My apologies if I'm in the wrong forum; I'm pretty sure this is the right one, but I didn't see a thread for one of my favorite non-mammalian pets - hermit crabs!
I fell in love with them at one of those mall kiosks when I was little; I was never afraid of them, even though I'm otherwise squeamish when it comes to things with exoskeletons. I had three in third grade, but the only clear memory I have of them was the day I brought them to school for show and tell.
Now, some fifteen years later, I have two hermit crabs that I bought for my nephew (but really for me). The larger one is named Magellan; he was a little explorer when I brought him home. The smaller, shy one was dubbed Sebastian.
I didn't realize how funny these pets are. Their water dish used to have little plastic trees, and Magellan would somehow end up on top of them. I bought some driftwood so he'd quit it, and now all they want to do is burrow. They drive my grandpa crazy with their scratching noises when they're active.
Anyone else share the hermit crab love?
02-09-2015, 10:36 PM, (This post was last modified: 02-09-2015, 10:36 PM by Ram.)
Since I have kept aquariums, I have been looking for adding other creatures other then just the fish. So far I have snails, shrimps and of course fish.
I actually had the temptation to buy hermit crabs too. It sounds fun just by the idea of it. However, when I read a lot of reviews from the owners, many of them claim the hermit crabs are boring since they spend most of their time hiding in the shell and not moving at all.
From what you have experienced first hand, it seems to be quite the opposite of boring?
Where did you get your hermit crabs?
If I ever get them, it will be after I start a marine aquarium. All my current aquariums are freshwater.
Hermit crabs were pretty much the rage when I was in grade school and high school. There are actually vendors outside our school who'd sell them depending on the size. Younger kids love them because they were unusual to us in a way, as they are not normally seen away from the beaches and the ocean. When we had the chance to go to the beach, my brothers and I hunted for some along the shore and took them home. We fed them rice but after almost a month, they all died. We never kept some ever again.
(05-23-2016, 01:25 PM)maxen57 Wrote: Hermit crabs were pretty much the rage when I was in grade school and high school. There are actually vendors outside our school who'd sell them depending on the size. Younger kids love them because they were unusual to us in a way, as they are not normally seen away from the beaches and the ocean. When we had the chance to go to the beach, my brothers and I hunted for some along the shore and took them home. We fed them rice but after almost a month, they all died. We never kept some ever again.
It is obvious that they died from malnutrition, and overall the lack of proper care.
Even humans whose body are optimized for using carbohydrate as an energy source will not be able to survive on rice only. Rice, especially the white rice is mostly carbohydrate, with very little nutritious value. It is why humans eat meat (protein) and veggie (fiber, vitamins and minerals) on the top of rice.
Many other animals are not optimized to use carbohydrate as energy source. They need protein and fat. By feeding them rice only, you are dooming them to death. There are actually many different species of hermit crabs. Some of them are land based, some of them are marine species. Without determine the exactly species, we do not know for sure what their normal diet is.
No pet animal should be sold to kids or clueless adults for that matter, who have no idea how to take care of them. No one should just buy a pet as a sudden idea when they see the animal. To get any pet, you should first research all the necessary information (before) getting them at all. ；）
This reminds me of an attempt someone made to domesticate a deer. Failure to mimic cues in the wild to make it feed resulted in its premature death. Most of these animals have specific social, physical and psychological cues that they respond to. There is no way a person can guess the nutritional and other requirements of these pets with appreciable accuracy without understudying them in the wild. Many people make the same mistake because before the trial and error phase ends, conspiring factors have taken a toll on the animal to make it to the verge of death. Other aspects related to this is medication. One of my uncles decided to inject his two lovely twin dogs without familiarity as to the contraindications of the specific drug he intended to use and the animals inevitably died.
