OK so yesterday I got a Hermit Crab and I went to my grandmas and grandpas and I was holding her basically the whole time... then I went to my aunts... and she was pinched me and I started crying... and aunt tried to get it off just pulling gently... it wouldn't budge so she got a butter knife... and used the end and she like riped my skin! (shes OK but now I have a huge hole in my hand) I know she was probably tired of being held and she's a baby but if she does it again how can I get her off with out injuring her? And the guy we bought her from (Petsmart) said she can carry desesise (sorry not a very good speller) do I need to get shot or something because she pinched me (I don't know if its actually a she... but I want it to be lol)

This site indicates that this is NOT a "pet" you carry around because of its need for consistency in temperature/climate.

If you have a huge hole in your hand you should get medical treatment - haven't your parents suggested that?

And, again, these are NOT pets to be carried around.

HERMIT-CRABS.COM (http://www.hermit-crabs.com/care.html)

Pet stores will put out just about anything and promote as a pet. Any crustacean carries disease and hands should be washed after handling any of them. Hermit crabs, in my opinion, should be left where they belong, in the sea. Why in a pet store ?

You have a hole in your hand that needs attention; you have opened up your system to disease.

Why did your parents let you purchase this marine animal??

Take it back to the pet store. They should be reported and if I find where to, I will post it ASAP.

Get to a clinic or a hospital and have that wound taken care of LIKE NOW

This just makes me so darn mad.

Tick who is nashing her teeth right NOW

Google "hermit crabs" (without quote marks) to read up on their care.

Hermit crabs don't carry disease, but wash your hands after handling them just because. And yes, a doctor should look at your hand.

From http://www.hermit-crabs.com/care.html:

Handling
There is a lot of information floating around about the proper way to handle hermit crabs. Some people recommend picking the crab up by his shell, and others recommend placing the crab on your outstretched palm. The proper handling of hermit crabs is tricky; if you hold them by the shell, they could reach around and pinch your fingers. If you place them on your hand they could wander away and then grasp on to the flesh between the thumb and forefinger.

Ouch! So I Shouldn't Hold Them?
It is perfectly fine for you to hold your hermit crabs. However you have to respect the crabs' ability to pinch. They are in fact CRABS and most people associate crabs with claws. The key thing to remember when you are holding your hermit crabs is to not take your eyes off them. If you are paying attention to your wandering crabbie, you cut down on your chances of getting nipped and you also reduce the possibility that the crab could escape from you and become "lost."

When you pick up your crab, always grasp him by the back of his shell. NEVER pick up a crab from the front, or put a crab in your pocket and close your fist around him. The crab will become alarmed and stick out the claw and pinch. Pick up the crab carefully by his shell. If it is a very active crab, be ready to quickly transfer him to another surface, such as a sofa or bed. If you want to hold the crab in your hand, keep an eye on it and make sure that it has room to both wander and also that it seems to be comfortable. A good example of a happy, held hermit crab is one that wanders from hand to hand without stopping. You do this by placing one hand horizontally in front of the other hand, giving the crab a continuous walking surface. Do not place your hands fingertip to fingertip -- because there is not enough surface area and the crab will become alarmed and pinch.

Handling Tips for New Crab Owners
Be especially cautious with new crabs that you don't know, crabs that have in most cases been abused at the pet store and have every right to be pinchy. Think about it -- if someone picked you up and poked at you all the time, you'd pinch too!

One of the reasons that new crabs pinch is because they are literally starving to death and they automatically pinch onto things, in the vain hope that they might snag some kind of food. A friend and I once went into a pet store and found a jumbo crab who was pathetically pinching the air about every 3 minutes and bringing up his empty claw to his mouthparts. It was heartbreaking, and on the way home with us, he ate an entire cracker all by himself. A simple suggestion that plays on this is to feed your new crabs well, and try not to play with them for the first few days they are living with you.

Use gloves if you are nervous. There is nothing wrong with protecting your skin from a crab that you don't know. Thinner gloves are better because then you can feel the crab walking and get used to his weight on your hand. If you're nervous about them however, thicker gloves are fine. Start by holding the crab over a bed or sofa, so if the crab makes a move that startles you and you drop him, he will land on a soft surface and not be harmed.

