Fruit, yay!

Oh.... my hermies just LOVE banana and grape slices!

Crabitat Setup May 2007

This is a picture of my crabitat setup in May 2007! (The lid is off my tank for the purpose of taking this picture only.)

Crabitat Setup November 2007

This is just a picture of my crabitat setup in November 2007!

Baby Bongo!

This is Baby Bongo! I adopted him from my two friends, Kasey & Jules (sisters), in October 2007. Bongo is very happy in his new paradise! Thank you Kasey & Jules!

Crabitat Setup October 2007

Just a picture of my crabitat setup in October 2007!

Sunbathing!

This is just a picture of Beans sunbathing!

How many crabs do I have???

Some people ask me how many crabs that I have. As of today (5/9/07) I have 12 crabs. Most of their pictures are posted here, and some have gone to crab heaven. You can pretty much guess by their names if they are male or female. The names of my current crabs are as follows: Beans, Hillary, Stewart (actually female), Miss Jinx, Brownie, Lemon Drop Martini, Gladys Knight, USA, Brain, Beast Master, Heart and Cinnomin. Beans is the meanest and Stewart is the friendliest.

Water Sac?

Yes!!!! That ugly gray bulging thing you see hanging out of Miss Jinx's shell is called a "water sac". Hermies fill up on water prior to molting (shedding their skin). You you see pictures of a molt as you scroll down. I was fortunate enough to snap this picture just in time!

That smells weird!

Our cat Pinky smells Beast Master and says..... "Yepp, thats a hermie alright!"

Hide-n-Seek!

Special Ed is so small he can hide in a large shell!

Guarding!

When we are not home, our cat Nacho sits guard and watches over his shell-covered brothers and sisters..... weird, isn't it?

Crabsitting

Our cat Nacho is crabsitting the hermies as they dry off after having a bath. He is very proud of them!

Cool as a cucumber!!!!!!!!

Lemon Drip Martini LOVES fresh cucumber slices!!!!

Sexy..........

Beans shows off his sexiness........

Miss Jinx

This is Miss Jinx. I bought her on 4/27/07. She had a crooked eye... but I still love her!!!!

Beast Master

This is Beast Master. I bought him 4/37/07. He is the largest crab that I have owned.... he is considered a "JUMBO" hermit crab!

Brain!

This is Brain. I bought him 4/27/07

Renovation

Here is a renovation done to my crabitat in late April 2007.

Easter 2007

Easter Parade and Egg Hunt... Easter 2007!

Special Ed

This is Special Ed. He is somewhat slow....

Lemon Drop Martini

This is Lemon Drop Martini.

Stewart

This is Stewart.

Cinnomin

This is Cinnomin.

No Name?

This is No Name. He has no name....

Hippy Harry

This is Hippy Harry.

Bluey

This is Bluey.

Hillary

This is Hillary.

Mmmmm FOOD!

These are some of the foods that I give to my crabs.

Crabitat Products

These are the products I use in my crabitat.

Bath Time!

The hermies getting their bi-weekly bath! Ooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhh, yeah.. that feels good!

Crab Tuba!

"Sometimes if I sit just right, it makes me look like a crab tuba. This is the only way I have an excuse to "play with myself"! Heh...... (ok, that was bad.) 

Mentally Challenged!

We will deem this one little Mentally Challenged Crab. I was dumping sand out of the large shells one night when I found a small crab in one of the BIGGEST shells in the tank. Its obvious that this crabs brain is much smaller than previously anticipated. It was pretty funny though to see such a small crab trying to lug around this huge shell. I mean, it was so much bigger than him that he couldnt even stick his eyes out of it to see! He couldnt even walk about with it on! I got a picture just in time before he changed into a small shell as you will see below.

The need for change.....

"Now I dont feel so mentally challenged!.... this looks much better!!!! Ahh... yes!!!!" Finally.... little Mentally Challenged Crab changed into something "more comfortable".

Home, Shell Home!

"Hmmm... this looks like a nice new shell!" 

Caught in the act!!!

Here you can see this hermit crab in the middle of changing shells! I was lucky enough to have grabbed my camera in time. 

Isolation can be so lonely....

Here is Beans in his isolation tank. After molting hermit crabs are very soft and squishy and vulnerable to becoming a snack to fellow co-crab-itators. He will be left in isolation until he finishes eating his molted skin which hermit crabs do to regain nutrients after the tiring process. 

Molt Fever!

Beans molted again on October 14, 2006. He last molted in March 2006. I bet that molting feels good for crabs...... 

Does size really matter?

In the game of love...... (at least this kind).... size really doesn't matter...... 

Pretty is as pretty does....

In the wild you obviously would never see a hermit crab with pretty colored and decorated shells like the ones you can buy in the petstores. This would make them more attractive to prey that want to make a good meal out of them. Hermit crabs occupy vacant sea snail shells in the wild. I have even read that hermit crabs are so desperate for a protective shell that if they can't find an ordinary shell, they have been known to curl themselves into pop bottle caps!!!! 

Is it a boy or a girl????

