Walking the crab

[Quinnthescrub]

i put twine around the shell of one of mine and walked him around my house

[hermitcrablover2]

Aww! That sounds so cute! Now I want to make a leash for my hermit crabs when they get bigger too

[KyMart]

Hello, it's been a while since I've contributed to this forum. The crab I introduced in Dec. 2019, Busy, seems to be thriving still. Since that time, I have continued taking her out of the cage for an hour or two, pretty much every night (generally while I prepare/eat dinner). This has been a big part of my hermit crab experience so I wanted to share it on this forum.

My biggest concern has been safety. There are all kinds of potential hazards. It can be a bit stressful having to worry about her getting tromped on by my wife (which almost happened once), or by me (or sat on by me on the couch, where I often let her walk around). And I'm terrified of her getting lost or stuck in some inaccessible place. I check on her every few minutes, and what I've learned is that if I mumble to myself, "She's heading towards the dog food", etc. it fixes it in my mind and makes it a lot easier to keep track of where she is. I'm most afraid of her getting behind a heavy appliance like the oven, fridge or washing machine, because it might be impossible to extricate her safely. I close doors to rooms to limit where she can go. The other terror is the removable vents in the floor, a one-way trip to the furnace/AC! Can't imagine why anybody would remove them, but my mind tends to imagine horrible scenarios so it makes me nervous and I always check. Closets are a big worry too, but easy to close off.

There are lots of other potential hazards. Maybe it's not healthy to be out in the dry air (we're in Colorado). Quite often I bring her out first to the bathroom when I am heading to the shower, which should be a nice humid/safe stroll for a crab, but then I bring her to the kitchen/dining area when I am starting dinner. There are fallen leaves from houseplants, which she sometimes nibbles on, and those could be toxic. She also likes to eat the dog food crumbs around our dog's dish, and a couple of times, has climbed inside it! One time she climbed onto my plate (I had been eating on the couch) and ate some crumbs. I worried afterward that there might be something unhealthy for her on my plate. But the habit I've developed, is to basically let her nibble on anything, but not to give her more than a couple minutes with it (all things in moderation). I imagine dog food might have toxic unknowns though (pesticides etc.). She really seems to like soft plastics, and one time she nibbled a big hole in my earbud, which also concerned me. But I also feel like having the opportunity to poke around on the floor might also give her trace nutrients she is not getting with the 3-4 commercial crab foods I feed her. But really, I started this from feeling that she would enjoy having places to explore.

One of her favorite places to go and settle down is where the wifi router and internet modem are, behind the TV. I suspect they are giving off warmth that she likes, although where she sits between them, doesn't seem noticeably warm to the touch. She also likes to climb on a wicker magazine basket. On the couch (which has fuzzy texture, not leather or anything), it is quite easy for her to climb around and even upside-down. Sometimes she runs into bits of dog food that she had transported there on an earlier night and settles in to munch. (On a few occasions when I pick her up to limit time with the plants/dog food, I've noticed that she's still holding on to a piece.) Of course she leaves crab poops here and there, something to clean up but not really a concern, as they dry up soon enough.

The dog is another potential worry, but our dog is a real scaredy-cat and always gets up and leaves when she comes exploring too close.

Once in a while I worry about a sudden blackout happening (e.g. during hot nights when the power company is under stress), so it's important to know where to grab a flashlight so I could retrieve her ASAP.

I've taken her outside on a handful of occasions, and she seemed to enjoy exploring in the lawn/weeds, but obviously that's really fraught with what-ifs and I have to keep even more of an eagle eye on her, so it's kind of stressful.

Anyhow, I am curious if anybody else has experiences like mine. I'm not sure how I got so hooked on this habit. Having written all this, I'm guessing somebody will tell me walking the crab is a bad idea. Looking at my journal, the walks became much more frequent in summer of 2019, and have been basically every day since. She last molted in Aug. 2020 and still seems pretty active in the cage so I'm supposing she's still healthy. One thing though, she hasn't swapped shells in a few months, so currently I'm shopping for new shells.

