And We Have Another One

Yep.

It’s another hermit crab.

No, don’t worry, the other one’s still alive.

Not that you’d necessarily know that.

We don’t ever see it.

I know – they’re nocturnal.

But still.

We never saw it after the first few days. 

It burrowed down somewhere under the substrate and it was almost like there was no living creature at all in there.  Like some weird trick we were playing on Julia…making her change the food and water every day FOR AN EMPTY TANK.

So a few days ago Bill and Alex were at a pet shop picking up food for Alex’s fish, and they also picked out another hermit crab for Julia.

A lively one.

Very lively.

Julia has named it “Sharp Claw.”

So we’ve got Shelly or Sheldon and Sharp Claw.

And after a day or two of exploring his or her new digs, Sharp Claw has burrowed down into the depths, too.

So now we have two hermit crabs obeying their hermity inclinations.

I’m telling you…it’s beyond exciting around here.

Comments

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Ya want to be careful if you don't want your kids to learn about cannibalism. If they bury it may be that they are molting. (come out of shell, shed outer exoskeleton and new one will harden.) they eat their old one but another hermit will know its there and want to eat it too (it' helps their exoskeleton with the calcium) and the molted crab is vulnerable to be eaten with his shed skin. (we learned this the hard way)

they may bury themselves for up to 3 months doing this. they also bury because their stressed. (environment not humid enough/ too humid, too much light, too much handling, etc.)

[Jayne]

Thanks for the info - Ill pass all that along to the rest of the household. Were new to the whole hermit crab thing, and we dont want either one to go the way of one of our green anoles a few years ago. Ah...nature.

[KC]

Hi, first time commenting here. Just felt an urge, since I've been keeping hermit crabs for about 10 years now. Sharp Claw is an awesome name. By the way, he or she is an Ecudorian hermit crab. That species requires a mix of salt water as well as fresh. (Aquarium salt please, rather than table.) It's also completely normal for new hermies to bury for a few weeks. All crabs come directly from the wild, (sometimes overseas) so they need a little time to decompress before they become interesting. ;) If you or your daughter is at all inclined, I'm an administrator for a hermit crab care message board. All family friendly, and we're a pretty nice group. ;) The server does require that you sign up, but it's totally free. If you feel like checking it out, there's a bunch of useful info, including how to tell males from females. Also feel free to email me, if you'd rather. Sorry if I come across as too pushy.

Anyways, I love your site, 'specially the bread recipe posts. Have a great day!