Yes, this is a dead crab... but for the sake of science and curiosity I just HAD to post this picture! How do you identify a boy crab from a girl crab? No, there are no boobs or extroverted appendages involved to help you out either! As you can see from this picture, the third set of legs on this crab ... as they attach at the abdomen there are two small holes... thus, making this a female! (girl power!) When the crabs do not have these distinct holes/markings, it is a male. Don't you feel just a little bit better now that you know how to identify the sex of a hermit crab? 

What do hermit crabs look like without their shells on?

Kind of like aliens, at least to me. This is kind of a gross but educational photo I took of Kling after he passed away. As you can see, his "tail" appears much softer than the rest of his body and seems to curl in the same way that his shell does/did. Hermit crabs use their tails to wrap around the inside of their shells.

Goodnight!

Hermit crabs tuck themselves tight into their shells and cover the shell opening with their largest claw when they want to go to sleep or just be left alone... 

How does one handle....having, crabs????

When picking up a pet hermit crab it is best to handle it by the back of its shell. This way, they are less likely to pinch you if and when they get mad! 

Mmmmmm!!! Food!

Hermit crabs use their claws to rip apart food into smaller pieces before eating! 

I see you!

Hermit crabs' eyes are located at the end of movable stalks on their heads. They have compound eyes that consist of many tiny lenses, which means they see images made up of many pieces, kind of like a kaleidascope. 

Where the heck to hermit crabs come from?

The short answer is: from petstores! The long answer is: hermit crabs are found from the polar regions to tropical seas! There are such things as marine hermit crabs (living underwater) and land hermit crabs (which I have). There are about 800 species of hermit crabs - 12 of these species are land hermit crabs. 

Do you hear what I hear????

Oddly enough, hermit crabs do NOT have ears! They sense and pick up vibrations from their antennas! Their antennas also help them smell out food and water, up to miles away in the wild! 

Take cover!

Hermit crabs like to climb, explore and especially hide! 

Handle with care!

Some resources I have read say that hermit crabs do not want to be messed with or picked up, while others say that by handeling your crabs you earn their trust! I dont know which to beleive, but in this picture, Guatamala balances on my thumb. He didnt mind being handled, but Beans does NOT like to be messed with. I have been pinched by him three times now. 

What do hermit crabs eat?

Hermit crabs can eat all sorts of things like dried fruit, popcorn, crackers, peanut butter, and carrots! Its best not to give them salty items or meaty foods. At most petstores you can get the basic "hermit crab food" which is usually some sort of powder with ground up shrimp bites in it. My crabs prefer their hermit crab cookies and fruit salad that they got for Christmas. Crabs eat very slowly and very little at a time. You always need to make sure your crabs have plenty of drinking water too! 

Cannonball!!!!!

Milton does a cannonball into the new pool! 

Shell shopping....

"Hey! This shell is too big for me!!! Do you have anything in my size?" 

Social by nature......

Crabs are social creatures by nature, so if you plan on getting one, plan on getting at least two or three instead. In the wild they travel in groups! Crabs are inexpensive at most petstores and on average cost $6 a piece.

Molting? What the heck is that?

Molting is when a crab sheds its outer exoskelton. Smaller crabs do this more often than larger crabs since they grow faster. This is a picture of when Beans molted in March 2006. Honestly, at first glance he looked dead, but then I realized he had actually molted! What happens when a crab molts is their exoskeleton splits in half from their bodys swelling so much from water intake. The crab will then slowly pull the old skin off its body and retract back into its shell, soft and pink. This process for Beans took just over an hour. You can see from this picture, Beans' old claw exoskeleton on the ground and his new claw covering the entrance to his shell. The crabs will actually eat their old skin for nutrients. Ewww....

How often do hermit crabs change shells?

Hermit crabs are not born with shells, but find empty ones along beaches, etc. The reason they wear shells is for protection. Their abdomens/tails are VERY soft and moist. They also collect and store water in their shells. This also helps them breathe, as they actually have gills. They change shells as often as they feel the need to. It's best to always have a supply of extra shells for your crab to check out. I have also read that you should never try to take a crab out of its shell. It would rather let you rip it in half than give up its own shell. 

Beans!

Beans is my favorite crab! He is the biggest and the meanest is the crabitat, and thats why I love him the most! 

Do hermit crabs poop and pee?

Yes, dont you? Actually hermit crabs pee out of end of their antennas, but it such a small amount that you would never even notice it. And their poops look like super small tootsie rolls. I clean my crabitat once a week and use a scooper good enough to let the sand pass through, but not the poops.

Do hermit crabs mate in "crab"tivity?

From what I have read, no, hermit crabs do not mate in captivity, but I will give you one guess what these two guys are doing........

Arabica!

This is Arabica. He minds his own business and really doesn't start to scrap with any of the other crabs.

Bedtime....

A night time view of the crabitat....... Hermit crabs are most often active at night as they are nocturnal! 

Pool Party!

Milton oversees the ending result of having a pool put in the crabitat. Here he hides his eyes and shouts "These are NOT the specifications I asked for!!!!" (He wanted a larger pool, but due to budgetary reasons they ended up with a smaller model than expected). 

Super Baby

This is Super Baby, the smallest in the crabitat. He likes cheese curls.... 

Lookin' For Love...

So, your shell or mine? Heh...