Have you thought about getting a mini hamster ball? That way your crab can still move around and explore but be safe from eating things they shouldn't? You would want to line the inside of it with craft mesh and attach it, might be kinda tricky but you could definitely tweak it, I mean the ball has holes, so with some zip ties and probably a mini drill you could get it to work! You would definitely want to line the inside so that the crabs legs don't slip into the wholes and get stuck, this could seriously injure the crab, that's why the lining would be very important. Idk what others opinions are on this, but I have personally thought about doing this with my crab who loves to explore, if I put my hand in the crabitat, he will crawl onto my hand, and if I put my other hand Infront of the hand he is on he will crawl onto it, and repeat the process! He loves this game, it's like I'm his own personal treadmill, and I feel that it is a great form of exercise, sometimes he crawls onto the back of my hand, he doesn't pinch me, he just explored, he will even climb up my arm, but if I put my hand Infront of him, he will climb back into my hand most of the time. He seems very happy and like he is enjoying himself when I do this with him, and he has a system of telling me when he is done. When he's done playing (normally about 30 minutes to an hour after we start he stops walking, chills for a bit, and then climbs to the edge of my hand without going to the next and just looks at me, I then go, "Ok buddy, I see you, let's get you back with the others, ok?" and then I take him to the crabitat, open the lid, and put my hand with him on it next to his favorite hide and he crawls off onto it. Some people are probably going to say that I shouldn't handle my crabs, but I never force him to be handled and I know his personality and when he is done, I don't pick him up and put him on my hand, I offer my hand too him and he runs out of his hide for play time. If he is showing signs of molting I do not disturb him, and I also don't disturb his eating or bathing time. I offer him this once every afternoon when I get home from work and he normally accepts, if he doesn't that's fine with me, I just leave him be. He is my most social crab, and my biggest crab, and I feel that this is a great way to make sure he gets the exercise he deserves and craves before I get him his wheel. When he has a wheel (in the updated crabitat I am working on), I still offer him this option once daily. I do this in a room that is 70° F to 71° F so it's no to cold for him, and my room is pretty humid so he isn't stressed by that factor either. He loves just sitting in my hand and seeing the world, and getting a chance to be out of glass box for a while. If he shows signs he doesn't like it anymore, I stop. I think a hamster ball would be a great safe way for him to explore and stay safe within the home. I would watch him the entire time to make sure he doesn't escape out of it (like hamsters seem to do I'm most balls). If you don't the craft mesh right, you might be able to help avoid escapes, but I'm not sure..

~ KyMart

[crabocado]

Hi KyMart, thanks for the ideas and I enjoyed reading your description of your crab's excursions and your handling techniques. I think letting your crab walk over your hands like an escalator is probably giving him an experience pretty similar to my crab's outings -- crabs are pretty simple creatures and he is probably navigating you as a "landscape", not all that different from climbing over stuff on the floor.

Personally, this may be a bit too permissive but I like the idea of letting my crab just go everywhere in the main room of the house. Other than the unnatural environment itself, this seems like the most "natural" type of experience, in that the crab has total control over where it goes. I feel like it is a way to get little bits of nutrients that otherwise may not be available. There are probably dead spiders, moths, small bits of food that dropped from the kitchen counter. When she latches onto a dog food kibble, I can always tell within a couple minutes and I'll pry it away, in case of pesticides. There is a corner where some house plant drops dry leaves, and she likes to hang out there munching or poking at them.

A hamster wheel definitely sounds like something you could experiment with. It's possible the crab will get its leg stuck as you mentioned, or he might suddenly fall when the ball jerks, and I imagine he might retreat into its shell. But as long as you are careful to look after the crab's safety, it's worth a try and might turn out to be a great way of providing enrichment.

