Upon further thought........

I have realized that this is actually Mrs. Hermit that has resurfaced, the newest addition to our family, and the very first one down eons ago. And being she is the smallest, I am thinking it will be another couple of weeks before the other two decide to surface. But I don't want her to get lonely, so I think a trip to the pet store is in order. LOL

She is still happy in her shell. Its a turbo shell with a nice smooth gold interior thats just right. She's a lot shyer now that when I first got her. She wouldn't come out of her shell and visit with me at all, but she had lots of water stored up in there and has been munching on the coral in there. Hasn't touched the coconut, banana, seaweed or eggs yet......and the coconut is already molding, so I better change that all out. LOL

Woohoo!! An update!!

We got home from my mom and dads house last night, and Mr. Krabs was sitting in the middle of the tank!!! He was the one that had been in the corner giving me a little window to all his goings on. I had given and extra bit of water to the substrate the night before, and the next morning my window to him was gone. I was a bit worried that I had collapsed his tunnel. But oh no, there he was!!! And then over night, he switched shells. Guess he wanted a new Christmas present. LOL I'll try to snag a picture of him in his new home soon.

Thar be pink legs in there!!!

One of the crabs has molted! Which ever one it is that I can see in the corner has some mighty pink legs right now. LOL And its stealthy silent too, so that gives me hope the other two are doing the same. Mrs. Hermit was the smallest of the 3, and shouldn't be taking this long, so I am not too hopeful she's still alive. Ah well. After the other two surface, I'll go digging I think.

Still booooring

I am seriously ready to drive myself to Spokane and hit up all the pet stores and stock my tank with new crabs. All three are burried STILL! I can see the legs of one in the bottom corner of the tank, under about 6 inches of playsand. I found Mr. Krabs last week. I could hear scratching on both sides of the tank, one under the hermie hut a lot louder. So I lifted it up, and he was there, at the very bottom, nothing covering him. Weird, cause there was about 3 inches of ecoearth there before. Of course I couldn't resist, picked him up, checked him out, noticed nothing different. He scootched to the opposite end, right above where the crab is that I can see now, so not sure if thats him. And then several days later, I could see the legs, and heard two different scratching and crawling sounds, so as of early last week, all three were alive. But its been totally silent since. I can see those legs changing posisitions multiple times during the day. So at least one is still alive. But they are driving me mad with the hiding.

He's Back!

Well, Krabby Patty was in the hermie hut this morning. I stayed up at the tank for about 20 minutes last night listening to him dig around. I could see the substrate start to push up here and there. He ended up coming out from under the food bowl. No idea why it didn't tip over. LOL But he traveled a good 7-8 inches from where he started. I was rather nervous he was traveling around under there looking for a nice, soft, freshly molted crab. It took all my will power not to start digging myself!!!!

Booooring.......

Krabby Patty peeked out of the hermie hut for a few minutes this morning, then scrambled in and now is buried. As far as I can tell, all three are all within centimeters of each other. Uhg. This is driving me nuts.

I was one finger click away from ordering $80 worth of crab stuff today.......including 8 crabs. But I stopped myself. The company has a HORRIBLE reputation online. One of my shell orders was from him , it came fine, a bit slower than I had expected, but it showed up. Combined with the fact that its not a good time of year to ship hermies. I think I did the right thing by just closing the browser window. If we go out of town in the next month or so, I'll hit up the big petstores and stock up. teehee. One of the things in my shopping cart was a ceramic bulb.....and a moonglow bulb. And some big shells. This place has the best price on all of them. But I guess nothing is good if you don't get your stuff. So will have to shop around online tomorrow.

My kosher wine and antidepressant are starting to mix...... ;)

More goodies.......

The boys each took a lot of whacks at a coconut tonight. I still don't like coconut milk and the boys were rather dissapointed as well. There were about 2 cups in that sucker! Will have to hunt for a recipe, since I hate to waste anything. Got the rest bagged up for the freezer. I think I'll give them a bit once a week. Also picked up some seaweed in the Japanese section at the store. There was only one type, so I will head up to the little market in town that is owned by a Japanese couple and has a TON of Japanese foods in there.

Krabby Patty is half way got himself buried. Still under the hermie hut. I don't think he came out last night.

