Crabby adventures

When we went to the beach this summer, Granddad Locke bought Maddy a hermit crab. We didn't want him to be lonely, so Eman got a crab too. :)  I remember having a hermit crab or two when I was little. I don't think they lived too long. I did some research on them when we brought them home. Who knew there was so much to keeping a healthy "crabitat"???  Did you know that crabs need temperatures of at least 75 degrees and between 75-85% humidity? I didn't!  After reading a bit about crabs... I read that without proper humidity their gills slowly harden and they can die a long, slow death... I decided to try to make them a great home. Hopefully they will hang around a while. If they don't make it, at least we can say that we tried!!
I got my old aquarium and put some play sand in the bottom. We got a climbing branch, 2 water dishes (salt and fresh water), and I used some of the grass I had left over from my fish tank. We also got a humidity gauge and some coconut fiber that I attached to the side. They LOVE to climb on this and it helps with the humidity. Its quite the set up if I do say so myself. :) Apparently "Susie" liked it too. The night after we put them in the new tank, she buried herself. She stayed buried for 8 weeks!!!! Everything I read said to leave them alone if they do not stink because they were probably molting."Hermie/Mr. Crabs" enjoyed himself in the new tank. 

8 weeks later...

She's alive!!
Here is Susie, a freshly molted crab!

I don't know how she did it, but she resurfaced, right next to the food dish. :) For a long time she just hung out in her hole. I put a piece of mango on the dish and she decided to come out. :)

It was a very impressive tunnel system down there.

Susie LOVES to dig. Mr Crabs/Hermie likes to climb. He is always climbing, the walls, shells, whatever you put in there. But Susie... digs. We had to redo their crabitat (fresh sand and whatnot) because she had holes everywhere! She has been very tempermental since coming to the surface. She is a much larger crab than the other one and she gets upset easily. Pretty much anytime you change the water, food, etc., she gets irritated and starts to dig.
 

There she goes digging again.

We found this shell on the beach a couple of years ago. It has made a great hide out for the crabs. This was a favorite spot for Hermie/Mr. Crabs. As you can see, Susie is a bit of a bully. She is always climbing all over her little friend. I know this is normal crab behavior, but she really is not nice to him. I've seen her grab his shell and shake him around. During the 8 weeks she was molting, we got used to the little crab. He is pretty social, doesn't scare when the kids go over to look at him and is pretty laid back. Its been interesting to see how even hermit crabs have different personalities.

Mr. Crabs/Hermie in his favorite spot

Susie

 Anyway, that is all for now about our crabby adventures. I don't know who has had more fun with this... :)  I love watching the kids (even Eman) come down in the morning and see what the crabs are up to. Eman can even say "crab" now. (Well, something that sounds close to crab anyway. :) )