I begun reading every hermit crab site Google could spit out and was astounded with what I learned. I've had hermit crabs before, except I wasn't the actual owner. My 2nd grade class and my little siblings have had hermit crabs before. Not me specifically.
And we/they did everything wrong! We didn't give them saltwater! We didn't dechlorinate the water! We didn't monitor the humidity! My siblings kept their two in a Kritter Karrier!
No wonder they didn't live long happy lives!
I was going to do better!
I kept bugging my mom. Showing her my shopping lists. Updating her on my recent research. Telling her interesting facts. But I think what really made her give in was when I made the tennis team for my school. She was so proud, and I kept pushing the "Can I get a hermit crab?" question that she made a deal with me. "You have to get rid of that (abandoned) fish tank in your room first! AND spend your own money!" But of course, mom. I was planning on doing all that anyways.
In one night it was done. My fish tank was emptied and scrubbed. My spare ten gallon tank (that once housed mice for my science fair project on diet and memory) was brought to my room and space was cleared for it on my bookshelf.
It was actually happening! I was getting hermit crabs!
The very next day (yesterday, actually), we went back to the pet store and bought the supplies. It was time for me to pick out the crabs. I had already prepared myself by printing diagrams of Ecuadorian crab features and shell preference. The pet store guy that helped us out was quite amused that I had a specific species I was more than prepared to weed out of their selection. The enclosure had hermit crabs in natural shells and painted ones. I checked every crab, finding only four Ecuadorians. Sadly, they all had painted shells. I picked the three I fancied best (including the one the sped off as soon as I set him down) and headed home with my new buddies! (you know, after a quick stop at walmart for a cheap spray bottle and a better price on water conditioner).
I set up the crabitat as fast as I could, with my new hermies trying to climb out of their little cardboard pet carrier. Once everything was set up, I put the crabs in and they immediately scattered. Bazooka, the biggest (the one who ran away in the pet store), immediately ran through the water dishes and got them filled with sand.
Batman climbed up to the tippy-top of the gnarly driftwood in the tank, and Amy got stuck behind the coconut house. I moved it so she could pass and she followed Bazooka around.I was soo happy to have the little guys! And they were happy to have something to climb on. A little fighting ensued when Bazooka tried to get to the top of the driftwood, where Batman and Amy were already peacefully resting. Batman was not at all happy. Their antennas started twiddling overtime and Bazooka punched Batman! Like, his big claw litterally shot out and punched him!
He knocked Batman off the log and the poor little guy landed on his shell. I flipped him upright and tried to remove Bazooka from the log. His little feet and claws were too strong, and I wasn't about to hurt him, so he stayed put.A little while later, I walked in on him and Amy. It was literally just like the scene in The Lion King where Mufasa is hanging off the cliff and Scar pulls his hands/paws off and makes him fall to his doom. Bazooka yanked her one claw free of the log and then the other and she fell off! Not to her doom, thankfully, but into the soft sand.
I was able to get Bazooka off the log and he took a new interest in one of the corners of the tank, allowing Batman and Amy to get back up to their spots. Bazooka came back up the log later, but everyone was friends again and no more fighting went on. The trio are inseparable now!
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| From Top to Bottom: Bazooka, Batman, and Amy |
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