Building Trust

Tonight I was fascinated by the amount of trust some of my hermit crabs have learned to place in me.  Now whether or not this can be truly called "trust" is a matter of debate, but we can certainly affirm that some land hermit crabs learn that the crab caretaker is not a threat to their safety.

It was very late and the fluorescent lights were switched off and I was watching the crabs with my room light turned on.  The crabitat was still rather dark, but the Violas that were out and about were able to see me.  Shinto, one of my Purple Pinchers, was also able to see me.

Shinto is very trusting of me.  He often comes out when I am taking pictures and he seems to enjoy watching me from inside the tank.  When I place my hand in the crabitat, he no longer cowers away or hides in his shell.  He simply sits there and goes about his business.

The Violas used to be very skittish around me, but now they are starting to warm up!  One of my Violas, Manhattan, was watching me as I was watching her.  I decided to put my hand in and drop a few pieces of organic oat cereal into the crabitat.  After I dropped the pieces in, she went running right to the cereal and started munching!

Trust can take some time to build with hermit crabs and it often happens after many months or even years.  Some crabs may never be too keen on trusting the human hand, but others seem very ready to learn that we do not pose a threat.  It's nice for them to be able to expect food when I'm around!