Never allow a child to hold a new pet crab in a kitchen, bathroom or other areas with uncarpeted floors. A fall from three feet or more onto a hard surface can be fatal (the crab's delicate internal organs rupture). So please supervise all children with their new crabbies until they are comfortable with the crab and respectful of the crushing power of his claws. On the one hand, a softball-sized hermit crab can completely crush a No. 2 pencil in seconds with the large claw. On the other hand, the large crabs are generally more gentle. Respect the claws and you won't be caught by surprise.

One of the diseases collected from any crustacean from a break in the skin is Herpes.

Tick

I can't find anything on Google for reporting in this category, but the only way to go at the moment is :

www.pet-abuse.com/pages/animal.../reporting.../pet_stores

The "literally starving to death" part is chilling - I have to continue to wonder about pet stores (but then this discussion has been had before).

Between this and the OP prying the crab loose using a knife -

This makes me sad. I've done enough rescue work with dogs for a lifetime... and I HATE pet stores.

One of the diseases collected from any crustacean from a break in the skin is Herpes.
Please document this. Do you mean simply because of the break in the skin no matter how it's caused? Herpes?

I don't know about herpes/hermit crabs but I attended continuing education classes with my late husband and they did talk about herpes and turtles/tortoises. I think it was part of "translating" human drugs for animals.

I didn't read all of this nor do I know if it's correct: Tortoise Trust Web - Herpes Virus Infection Associated with Lymphoma in Testudo hermanni . (http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/herpes.html)

Please document this. Do you mean simply because of the break in the skin no matter how it's caused? Herpes?

I believe JKT has already picked up on this, but no, I don't mean simply because of the break in the skin, no matter how its caused, its herpes, wondergirl. I don't think I would note anything as oblique as that. I mean because it was a break in the skin caused by a hermit crab's claws, which would be extremely infested with bacteria, causes the herpes virus.

Even when handling turtles, shell fish, any kind of water creature, it is best to wash hands with a disinfectant after.

Okay


Tick

a hermit crab's claws, which would be extremely infested with bacteria, causes the herpes virus.
Are you sure you aren't confusing genital "crabs" with hermit crabs?

There may be bacteria there because of the dirtiness of the crab's environment, but according to hermit-crabs.com --

Myth #2. Hermit crabs spread disease. Wrong-o! Hermit crabs are only as dirty as what you let them get into. For years, pet stores have kept hermit crab supplies in the same area as reptile supplies, so people get the idea that hermit crabs, like reptiles, harbor salmonella and/or other harmful bacteria. Simply not true. Hermit crabs' exoskeletons render them completely hypoallergenic. So kiss-a-crab today!

Give me a break, I am a healthcare professional, how could I confuse hermit crabs with anything else.

So why are you trying to prove me entirely wrong in this thread ?

Instead of pursuing this, just give me a disagree (I don't mind that).

Tick

So why are you trying to prove me entirely wrong in this thread ?
I'm sorry, tick. I really don't mean to upset you. I'm just amazed I can't find any support for the herpes thing. Cellulitis could definitely become a problem after staph or strep germs are introduced into the broken skin. I'll keep looking but not comment here further.

TO answer the initial question - to get a hermit crab to release, you should put it under warm running water. He should let go. Prying is never the answer, they will just hold tighter as a reflex.
If you do put it under running water that is chlorinated, you should immediately give it a bath in dechlorinated water, make sure the temperature is tepid/lukewarm (not room temp, that's too cold) as chlorine in the tap water will blister his gills causing permanent damage.
Your crab pinched you because he was frightened, and it is true they do need an environment with a constant temperature range of 74-80*F, and constant relative humidity between 70-80%.
A good website to learn about what your crab really needs is http://www.crabstreetjournal.com - search for "are you ready for a land hermit crab".

Thanks for your input crabby. I hope the OP comes back to learn that neat fact. I guess if you can't handle having an unusual pet and not learning the ins and outs you should really not consider it.

I am a warm blooded pet lover myself and I like the interaction with an animal that actually 'feels' affection.

