How to Remove a Hermit Crab From Its Shell

Video Transcript

"How do you remove a hermit crab from the shell? I can tell you but it's not going to be pretty. Frankly there's no way to safely remove a hermit crab from his shell without damaging it. And it's unnecessary anyways. When hermit crabs change shells they do it on their own, they do it for their own reasons. They have to choose that shell very carefully, to meet whatever bizarre and mysterious specifications the hermit crab has for it. To get him out of the shell - I mean they're a lot stronger than they look. To get him out of this shell, you'd either have to pull on him, extremely hard, and chances are you'll tear off a limb or quite frankly you'd have to break the shell with a hammer and neither of these things are going to go down well without severely damaging and stressing out the hermit crab. And there's no reason to do it, so don't do it. It's unimportant. If you don't like the hermit - the shell the hermit crab is in, simply give him an option of other shells to choose from and he will eventually make that move on his own. As he outgrows the current shell he is in. So the important thing is to have a good selection of shells that you like and that meet his specifications, that he can choose from, and don't worry about trying to actually physically move the hermit crab yourself."