How to Teach Kids to Handle Pet Hermit Crabs

Hermit crabs make great pets for kids. Teaching kids how to safely handle pet hermit crabs can prevent them from unnecessarily frightening the hermit crab and being pinched. Proper handling of a hermit crab ensures a good learning experience for all kids.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Hermit crabs
• Carpeted rooms
• Children's gloves

1. Seat the children on a carpeted floor. Hermit crabs can startle children, and the child's nervousness can cause him to drop the crab. Make sure the children remain on the floor and on a semi-soft surface, like carpet, while handling a hermit crab.
2. Give the kids gloves to wear the first time they handle a hermit crab. If they make a mistake or hold the crab incorrectly, the hermit crab's pinch will not sting as much.
3. Show the children how to correctly pick up a hermit crab by gently grasping the back of his shell. Explain the location of the crab's claws and how they will pinch if startled or handled improperly.
4. Encourage kids to let the hermit crab walk free along the floor and explore his surroundings. Small hermit crabs can easily escape, so remind the kids to stay with the hermit crab at all times and put him back in his environment when they finish playing.
5. Teach kids to respect hermit crabs as animals. Hermit crabs look little and fun to a small child and since they easily injure, children need to handle them with gentle, loving care.

Tips & Warnings

• Remind kids repeatedly never to pick up a hermit crab from the front or to close the crab inside a fist. This type of handling scares the hermit crab and he reacts by pinching.