what if they pinch

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:13 pm

my dad was holding my big hermit crab and it pinched him. we had to pour salt water on him to get him to let go. is there any quiker way to get them to let go

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:19 pm

well, just keep the hermit crab relaxed. most people find that pouring water (dechlor) works, but i think its a bit mean... Try to allow the hermit crab to walk. Its just gonna happen...you will get pinched. Those hermits are out there to get us

(haha not really, but be careful, and always keep your eye on the BP when handling)

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:23 pm

A good way of getting them to let go is to try and flatten out your hand more, stretch/flex it out as far as you can and the crab will let go.
Lol, luckily I've only been pinched by small crabs so far, have heard the biggies can snap a pencil with their Bp's or is that just an urban myth?

Moving this to crab behaviour forum section

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 7:27 pm

I just put them down so their legs are touching the ground and they usually just walk off. Dont know about snapping a pencil Troppo, but it is probably possible. A full grown coconut crab can chop straight through bone, no problem.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:36 pm

Wait a minute.....
Didn't I just answer this same post in the emergency section? [smilie=confused.gif]

mrbonzai211 · Post by **mrbonzai211** » Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:20 pm

I don't see any problem with crabs pinching. It doesn't really hurt, even with the big ones. If it does bug you, then just lay your hand flat out against the floor and keep it really still so he realizes that you're not a threat anymore and he'll let go no problem.

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:04 am

You did post a reply Kathy?
Wonder what happened to it?
Maybe you could've been posting at the exact same time I was moving this thread from Emerency to Crab Behaviour and your post went mia?(I don't know how these things work) .

Don't worry I wouldn't have deleted your post if you had made one Kathy

HERMEZ · Post by **HERMEZ** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:44 am

mrbonzai211 wrote:I don't see any problem with crabs pinching. It doesn't really hurt, even with the big ones. If it does bug you, then just lay your hand flat out against the floor and keep it really still so he realizes that you're not a threat anymore and he'll let go no problem.

Obvioulsy you have not been pinched to draw blood??............and everyones threshold is different.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:58 am

Copy-pasted from same topic in Emergency.

EGcrabber wrote:The best thing to do is to just hold his pincher under a sink and run it under some warm water. Usually they'll let go. Don't try to pull him off 'cause it'll just make him pinch harder.

Herm-EZ wrote:that doesnt always works and backfires causing the crab to pinch more.........just hold your hand flat and still and the crab will let go. Try and keep them away from tap water -- its not always easy- the little ones seem to pinch more

*Kathy* wrote:The best way to avoid being pinched, is to hold your palm out flat. If you cup your hand, even slightly, it gives the hermits something to latch onto, latch onto it they will!

When your palm is completely flat, they aren't about to grab onto & pinch the skin. Last week, when I was doing my surface clean, I picked up several "empty" shells from the shell bed, because I was going to clean them. Well, I had them all cupped in my hand, when all of a sudden, I felt this horrible burning on the inside of my middle finger. Obviously, one of the shells WASN'T empty! Even though he was only a small-sized crab, he drew blood.

bksbuddha wrote: Some of them don't let go right away...Vise. When she latched onto my thumb, I placed her down in the tat w/my hand & she only let go when she was darn good & ready to. [smilie=crybaby.gif] It seemed like hours, but I'm sure it was only a few minutes. I'm terrified of that nasty, little hermie now...still have nightmares!

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:10 am

Thanks C'oy

Wasn't sure whether to do that or wait until someone showed me how to move the posts over. Lol, it's done....

megs · Post by **megs** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 3:03 pm

Herm-EZ wrote: Obvioulsy you have not been pinched to draw blood??............and everyones threshold is different.

I second that one!
I had an Indo take a chunk out of my hand once. I tried flattening my hand, I tried water... everything just made him pinch harder. He finally popped off when he ripped the chunk of skin off.

I named the bloodthirsty little beast Vlad the Impaler.

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 8:21 pm

Oh my Megs!

Did you forgive him?
Isn't it odd how when it comes to hermies, no matter what they do we still love them anyway?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:13 pm

i had a maedium size one pinch me 2 weeks ago i still have the mark on my palm he was where i couldn't put him down to walk away and it was hurting so bad my hand was shaking so you know how still my hand was, we tried the water he pinched more and harder. it took 20 mins to get him to let go HE HAS NOT BEEN IN MY HAND SINCE!!!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:02 pm

I recall a crab I encountered at a pet store. His conditions were good, but he was all alone and the clerk said that he had been there all alone for about two weeks. I asked to see him, picked him up, and found out immediately why he had been left behind...he came right out of his shell and looked at me. I swear if he had had cartoon eyes they would have narrowed, and then he reached right into the webbing between my fingers and pinched as hard and as long as he could! I have a fairly high pain threshold so it only really felt like a toe stub, and I wasn't about to dance around the store waving my hand everywhere. It actually took about ten minutes for him to let go.

His name's Nippy and he came up from a molt three days ago, docile as a lamb, or maybe just tired. As I transferred him from the ISO to the main tank, he ambled across my hand and didn't threaten to pinch at all. Maybe all the anti-molt hormone was making him titchy.

When any of my other crabs have pinched, they usually let go fairly quickly--no longer than a second--probably a "warning" pinch. The only other time one held on, a little squirt with dechlorinated water from the squirt bottle made him let go. I wouldn't run them under tap water, as the pressure from the tap water might make them panic more. However, once they let go, running the pinched area under cold running tap water can help make the sting go away!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:15 pm

I've been pinched now by several meds to teenies, and even the teenies can hurt! I have had the skin broken for sure!

I know most grown ups are patient enough to just hold the hand flat and then the crab will let go fairly quickly, but with children this may not work, since the kids are likely to panic, wave hands around, or cry while waiting for the crab to let go. Ovbiously you need to do whatever you can to get them off the child, but facet water is also not declorinated, so it really shouldn't be used even in an emergancy pinching to get the crab to let go.