After reading a lot about caring for the species of hermit crabs available as pets in the US … i finally found this Facebook group with really great members and care info that is specific to our Aussie crabs – yay!
i’ve learnt so much
I can’t believe it’s only been a month since we were given Crabby Crab – i have read so much since then, and learnt so much, that it seems like a lifetime ago!
When i find some time, i will share my findings – stay tuned for updates.
finally found a tank, thanks turtles!
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Over the last couple of weeks i had seen a few possible tanks for sale but, for one reason or another, i missed out – i was doing other things, or i rang and the tank had already sold – doh!
Then, a few days ago, one stood out above the rest … to someone looking for an aquarium it was probably not very enticing, but it immediately caught my eye. The ad was titled ‘3 ft turtle/reptile/fish tank’ and the photo was just a tank, no stand, no pump, no extras – just a tank.
I clicked on the ad for details and found: ‘92 cm long x 60 cm high x 52 cm wide’ – pretty much exactly what i was looking for.
The $60 price tag was in my budget, the location was only about 1 hour from here and, when i rang to enquire, it was still available – so I arranged to pick it up this morning.
changing rooms for the good of all
I’m still searching for a second-hand aquarium and am thinking that i will need a ‘3-foot’ tank – at the minimum. Anything smaller, and currently available, seems to be too small (e.g. 40 litre, which is not much better than what we’ve got).
We only live in a small house and there is not a lot of room to spare. It was way past time for me to find somewhere to fit this new addition!
I spent a lot of time thinking about it and came to the conclusion that we would need to rearrange some furniture and rationalise some toys.
having a real bath at long last
The 5 mm deep reptile food dishes that came with Crabby Crab’s 20 L ‘hermit crab kit’ were totally inappropriate as water bowls! I didn’t even entertain the thought of using them for anything other than a food dish. One was enough for that – the 2 extras went in the drawer with all the other vivarium spares.
When i first set up Crabby Crab’s new tank, i had a couple of small ceramic dishes (about 70 mm across, 15 mm deep) that i used for his water – fresh water in one and salt water in the other.
I knew these still weren’t big enough but they were better than nothing for a start. I have seen Crabby Crab and the others ‘soaking’ in one or the other dish on a number of occasions.
I was really hoping to have a new, bigger and better, crabitat set up by now but still haven’t found a suitable enclosure. I will keep searching, but in the meantime I needed to do something about their water dishes.
search for a tank turns up crabs
I’ve been looking all over for a suitable second-hand aquarium to make into a larger crabitat for Crabby Crab – there are lots on offer, but most are too expensive or too far away. Many come with filters, lights, pumps, heaters, food, gravel, live fish, sunken ships, the kitchen sick, etc.
All I want is a tank, and maybe lights (if they’re suitable for a crabitat).
However, during my searches I came across heaps of hermit crabs for sale. I’m sorry to say that not very many of them were being kept in suitable conditions – it was very sad to see :-(
One ad in particular touched my heart – I immediately decided to rescue the two crabs.
first days must have been horrible for poor Crabby Crab
Well … I recently, and very unexpectedly, became a hermit crab owner!
My ex-partner’s new girlfriend’s children (a long story, and best saved for another day) gave my 5-year-old son a hermit crab last week. No complaints – it was a welcome addition to our steadily growing menagerie (cats, dogs, lizards, snails, snake, fish, etc.).
When Crabby Crab (as my son named him or her) arrived, he/she was in a plastic critter carrier with about 2 cm of bright blue ‘sand’ and a couple of shallow ‘water’ dishes. I’m sorry I didn’t take a photo, it would have been a great example of what not to do!
They also gave us a small container of what looked like a mixture of fish flakes, lizard pellets and small dried shrimp – labelled ‘hermit crab dinner’ – and another of course salt – with no label on it. Not knowing anything about hermit crab care, i initially assumed that all was ok and that Crabby Crab would be fine as long as we refilled his water bowls daily and gave him ‘dinner’. How wrong i was!