Hermit Crabs

I had hermit crabs for maybe three years, and I have heard a few of you say that you have them too. Mine are all gone now, but I just wanted to know if you all found them as boring as I did? No offense to any hermit crab lovers, I want to know if I did something wrong! They were so active they day I got them, but then they would just sit in their tank after that. I hardly ever saw them move or eat. I'm ashamed to admit that when one died, I didn't even notice until it started to smell! Am I a bad Mom? They had a huge tank full of sand, and they had special rocks and sticks and shells. I had five crabs in all. I had their tank in front of a window; could the sun have made them inactive? They've been all gone for maybe two years now and I have been wanting to try again. What did I do wrong? Or are they all like that?

I had hermit crabs when i was little. I remember the stinkin' things were magicians. They always somehow got out of their cages. But, somehow, as a child they amazed me. I guess it's the little things in life that are interesting to little minds.

I am not trying to be mean but---if you didn't like them then, then chances are-you won't like them a second time

Hi Daisy,
I think hermit crabs are boring too. We have three currently. Maybe its because they are in an aquarium environment rather than a wire cage. We give them lots of things to climb and chew on, and they come out of their shells, but as soon as they hear us come in the room, you can hear them jump back in. Ours live in our kitchen and I talk with them every day, but rarely see them.
We do try and bathe them weekly, and they usually wake up pretty good. But we had one that pinched me real bad one time and I haven't wanted to hold a big one since then. We have two really large ones and one small one.
I think if we took them out to play more often, they would probably do better, but with two dogs, two cats, two hamsters, there never seems to be a good time to do that.
They stay in the aquarium and have a light on them at all times to keep the temperature up. It is embedded in the lid on the aquarium. They are supposed to have an extremely long life cycle. I've heard of people having them up to 15 years. Ours have been here about a year now.
I don't think I would do it again if I were you. Unless you want ours! I'm teasing.
Maybe if you want a small pet, a guinea pig or hamster would be good. But I have to be careful with them too as there are many critters in this house that would like to wrap their jaws around the hamsters. I do love them.
That's my two cents worth.
Logan

Thanks for the advice. I also bathed mine often and that was the one time they'd get active. I'd try to play with them every day but they never wanted to come out of their shells. I guess I'll give up on the crab idea then. I want another pet and I think that would be the only one okay by my mom, who believes in one pet at a time! I would love to get another hamster but Daisy isn't very good with small snimals. I guess I'll just have to stick with one pet at a time!

Well, you certainly have picked the right one if you can only have one. If I could only have one pet, it would definitely be a dog. Although, my Mimi (cat) was an only pet for a part of her life.
I didn't mention this, but we don't handle our hamsters as much as we should either because of the dogs and cats. Maybe when it is warmer outdoors and they can be outside a lot, then I'll be able to take them out to play more often. They love to roll around in the ball on the floor, but I can't let them do it if the rest of the crew is inside.
Just love Daisy to pieces. Have you thought about a small aquarium with a couple of low maintenance gold fish? They develop quite good personalities, especially at feeding time. Carrie, who also posts on this board, has a fish that she has owned over 5 years. I'm not sure what kind he is, but that might be a good idea.
I don't have any fish, but now I want some!
Logan

OH FISH ARE WONDERFUL! I really enjoy fish, they are so relaxing. I have a bond with my fish as well (maybe it's just that they like the "hand that feeds them") When I walk by the tank, they will follow me. It is cute. I know it sounds silly, but I actually pet the fish. They come up to the top of the water and i will rub their little heads. (I am saying this and someone will pop up and tell me that I will kill them doing that) http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Just teasing

But yes, I agree with Logan fish are wonderful pets.

My husband has two tanks of fish (one 60 gallon and one 75 gallon.) Right now there are mainly african cichlids in each tank. One tank was originally set up with salt water but he changed over to fresh water. At the beginning of this hobby one of his early tanks had south american cichlids. We had two very large oscars (about 7" long) who would come up to rub along his hand when he was wiping the inside glass down, very similar to how a cat rubs against you. He in turn would pet them. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif When it's feeding time they would splash and splash (wigging their little bodies like an excited doggie!) They really were very bright! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif Occasionally he would give them a piece or two of dog food kibble which they thought of as a treat! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif Our kitties love to watch them and by now the fish are used to the cats and know that they can't be reached by kittie paws!

hahaha sounds like my kitties. I have one of the fish aquariums beside of the couch. They love to sit on the arm of the couch and watch the fish. On occasion, I will leave the lid up on the tank and they will jump up and sit and watch the fish. It is so cute. They act so amazed. They will cock their head to one side as if to say, "hmm what's that, what are they doing, how do they breathe in that water?" then they will stick their paws in the water and flicker them around. it's so cute to watch

Thanks for the fish idea but I am not sure that would be good... before Dad got sick we had a huge (32 gallon?) fishtank full of them, and he just loved those fish. He took such good care of them! He was ABLE to take care of them... after he got sick he just stopped buying new ones when they would die until the last one was gone, and the tank was given away. It might hurt him to have fish around again because he can't take care of them anymore. Sorry, it was a good idea!

Hi, Daisy's Mom,
I know that you posted this a while ago, but I just wanted to say that you brought back some fond memories from a long time ago. (well, not THAT long ago!)
When I was in the third or fourth grade, our Science Class mascots were two little hermit crabs named Peaches and Herb. I remember thinking that they were pretty cool pets and we got to take turns feeding them and bringing them home for long weekends. I had totally forgotten about them until I read your post. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

I have 2 box turtles. When I was a kid, my mom also would only let me get small pets. So i decided to get a box turtle. I named him igor. i never thought then, that i'd have him 14 years later. They may seem boring, but I grew to love him. He has a great set up now with sand, dirt and rocks. And best of all he has a new girl friend to, just in time for spring. I enjoy caring for the little guys and they are relatively easy to care for. As long as you don't use chicken wire for the cage sides, they can't escape. they eat all kinds of fruit, roastbeef, worms, insects. as long as you read about the animal first before buying it, you'll be ok.

I live at the beach, and when I want to have the ultimate hermit crab "experience" I walk at low tide through the tidal pools! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif Neat to see them do their thing in their own special little world. Never thought of having one as a pet!!! Do you need to keep increasing the size of the shells they live in? Are they in fresh water? Baths? What do you feed them? Very interesting!! I have had fish in the past. I find them beautiful, hypnotizing and very peaceful to watch. My 2 danios lived for almost 6 years! I had a gorgeous Shibumi goldfish. The day he died was very distressing. He started swimming sideways and floating to the top. I was so surprised how upset I was when he finally left for the Bridge. Then I remembered. As a kid, I always buried my goldfish when they died, with an elaborate ceremony! The loss of any living creature, for me, is a loss for the world.

The ones that are pets are land hermit crabs. You only provide them with a shell full of water, a shell full of some powdery food stuff, and a few shells for when they grow. Mine never changed shells though http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

We had an oscar for a couple of years and my mom used to pet it. It was a pretty big fish. It was the best fish I had though!

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