Anyone else have crabs?

I seriously used to have over 40 of those crabs when i was younger. My dad build a huge cage thing for them, it was pretty awesome. I find them pretty boring now though.

I had some hermits recently in my fishtank but they kept knocking coral over so they got fed to miss mantis :)
The coolest hermit i ever saw was this one at a fish store a couple months ago.

Man, 40? I doubt I’d be able to handle that many… two is already driving me crazy with all the humidity and food and substrate and such.
That is the coolest looking crab ever, seriously.

I don’t have hermit crabs, but I do have bearded dragons. They are similar in that they’re entertaining creatures, probably only one or two steps up on the interactive scale compared to a hermit crab (the beardies are ambivalent about being handled, you can’t really “play” with them apart from throwing their food on the floor and watching them run after it). I see both hermit crabs and bearded dragons as being interactive scenery more than actual pets, but that doesn’t stop me from considering them as both :)

I used to have millions of hermit crabs. I loved them when I was little because I would, sort of, play with them as if they were toys. I moved them from one space to another and have the usual playtime a 7 year old would. But now, they are just plain boring. They are not for amusement….just like a lizard or something.

The provocative wording of this question reminded me of what I consider one of the most amusing pieces of bathroom graffiti I ever ran across:

“Do not throw toothpicks into the toilet. Crabs can pole vault.”

::snicker::

I had one, once. Named Hermy, why I didn’t go with Herman is beyond me.
I kidnapped him from Clearwater Beach.

He died quick. :’(

Two years ago there were some wildfires in Southern California that drove thousands from their homes.

I was active in helping animal rescue during this emergency and one evacuee brought me a box and inside was a little mouse and a hermit crab. I had never seen a hermit crab before and had to research how to create his habitat and feed him. (His owner had so little time to get out she could not even take his habitat)

After the fires he remained homeless (the mouse was adopted out) and so to this day “Bob” is on the piano in his terrarium.

As far as amusing he is interesting to study but is not nearly as lively. I say hello as I pass him and he is usually perched up on a shell looking back. This is about the extent of our interactions. My approach regarding non-dog pets is to allow them to set the terms of interaction. Thus Bob is rarely held unless I need to move him to clean his habitat.

What is the most interesting thing about Bob to me is that he buries himself and hibernates from early November to January. Thus we move him to the laundry room and can decorate for Christmas. When he comes out his shell is a rich gray-blue with red hilights.

@Marina- funny!

I have about 30 in a 150 gal tank. I am the owner of The Crab Street Journal (crabstreetjournal.com) and All Things Crabby is my blog devoted to my hermit crabs. I also have www.crabbywiki.com and www.coenobitaspecies.com

Sadly most of the care information given by pet stores is wrong and it results in untimely deaths of hermit crabs.

Hermit crabs don’t hibernate. Possibly Bob is cold and digging down to keep warm OR he molts the same time every year….which is unlikely but not impossible.

@Daethian: When I first got my hermit crabs I came to the Crab Street Journal to see if I could find any information on them. Love your site. :)
@Dog: The lady I got my hermit crab from told me that he hibernates, too, though since I’ve had him he hasn’t… I’m not entirely sure what’s different, though.

@Daethian I recall coming across the crab street journal when Bob first arrived. My information did not come from pet stores but diligent on line searches. I wholeheartedly agree that pet stores are dubious sources of information on any type of pet.

Since his habitat is climate controlled he is not cold and since he emerges looking very spiffy and sharp I would have to say that it is a molt. I have only had him through two molts and both were roughly the same time but this does not mean that next molt will happen on schedule.

@Daethian Thank you for the additional link to coenobitaspecies.com After researching that site I am very happy to have identified Bob as a C.Violascens Hermit Crab.

@electricsky Thanks so much!

@Dog Definitely sounds like he is molting. They seem to molt regularly to a point and then I guess as they really begin to grow, the time between is longer. I believe jumbos take about 18 months between molts.

Really a viola? Where do you live? I am always looking for anatomy photos, especially macros.

@Daethian I am in Southern California. If you PM your email to me I will take photos of Bob and email them to you for confirmation.