Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Where we discuss the behavior of our hermit crabs, as in fights, pecking orders, shell swaps, etc. Please post all naked-crab posts in the Emergency forum.
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HermitCrabsRock828
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Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by HermitCrabsRock828 » Wed Jan 25, 2012 8:31 pm

Hello! My hermit crab has been "wiping his eyes" A LOT lately. Can hermies wipe their eyes? He is taking one eye, sometimes two, and wiping them off with those little mouth parts that they use to bring food into their mouths. This is probably a silly question, but i just want to know :P Also, if they can wipe their eyes, he has been doing it A LOT. Any possible reasons why? If they can't wipe their eyes, what is he doing? Thanks :crabbigsmile:
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Paws&Claws
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by Paws&Claws » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:15 pm

I don't know what it means exactly, but I've seen my crab wipe her eyes a couple of times too. I just assumed she was cleaning them.
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turkey the crab
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by turkey the crab » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:31 pm

My crabs do this all the time!
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RedbirdFL
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by RedbirdFL » Wed Jan 25, 2012 9:54 pm

Yeah, my crabs do that too. I think it's very cute looking!
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HermitCrabsRock828
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by HermitCrabsRock828 » Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:29 pm

Thank you all for the responses! It is very cute looking :crabbigsmile: I'm glad that is isn't unusual or anything along those lines :)
KANKRI and ANGEL <3 Best friends for life! One Large Purple Pincher: Kankri Vantas. My name is Angel, and i am human. I make mistakes just like the rest of us :) Started crabbing a while back, but just got everything in-order less then a year ago. Thanks for noticing me!
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Rocky
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by Rocky » Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:58 am

I've only seen my PPs do it a couple times, but I see my blues do it constantly! They have little arm things that they use to groom their gills and mouth, its really creepy looking. Im assuming they can clean their eyes with their mouth parts and then clean the mouth parts with the arm thing :P Wolf has a video of her crab cleaning his gills with his creepy arm, I'll go look for it :)
Edit: found it: http://www.youtube.com/user/farfinmoske ... UrjLsgu0kk
Creepy! :shock:
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RedbirdFL
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by RedbirdFL » Thu Jan 26, 2012 12:16 pm

A couple of weeks ago, Luna was cleaning the back edge of her shell (right over her head) with those creepy arms. It looked almost like a pair of windshield wipers - one arm would come out and wipe the edge of her shell, then it would go back in and the other arm would come out and wipe the other edge of the shell. I sat and watched her until I got bored. I have no idea how long she did it.
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HermitCrabsRock828
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Re: Can hermit crabs wipe their eyes?

Post by HermitCrabsRock828 » Thu Jan 26, 2012 5:49 pm

RockyGurly wrote:I've only seen my PPs do it a couple times, but I see my blues do it constantly! They have little arm things that they use to groom their gills and mouth, its really creepy looking. Im assuming they can clean their eyes with their mouth parts and then clean the mouth parts with the arm thing :P Wolf has a video of her crab cleaning his gills with his creepy arm, I'll go look for it :)
Edit: found it: http://www.youtube.com/user/farfinmoske ... UrjLsgu0kk
Creepy! :shock:
OMG, it IS creepy :shock: I'm gonna look out to see if he does that thing with his creepy arm :D
KANKRI and ANGEL <3 Best friends for life! One Large Purple Pincher: Kankri Vantas. My name is Angel, and i am human. I make mistakes just like the rest of us :) Started crabbing a while back, but just got everything in-order less then a year ago. Thanks for noticing me!
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