Playing With A Hermit Crab

[praba775]

Hi, is it possible if I play with my electric blue hermit crab. Because one of my hermit crab is really brave and I like to handle him when my hand is in the tank. So is it ok to handle him out of water.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi, is it possible if I play with my electric blue hermit crab. Because one of my hermit crab is really brave and I like to handle him when my hand is in the tank. So is it ok to handle him out of water.

Not sure why you want to "play" with it but, yes, they can be taken out of water. Don't let him dry out.

 

[praba775]

Hi, idk myself why i would want to play with the hermit crab. Probably he is really brave and I feel like it would be nice to bring him out and show around. But anyway, does bringing the hermit crab out of water cause any stress.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Hermits can come out of the water naturally so that’s not a stress to them. Not sure how they feel about being manhandled lol.

 

[praba775]

Ok thanks. So I dont have to be scared of them getting stressed out.

 

[shcrimps]

my electric blue ventured out of the tank and onto my carpet (don’t know how long)
only noticed when the cat was watching something and i see a little shell walking across the floor lolol
that tank has a lid now and he will not escape again

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hi, is it possible if I play with my electric blue hermit crab. Because one of my hermit crab is really brave and I like to handle him when my hand is in the tank. So is it ok to handle him out of water.

If you want to offer the hermit some enrichment in the water, the quotes and links below may give you some ideas on some ways you could potentially do that (they're geared toward different critters, but most are adaptable with a little creativity):

The second link below actually has some info specifically on puffers, but both links contain some general ideas for fish/invert enrichment (play) ideas:

Enrichment for the fish???

Hello everyone! I am wondering if you guys know a way to provide enrichment / exciting experiences for my fish. I have a 45G tank with 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 gold midas blenny, 1 longnose hawkfish and 2 banggai cardinal. I would like to help them have some fun to make their lives happier...

www.reef2reef.com

Trigger stimulation, how do you prevent boredom?

I've got a juvi Blue Throat, maybe ~4 inches, and recently he's been spitting water around the tank even after I've fed. I feed 4 times daily so I highly doubt food is the goal here. I've read they can do this when bored or are just messing around. Moving around the rock work has been suggested...

www.reef2reef.com

Some other things I've seen include putting colored dice in with mantis shrimp, playing catch with octopuses, and some unique food puzzles for specific species (such as putting food in a toy boat at the top of the water for an octopus to sink so they can get the food in the boat).

Full disclosure, I don't have a mantis shrimp (at least, not yet - I might in the future), but for most animals, I look at cat and bird toys for some inspiration on how to provide them with some good, quality enrichment. So, my first thought would be some kind of food puzzle toy - though, I'm not sure what kind of food puzzle would work well for a mantis shrimp. Maybe the whiffle ball kind where the food is in the center and falls out of the holes when knocked around properly (you'd need a very durable &/or flexible ball for this, though, as it would likely be punched/speared repeatedly). If the food puzzle works or you want to try a different kind, there are plenty out there, and you can be as eccentric or mundane with them as you want.

Another thing you could try (I have no idea if the mantis would go for it or not) would be one of those bell/rattle ball toys (obviously you'd want one with no metal that can take a fair amount of abuse).

Also, while blaxsun's comment above was clearly intended to be humorous, you could actually try it in a variety of forms, and it might actually work. You could hang the "punching bag" in the tank a ways away from the walls and have it be either a rattle toy that sounds when "punched" or a food puzzle toy (you could do something like a mesh bag with food inside that either cuts open when speared, or one with wide enough holes that some food comes out when it's "punched" - you'd want to keep an eye on any mesh though, just to make sure the mantis doesn't get stuck, so this would be a "with supervision" toy until you've tested it enough to feel it's safe). Or, you could even have it be both a rattle and food puzzle (just put the rattle portion at the very top or very bottom would be my suggestion).

Again, not having a mantis, I have no idea if they would go for any of these toys or not, but I'd be interested to know if you decide to try any of them.

 

[Stomatopods17]

If you want to offer the hermit some enrichment in the water, the quotes and links below may give you some ideas on some ways you could potentially do that (they're geared toward different critters, but most are adaptable with a little creativity):

off topic but couldn't help myself on that last quote of yours.

For mantis shrimp if you want to use a 'toy', you can make a tiny acrylic box with only one side that's covered with something breakable, such as really wedging in a half shell clam.

Mantis Shrimp are capable of strategically investigating objects for weak points and targetting them in those specific spots. They've even been known to wedge certain things against rock or a bit in the sand to get better hits off (hence if you ever fed one a snail you'll notice it spin the snail around a lot and then push it in the sand a bit before hitting once).

___

Ontopic; Don't handle your hermits out of water lol, they're not necessarily looking for enrichment, they're just always on the move and looking for shells. You risk dropping them, handling them at a bad time after or before a molt, etc. The best enrichment you can give a hermit is a large quantity of shell options and it'll move between them even if it doesn't need to. Otherwise physically playing with them doesn't benefit them and likely does more harm than good. You can hand feed one and let it come to you.

 

[praba775]

Ok. Thanks