper wrote:There may be some that have come to trust us and know us in a form of "bonding" that is, crab to human bonding and how possible it may or may not be. However, I also read that only a small percentage of hermit crabs like human interaction and pefer their own species to mingle with so when a human handles them, that also stresses them. They wouldnt hide in their shell otherwise.

Joe usually does not pull back in her shell when I handle her, but I don't really think she likes being handled too much... I know she's gotten used to me, though, because she will not let anyone else touch her!

Bathing... hmm. I see what you mean about the Salinity of their shell water, but I bathe my crabby(s)(I used to have more) now and then...
I do agree that it may also stress them quite a bit, though.

When I first got hermies, I faithfully bathed them once a week. I thought that they enjoyed it when they would pop out of their shells & run around in the water like nuts. I soon came to realize that the oposite was true.....they were running around like that because it was very stressful to them.

Now, I have 2" & 2 1/2" pools. If they feel the need to bathe, or flush their shells, they can do so at their leisure. I once believed very strongly in bathing, and now I am very opposed to it.

The only bath my crabs get is a 3x salt water bath, and then a dip in stresscoat water when I first bring them home from the pet store. After that, they are on their own!

I actually have the same story as Kathy.

Sundays were 'bath' days and the little crabbies would get their baths. I also used to let them run around on their 'playground' everynight- but that was only because they were in a cramped KK for a while.

So long story short. I only bathe them when they first come home--- I don't trust pet stores THAT much

I bathed my hermit crabs last week and when they were running around like crazy my mom said " It must be pretty hot for them put some cold water in there." It wasn't hot really at all. So you must be right. It is stress. Look on the brightside, we have discovered one more thing NOT to do with hermit crabs.

I feel the same about bathing, but I will dunk them once a month or so in water. Just a quick dunk, and then they are dried off w/ a towel, so they don't get sand all over their legs when I put them back in there. I do this to look for any signs of mites. Any mites will float off in the water, and I like to keep a close eye on this, since I have a large set up.

I do agree about the stressing though, they don't care for it I am sure.

If someone dropped me in a bowl of water that I couldn't get to the top, you would see me running around and waving my arms and legs like crazy as well--until I drowned

I do the dunking when I surface clean their tat....

I've wondered if the extra activity at and after bath time wasn't due to to stress. I used to do it weekly then it was only the GROUP WELCOME bath for the newbies. Now I'm thinkin' of doin' away with that too.

Staci, I don't think taking away the newcomer bath away is a good idea. I mean, they might not have mites on them but who knows what else they could've caught in those nasty tanks they keep poor crabbies in. I would only give newcomers a bath to get rid of anything they are carring so your first ones won't catch whatever they have 2.

What I mesnt was I am considering doing away with the whole group of crabbies bathing at once, just to greet the new guys. Oh, of course the new guy's still gonna get a bath. Not to would be just kinda icky.

ah ok