It's great that you are observant about what your crab wants and doesn't want. Just speculating here, but I suspect that the larger crabs are probably more capable of handling random fluctuations in humidity (as might occur when taking them out of their cage), because of the water supply in the shell (presumably big crabs keep a larger amount). Probably with a dinky crab, people need to be more cautious about taking them out of the cage.

[KyMart]

Hi KyMart, thanks for the ideas and I enjoyed reading your description of your crab's excursions and your handling techniques. I think letting your crab walk over your hands like an escalator is probably giving him an experience pretty similar to my crab's outings -- crabs are pretty simple creatures and he is probably navigating you as a "landscape", not all that different from climbing over stuff on the floor.

Personally, this may be a bit too permissive but I like the idea of letting my crab just go everywhere in the main room of the house. Other than the unnatural environment itself, this seems like the most "natural" type of experience, in that the crab has total control over where it goes. I feel like it is a way to get little bits of nutrients that otherwise may not be available. There are probably dead spiders, moths, small bits of food that dropped from the kitchen counter. When she latches onto a dog food kibble, I can always tell within a couple minutes and I'll pry it away, in case of pesticides. There is a corner where some house plant drops dry leaves, and she likes to hang out there munching or poking at them.

A hamster wheel definitely sounds like something you could experiment with. It's possible the crab will get its leg stuck as you mentioned, or he might suddenly fall when the ball jerks, and I imagine he might retreat into its shell. But as long as you are careful to look after the crab's safety, it's worth a try and might turn out to be a great way of providing enrichment.

It's great that you are observant about what your crab wants and doesn't want. Just speculating here, but I suspect that the larger crabs are probably more capable of handling random fluctuations in humidity (as might occur when taking them out of their cage), because of the water supply in the shell (presumably big crabs keep a larger amount). Probably with a dinky crab, people need to be more cautious about taking them out of the cage.

Frog loves his daily walk on my hands! It is a great way to get him so exercise and he seems to love it! Since writing in this topic he has been a bit more explorative! He has started climbing from one side of my hand to the other as I spin it and he seems very happy! He has also started trying to climb up my arms! I have told him repetitively that he is not a parrot and he doesn't belong on my shoulder but he keeps trying! He's so cute and fun to watch! I love my little mountain climber!

[Serendipity]

Frog loves his daily walk on my hands! It is a great way to get him so exercise and he seems to love it! Since writing in this topic he has been a bit more explorative! He has started climbing from one side of my hand to the other as I spin it and he seems very happy! He has also started trying to climb up my arms! I have told him repetitively that he is not a parrot and he doesn't belong on my shoulder but he keeps trying! He's so cute and fun to watch! I love my little mountain climber!

So, I have read through all of the "walking the crab" posts, and I am intrigued! I once tried getting my crabs to warm up to being on my hand about a year ago but soo gave up as they just stayed in their shell, afraid. I didn't want to push them if they didn't want to come out. Although, in one of my crabs (Coconut), I noticed a recent change. He hasn't been hiding away and he has been active during the day. Also, when I go watch them, he doesn't shy away from my presence, he comes towards me with curiosity. I'm thinking he might be a good option to try handling. He is more new than my other two and I haven't really attempted to handle other than putting him in the tank the day I got him. How did all of you start handling your crabs? Did you bribe them with food? Where they shy at first?

[KyMart]

So, I have read through all of the "walking the crab" posts, and I am intrigued! I once tried getting my crabs to warm up to being on my hand about a year ago but soo gave up as they just stayed in their shell, afraid. I didn't want to push them if they didn't want to come out. Although, in one of my crabs (Coconut), I noticed a recent change. He hasn't been hiding away and he has been active during the day. Also, when I go watch them, he doesn't shy away from my presence, he comes towards me with curiosity. I'm thinking he might be a good option to try handling. He is more new than my other two and I haven't really attempted to handle other than putting him in the tank the day I got him. How did all of you start handling your crabs? Did you bribe them with food? Where they shy at first?

