Do hermit crabs count?

[purplemuffin]

My boyfriend's sister's spunky little crab man!









He had a friend, but unfortunately the other hermit crab was bought from a not-so-good store where he recieved bad care. He was basically on the way out when he came to us. We want to get another two hermies, because I know these guys are super social animals, but we're waiting to find a healthy one!

It's amazing how wrong the care people tell kids at the mall is about hermit crabs! I've heard anything from "they are from the desert and need temps above 100 at all times", "They are completely cold tolerant and don't need humidity", "They like to live in small places alone", and "You need to have special hermit crab sand or they die!"

I also wish the rest of these pics came out as good as these. After these pics, he turned to the camera, ran full speed and ATTACKED! It was fantastic! He's a little devil!

[Boanerges]

I don't currently own any but I would imagine I have before when I was younger They are pretty interesting and cool looking IMO!! Thanks for sharing your pics with us

[Alexandra V]

He's adorable!! And the pics are really nice too, what camera do you use if you don't mind me asking?

Hehehe I think I would have died of laughter if there was a video of him attacking the camera

[Nektu]

I can never resists going into a pet store and yelling over to my wife "they have crabs!" Always funny. IMO.

I like how you can paint designs on their shells.

[JLC]

I love hermit crabs. I got one for my kids when they were really little. The Internet was still in its infancy then, so it never occurred to me that the pet store who sold it to me would be wrong in their husbandry advice. Our poor little crab only lasted a few months.

But someday (a mythical time when hubby retires and we actually settle down someplace permanently) I would like to have a small handful of crabs set up in a beautiful crab paradise.

Would love to see pics of your set-up!

[ballpythonluvr]

Hermit crabs are just awesome! I had one when I was a kid and it was just super cool! Cute little bugger you have there!

[purplemuffin]

Right now since he's small he's in a 5 gallon critter keeper, but when we get him some buddies he's going to be moved to a 20 gallon long tank with eco earth/sand mixture as substrate to hold in humidity! I can't wait to watch him get HUGE..the store where we got him from actually had a proper care sheet, and they had one that was so big he wouldn't fit in my hand!

The biggest things pet stores forget to mention is they need humidity, company, and warmth! Oh, and that they do get big! Google big hermit crab..amazing!

I can't help but fall for the 'kid' animals now that I'm older. I never had sea monkies, bettas, or hermit crabs..so now that I'm in college I've had all three. (I had a sea monkey colony going for 2 years before I gave them to a friend's kid!) And I think I also feel bad because these guys are the ones who suffer the most abuse due to misinformation. Anoles, goldfish, hermit crabs, and bettas! Sold as cheap pets when they aren't! At least I feel like I can make some of them have better lives. And goodness, I think they are some of the pets with the most personality! As much as I love saltwater fish and all the pretty advanced fish, I've never had a fishy as funny and personable as my betta when he got a proper set up!



Thanks for the comments, y'all!


Oh, and I use a canon rebel. I dunno which model. It's an older digital camera, it used to be my mom's, like..when I was in 7th grade. I'm a junior in college now if that gives you an idea of the age, lol. She's gotten a much better camera for her portrait photography ( http://tinroof-studio.com/ ) and she gave me the old one!