Checked out the teeny little crabs at the pet store. I just don't want to pay 9.99 for one. Especially when I want to get 2! I think I will order some online. I can get a different type that way, and the minimum order is 3 for like 30 some odd dollars, but then each additional crab is only 3.99. They over night them, so thats why they are spendy. But 4 would beat the price at my pet store, shipping included!! $$$$

Still quiet

Krabby Patty seems lonely. He came out for a bit this evening and munched on some cuttle bone. I put some rose petals in there for him last night (how they have survived the freezing nights over the last 2 weeks I have no clue) and he dragged a couple out. I think he ate all his popcorn too. He hasn't touched the cricket I left in there though. There are still a few more in the fridge, but I hear crabs like their live foods a bit decomposed. Ick.

I need to go get some seaweed. Living in the same town that Japan Airlines uses as their training grounds, I oughta be able to find it fairly easy. LOL

Got new shells in Sat. (shipped from NY on Thursday.......and then Veterans Day in the middle. That was FAST) but they are all too small for Krabby Patty. I am bummed. But the gal sent them to me for shipping, so I'll just have to stick with my plan of buying crabs to fit the shells ;)

I've got my eye on a couple of big shells on eBay. May have to dig out the credit card for some. Oye. $$$$

Stinker

I woke up to find Krabby Patty back in his old shell. I was figuring he'd do it, since he hadn't moved a whole lot after moving into the bigger shell. But I have some shells on the way to me that should be here by Monday or Tuesday, and there should be a suitable shell in there for him. If not, I will go shell shopping AGAIN (read: $$$) so the bugger will be in a home that FITS properly. Mr Krabs and Mrs. Hermit are still buried and haven't come up yet, and its aweful quiet in there.

I added some netting and greenery to one end (opposite of where they are burried) which is over the current shell area on playsand. I am going to gussy up the upside down ziplock containers and get them attatched to each other and some craft grid stuff glued to the top for traction. I'll put some corks around the edge for a little depth factor and fill it with moss. This will be both a second level and the shell station. The shells will stay free of sand and more appealing to the crabs!!

I moved the old aquarium to the top of the fridge to serve as my ISO. Mainly and ISO for new crabs before they are introduced to the main crabitat. I figure two at a time over the next while will be fun. With 2 of the 3 crabs buried and the other under the hermie hut, its borish during the day. LOL

The new crabitat

I had been looking around for a used tank that would replace my 5 gallon one. My new found addiction would quickly outgrow the current tank and my crabs would suffer. So in order to satiate my addiction, I had to go shopping. I tell ya, these crabs ain't cheap.

So I asked my sister in law at the pet store about them getting in used ones. She said they did, and she'd let me know if one showed up. I posted on freecycle, with no response. We were also on the lookout for a dining room table, so one Sat. morning, I was online checking out the garage sales intown, and one of them had listed a big aquarium! It had just started 15 minutes prior, so I chucked the boys in the van, still in their jammies to run and grab it. And it was still there! It had been a rat cage, and had a couple of rat things with it, so I asked if I could just buy the tank and bargained the price down to 20 bucks. It has a screen lid and clips to go with it. It was listed in the paper as 1 foot wide and 3 feet long. Not sure how tall....I think its over a foot tall. So do the math and tell me how big it is. LOL I am thinking 30 gallon?? Not sure.

Anyways, a few days later Kainen and I scrubbed it out with vinegar. The next day I brought it in to start filling with play sand. I put 50 pounds in that sucker. Oye. Glad I put it up on its final resting place first. That same day BOTH my shell orders came in. Weee! Christmas was early. Then I opened the first package. Oye. The shell sizes were listed, rather than the opening sizes like I had thought. So I had ordered some teeeeeeny shells. There were just a few in that order that I could use. I thought I had ordered shells that had .5 - .75 inch openings....but nope. The shells them selves are as small as .5 inches. But the bubbler dish was in that package so not all was lost. LOL

The second package had a few more shells that were good as well. I also got a climbing net in that order.

I had gone the day before and picked up a shell package from Walmart and got 3 good shells out of there, plus feeding dishes! There was a shell in there that Mrs. Hermit climed right into. I grabbed her old shell and cleaned it and put it back in, and sure enough, she climbed right back in there. Ah well. I am glad I got to clean it anyways.



Here is Mrs. Hermit and the shell she changed into.



I put the eco earth in one side of the crabitat soaked in salt water to combat mold. Also got the playsand good and wet so they could tunnel.

