It's Not Easy Being Beautiful

[wuvmybetta]

I was thinking that any type plastic ball might work. Sometimes at places like Chuck E Cheese they have those machines with tiny stuffies crammed into a 5" plastic ball.. I'm betting that's just about the same thing..

Thanks tekk! I almost ran out and got the others today. Maybe tomorrow, I'll post pics when I get em. Of course )
Brooke, I have no idea. It looks to be a back breaker to me!


The eye of the red,white and blue crab cracks me up every time I look at these

 

[wuvmybetta]

Got a newbie not too long after I posted this thread. We bought two actually but one died the next day. They didn't come from the best conditions unfortunately and I was quite worried that they were sick. Everybody was acting really strange when I added the new ones. The one who died buried himself immediately and then never came back out. The second one was an itty bitty, itty bitty hermie. I was sort of worried that he wouldn't fit in, but he did. The first thing he did after coming home was shed his "monkey" shell and put on the white shell that our crab from the coast came home in. Since he has sort of been a loner.

Yesterday I tore down the tank, gave them all a bath, new substrate, wood and a complete makeover and they were quite happy and active when I put them back in. So, now our final number is 4. We've decided not to buy anymore until we go back down to the coast. The crabs around here just can't compare to the crabs you can buy down there.

Our first initial crab, after his bath yesterday...

Aaand not to mooch off of a joke thread, but here we go again...

"Oh, a new friend for meee!" "Hi there little fellow, if I could just get by you..."

"Hey, little guy....*poke,poke,poke*"

"Ahh well, excuse me, I really must keep going..."

Adorable! I really think this one's my fave

"Excuse me, again, if I could.....just...get around you here..."

He's so funny! And I totally appreciate him putting on a show when I come in with the camera
I've also found a new favorite food for them, canned snails A friend of mine keeps marine hermies and she said everytime she gets a new snail the crab will eat the snail and wear the shell, which made me think "hmmm"
snails, aaaay?

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

They look so full of character, adorable!

 

[wuvmybetta]

They really are Unfortunately we miss most of the excitement as they're really active at night. I was in the hall outside of my daughters bedroom door late last night and I kept hearing "clunk, tink, tink" and I was just dying to go see what it was all about

 

[wendywc]

Our first initial crab, after his bath yesterday...

This is a gorgeous picture. This website has Pet of the Month? I nominate this one. What camera do you have anyway?

 

[PlecMama]

Crabs reloaded!

I love these crabs, all of them, and what's with the matching behaviour? explains everything really, some of the people you meet in checkout queues must have been hermit crabs in previous lives "excuse me, if I could just get by....."

I second it for potm - go crabs!!

 

[wuvmybetta]

Thanks, Wendy! I just traded my Christmas camera in for this one, and I love it! It's a Nikon Coolpix S4, the one thing I'm not *too* crazy about is the way the lense is adjustable...literally. It's attached at the side and you have to flip it up and down, but that could be useful!
And thanks for the nominations, I've never entered my pets before but I think I will with the crabs!

SuzieQ Indeed, I've ran in to a few of them myself!

 

[soritan]

hermit crab threads always brings a smile to my face.

I've made a deal with myself. If this little obsession sticks around with me for a full year, crabless, I'm getting some. That's how I wound up with my African Dwarf Frogs.

I saw one at my local pet store who was hiding, they were so small their little red legs looked like a spider's legs.

Makes your guys look like macho men. They're both really cute. I like the one in the moony-shell, as well. The guy in the colorful shell, does he have an injury to one of his claws? Or are my eyes not quite seeing right?

 

[wuvmybetta]

No, he's an Ecuadorian, he has wittle bitty claws That's what makes him Tuesday's favorite. The others all have those huge (and someday massive) purple claws.

I think your plan sounds like a good one

 

[soritan]

I just bought a big box of coral from ebay. It was quite cheap, only $8, for "3 HUGE pieces!!", but when the lady sent it out, she added several other peices so that they wouldn't slosh around. I think I have six pieces of coral, now.

I hope this hermit crab thing sticks around, otherwise what would I do with this coral?

Keep the pictures coming, I sure ain't complaining.

 

[Synirr]

What a cute little fellow!!
Are you sure he's an E, though? His eyes look too rounded to be an E.... or maybe I'm just looking at the wrong pic

 

[wuvmybetta]

I was pretty sure he was...? From what I compared him to when I researched them after I got home. Hmm, whadda ya think? (second time I've asked you that tonight ) He does have a purple claw but it's really small. ETA we're talking about the crab in the blue shell. His eyes are elongated I'll have to check for stripes tomorrow.

 

[Synirr]

Maybe it's just the angle of the pic? Here's what I use to help me ID them:
http/www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pages/species.jpg

 

[SPLiSH]

They're beautiful wuv.

I've been really into hermies lately, but I was wondering: do you really need a heat source? We live on the Sunshine Coast, Australia and our weather hardly ever qualifies as cold. We also have air-con so it's always a nice temp inside.

All these hardcore hermie sites say you need a heating mat and stuff... is that necessary?

 

[wuvmybetta]

Thanks! I don't use one and my house is pretty cool, around 72-73 degrees. I figure if the bettas can deal with it- so can the crabs. But seriously I've not noticed them being uncomfortable with it, if anything they're more active than they are when it's 85+ degrees in here during the summer.

I still haven't compared, Synnir ) I haven't seen that particular crab in two days, I suspect he's burrowed beneath the thick layer of coconut fiber I used this time- it's deeep! I wanted to dig down in it myself!