The HCA does not recommended handing hermit crabs since it stresses *MOST* of them out, which is why I let him come to me. Slowly offer your hand to him from time to time and he may come to you! I didn't bribe him with foods and he didn't shy away much at first, he lets me know when he wants no part of it, trust me, and I put him back per his request, but sometimes he doesn't want to go back!

My smallest crab Bug, is very shy, she's a shy gal and very jumpy, but super sweet when she lets me handle her! She is more social with the other crabs then she is me, but no where near as social as Frog!

My third and newest crab, Fox, I haven't really seen much of, I put him from his box (for travel from where I bought him to home (like a 20-30 minute drive!) he was safe, I promise!) straight into the tank and he has been digging down since then! I saw him once last week and was so happy, he is having fun digging tho, he's gonna freak when he sees the new tank I'm setting up and all that sub!

[Serendipity]

The HCA does not recommended handing hermit crabs since it stresses *MOST* of them out, which is why I let him come to me. Slowly offer your hand to him from time to time and he may come to you! I didn't bribe him with foods and he didn't shy away much at first, he lets me know when he wants no part of it, trust me, and I put him back per his request, but sometimes he doesn't want to go back!

My smallest crab Bug, is very shy, she's a shy gal and very jumpy, but super sweet when she lets me handle her! She is more social with the other crabs then she is me, but no where near as social as Frog!

My third and newest crab, Fox, I haven't really seen much of, I put him from his box (for travel from where I bought him to home (like a 20-30 minute drive!) he was safe, I promise!) straight into the tank and he has been digging down since then! I saw him once last week and was so happy, he is having fun digging tho, he's gonna freak when he sees the new tank I'm setting up and all that sub!

Thanks for the tips that's great advice! I will start putting my hand out to see if they want to be handled, if not I won't push it. Also all your crabs sound adorable! Especially Fox, super excited for him to see your new tank.

[KyMart]

Thanks for the tips that's great advice! I will start putting my hand out to see if they want to be handled, if not I won't push it. Also all your crabs sound adorable! Especially Fox, super excited for him to see your new tank.

I am too! I'm thinking about getting a camera or two to get some good footage of them in it!

[Serendipity]

I am too! I'm thinking about getting a camera or two to get some good footage of them in it!

A camera is such a good idea! Definitely post some footage on here, I want to see what the crabs do when us humans aren't watching.

[KyMart]

A camera is such a good idea! Definitely post some footage on here, I want to see what the crabs do when us humans aren't watching.

Lots of crabbers use cameras! The most common brand is Wyze of something!

[Serendipity]

Lots of crabbers use cameras! The most common brand is Wyze of something!

I will have to look that up!

[KyMart]

I will have to look that up!

I am thinking about ordering one soon!

[myllkti]

Loved these stories! Just wanted to add an idea for scaredy cats like me who are still working their way up to confidently using choice based handling! -- Hand feeding I just use the lil wooden spoons that came with etsy orders and its a 2-in-1 win of cuteness because 1) watching hermits eat!! and 2) interaction!! They like me!!

lol

[Serendipity]

Loved these stories! Just wanted to add an idea for scaredy cats like me who are still working their way up to confidently using choice based handling! -- Hand feeding I just use the lil wooden spoons that came with etsy orders and its a 2-in-1 win of cuteness because 1) watching hermits eat!! and 2) interaction!! They like me!!

lol

Ooo ill have to try that! Also, I have to admit, I have a weird obsession. I do like hermit crabs, but that is not the obsession I'm talking about. TINY WOODEN SPOONS! I absolutely love them. I also got a tiny wooden spoon from an order for my crabs, and instead of using it for their food, I kept it and found a plastic spoon somewhere else for them. I just love eating ice cream with my tiny spoons. I swear it makes it taste better, although my family doesn't believe me.