I added the bubbler pool filled with salt water, and a water dish with fresh water. Some blue glass stones here and there. Took a ziplock storage container and cut it up and turned it upside down for a little hiding spot for them. Plopped in the crabs and away they went! It was great fun watching them explore. Mr. Krabs changed shells pretty fast. I got to watch that. By morning though, he ended up in the shell that Mrs. Hermit had originally changed into , and is still in there. Krabby Patty flirted with the only shell I figured he would . It is a large unpolished turbo. Its pretty cool looking. But in the end, he sauntered off after rolling down the hill with it. Stinker. But two mornings ago, I woke up to find him in there. He hasn't moved much since then. It is a lot heavier than his other shell, but perhaps he just needs to adjust. He ate the peice of popcorn that was in the food dish, so I know he's getting around. Mr.Krabs and Mrs. Hermit have buried themselves. I can hear someone moving around in there. Not sure who. Krabby Patty is parked under the upside down ziplock thing. He brought in the turbo that Mr. Krabs switched into, but is staying put in the larger one. It fits him a lot better anyways, and its neat looking. Will snap a pic and post it later on.

So for now, I just need to finish decorating in there. Its fairly plain, so I don't want to post a pic. But I will post a before and after once its more decorated.

The next chapter

So things got settled in the crabitat, and I just kept up my reading and research. I decided that it would be necessary to buy more shells, since you should have an extra 3-4 shells per crab to choose from. And since I just had one extra shell in there, that I've not noticed in any other pictures of hermit crabs, I decided it was time to shop. I went to two different pet stores in town, and the feed store. None had shells that would be satisfactory for my crabs. So I turned to the internet and found one store that was closing down and had everything marked 50% off. I got lots of shells there and also a bubbler pool to add in there. But after a few days of not hearing back from the owner, I chalked that one up to being gone. Glad I hadn't payed anything for it either!

So I searched other sites and found a site that had great prices and ordered shells and a net, and some more ecoearth. That order was supposed to ship out 24 hours after being placed. The day after I paid for that one.....I heard from place #1. My order was packed and ready and where's the monies. Oye. These crabs really are costing me monies. So I paid it, knowing I was getting a steal on these shells.

Meanwhile, I decided to go back up to the feedstore where I had seen a lonely crab, in an aquarium with no water, 2 empty shells and lots of hermie legs lying around. There wasn't a bit of water in there, and the worker said they always forget they have the crabs in there. OYE. So I brought him home, figuring he'd die within a day or two, because it had been at least 4 days since I first saw him without any water. These guys like about 80% humidity, and that tank was easily at 0. When I bought him, the water dish had water in it, but there was no lid on the tank. Poor guy.

On the drive home, he came out of his shell, and this was the first time I got to see more than the ends of his legs sticking out of his too small shell. My oldest son Kainen didn't have school that day, so he was with me and I asked him what we should call this new crab, and he immediatley dubbed it Mrs. Hermit. LOL Real original I tell ya.

So after I added Mrs. Hermit to the crabitat, she cruised and climbed and was having a grand time. At this point, Mr. Krabs had been buried for a couple of days and Krabby Patty was in hiding in the hermie hut. So Mrs. Hermit had the run of the tank. After a while Krabby Patty came out to investigate, let her know who was boss and then steared clear. Mrs. Hermit parked herself in the food dish, and was in there for a good 4 hours straight, after having already nibbled at the grapes several times. Poor thing was starving! But so friendly, always out and about. Mr. Krabs came up the next day and got to meet Mrs. Hermit. Coulda cared less....but Mrs. Hermit was always after them, climbing on them as they tried to bury themselves or just rest. Must be the toddler of the group. LOL

How I got started.......

It all started in the days leading up to Jantzen's (son #2) birthday. My sister-in-law said "guess what I'm getting Jantzen for his birthday?" I replied........"what??" "A hermit crab and he's big!" as she held up her fist to demonstrate this crabs size. I was less than amused. "Oh great," I replied. She told Jantzen she was going to be his favorite aunt. She works at the pet store, so she was able to get a 5 gallon tank with calcisand, some feeding shells, a big shell to change into, some jingly toys and a fake tree.

The look on Jantzens face when he saw this crab was priceless. It was a combination of total unabashed fear and excitement.

So in the days after receiving "Krabby Patty" as Jantzen had decided to call him, I figured I better find out more about these creatures so that he wouldn't have to experience his first pets death at a young age. I learned a lot. Most important that Krabby Patty needed a friend. So Kainen got to got to the pet store and he picked out Mr. Krabs. We got some other goodies....a hermie hut, eco earth and a bigger water dish. Also temperature and humidity guages. These crabs are starting to affect my pocket book.

Krabby Patty really perked up Mr. Krabs and life was grand in the crabitat!!

Welcome!!

Just getting things all set up. Will be back later with some stuff for my reading pleasure.