Tick

Tickle, you'd be surprised to find that those who really do love their hermit crabs and shower them with affection and love (tlc) report that the crabs respond to them. Amazing but true. You could call it conditioning, but from the stories I've heard you would have to reconsider how we humans interpret displays of affection.
As for hermit crabs, I don't think it's any child's fault, as the pet stores push them as "easy" pets, when they really are not, and as "throwaway" pets, when they only die quickly because they are not cared for properly. Compound that with the dangerous (to crabs) items that pet stores sell (keep in mind they only expect them to live a very short time) that shorten their lives even more, such as foods with toxic preservatives that cause molting abnormalities. Hermit crabs can live for decades in captivity, and the expected life span according to the general populace (and pet stores) is 6 months to a year.
I fault those who push these poor animals as "the perfect pet". They should be left on the beaches, not in tanks in our homes. Sadly, I cannot return my babies to their beaches, so as a result I am a loving custodian of these little guys. I feel for them, that they have to live their lives out in a big glass box, unable to roam for miles like they are used to.
No, don't blame the kids, they are all misinformed.

Tickle, you'd be surprised to find that those who really do love their hermit crabs and shower them with affection and love (tlc) report that the crabs respond to them. Amazing but true. You could call it conditioning, but from the stories I've heard you would have to reconsider how we humans interpret displays of affection.
As for hermit crabs, I don't think it's any child's fault, as the pet stores push them as "easy" pets, when they really are not, and as "throwaway" pets, when they only die quickly because they are not cared for properly. Compound that with the dangerous (to crabs) items that pet stores sell (keep in mind they only expect them to live a very short time) that shorten their lives even more, such as foods with toxic preservatives that cause molting abnormalities. Hermit crabs can live for decades in captivity, and the expected life span according to the general populace (and pet stores) is 6 months to a year.
I fault those who push these poor animals as "the perfect pet". They should be left on the beaches, not in tanks in our homes. Sadly, I cannot return my babies to their beaches, so as a result I am a loving custodian of these little guys. I feel for them, that they have to live their lives out in a big glass box, unable to roam for miles like they are used to.
No, don't blame the kids, they are all misinformed.

Hi again crabby, no not blaming the kids. I am blaming the pet stores because when they run out of something better to do they promote these creatures for pets and quite frankly, I prefer the warm blooded variety. I am glad you protect your little creatures and love them, but many people don't, as you say. Years ago it was baby alligators that got too big and were flushed down the toilet and grew up in the sewers of New York City (I almost type New York kity, ****laughing****, I refuse to use LOL).

And then in Toronto people are buying a really unusual type of boa constrictor and keeping them in apartments, don't feed them, and these creatures get loose in the venting systems and make themselves disappear within an apartment building.

Know where I am coming from.

Think of the attack of the giant hermit crab who uses the Gugenheim museum as its home which is, if you think about it, a chambered nautilus just waiting for a giant hermit crab.. Okay. I go now my friend.

Tick

I agree - it's the pet stores and parents who don't do their homework.

Up here for a while it was sugar gliders - !

I interview people all the time who have snakes in their houses - makes no sense to me. I actually had a woman who told me the snake was for her protection. I guess if someone broke in she was going to take it out of the tank and throw it at the bad guy.

Takes all kinds.

(I prefer a dog, a big dog - 2 in fact- with even bigger barks!)

'Some people have too much time on their hands'... I take exception to that remark my friend. We are all volunteers here with permanent jobs, some, including me, a very busy permanent job. And whose harassing the kid ?
Woah yourself.
Tick

Who would believe hermit crabs could go the distance of what, five pages. I wonder if he found a can to crawl into along the way and have a nap.

Tick

I'm rather lost in the first couple of posts that I read, so I'm just going to give my advise. Sorry if it has already been given.

Why were you holding a hermit crab in the first place? These types of pets are for looking at, not touching. They're about the same as a frog. The salt (which is nothing like sea salt) absorbs into the skin of the crab and will shorten the life span.

To have a hermit crab let go of you, put it in water. The crab will eventually let go. Get him out of there immediately, or he'll drown, but that was the best way I found out how to get crabs off me.

Please don't use any other type of utensil. You're going to hurt him.

As far as the disease discussion. Any animal can trasmit a disease. Salmonella is always a huge thing to be careful of when handling reptiles or amphibians. It also depends on how clean you keep the cage. If the animal has a dirty cage, infection of your wound is more likely. If the cage is relatively clean, infection is still likely, but not as high of risk.

Clean your wound with a good antibiotic. Keep it covered. Don't hold hermit crabs all day and don't allow anyone to pry the animal off your skin. We found out what that did, hurt you more than it hurt the animal.

Good luck