Should Hermit Crabs Be Kept as Pets?

jojo7 · Post by **jojo7** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 5:56 am

Does anyone else ever feel guilty about keeping hermies as pets??...My parents live in Cape May, NJ...literally 5 minutes from the Beach... myself and the kids go to visit my parents several times during the summer months...anyway, there must be hundreds of stores down there that sell hermies...Our first visit this summer was the very end of June...There is a little hut like store directly on the beach that sells hermies...The kids and I went to shop around and saw the cage...It was one of those wire cages that had 2 levels to it...It must have had hundreds of hermies between the two levels!...as i walked closer to the cage, the smell of death was sickening!!...i immediately told the saleswoman there are dead hermies in the cage, she responded saying, "They just came in from Florida yesterday and had a really tough trip."...whatever "tough trip" meant, i didnt want to know...if they had such a "tough trip" then why wasn't there any food, water dishes, (just one giant damp sponge), extra shells, etc...??..it broke my heart and my son's were devastated!!...i wished i could have brought them all home with me, but i was only able to take home two..i have only a ten gallon tank and didn't want to overcrowd the hermies i already have...anyway, i just stood there and stared at those poor hermies and was thinking how badly i feel that they take these poor hermies out of their natural habitat only to be sold to a million kids on summer vacation that have no clue how to care for them...not to mention the parents that could care less if they lived or not...well, i know i'm not one of those people and i love all my hermies and care for them like i would any other family members, but for some reason i feel guilty about it??...why, i dont know??...it was such a sad sight to see all the dead hermies laying around on the bottom of that cage...it was hard not to think these poor little guys were walking around happily one day and before you know it they are having a "tough trip!!"...Well, i'm kinda thinking out loud here and thought maybe there might be other hermie families that kinda understand how i'm feeling...(sorry so long)

Froggz37 · Post by **Froggz37** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:06 am

Don't worry hun, I feel the same way. If I could I would let my hermits go on the beaches they came from, but unfortunatly at this time they would just be reharvested.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:26 am

Many of us feel the same way. Other than not supporting the worst petstores (which some people just can't do and HAVE to rescue. I understand and don't begrudge them that) all we can really do is Educate. Thankfully there are now better caresheets floating around, but getting the petstores to hand them out isn't always the easiest thing to do. And getting them to put in appropriate conditions in the first place! That's even harder sometimes. It almost seems impossible, but I think it can be done. Just look at petco. Not all their stores are acceptable, but a LOT of them are a heck of a lot better. If crabbers have that effect on one major chain, maybe we can do it for others. Anyways, I understand the guilt and have felt it many times. And I think education, and attempting to get better restrictions (or any) on harvesting is the best way to beat it.

jojo7 · Post by **jojo7** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 1:23 am

I will also randomly go into a pet store with the intention to buy dog food/cat food etc..and end up coming home with a hermie or two...when i see the conditions of how they are living are not good is usually what helps me make that decision to take them home...maybe if hermit crabs were treated equally as dog,cats,etc. i wouldn't feel the guilt because i know they are being protected and spoken for...i dont know, i know i have guilt issues with so many other things in my life, so maybe its just me...for instance, i wanted my Pug to have one litter of puppies, but the thought of taking her babies away killed me!!..i would have felt sooooo badly, so we had her spayed. (which i felt guilty about that too!) Soooooooo, what it all comes down to is i have issues and need help!...lol...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:48 am

I too have looked at my guys and felt that sense of sadness and guilt. they should be roaming a beach somehere, not here in Ca 3000 miles away from home. I travel to Fla every year as I own property there and have considered releasing them in the keys but I thought a lot about it and realised they would likely either be picked up by some tourist or reharvested. So I keep them in the best conditions I know how. Its a sad situation. They have lost some of their fear of humans and would likely not have much of a chance of survival back in the wild.Annette

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

While it's often true that buying cats and dogs from petstores has the effect of supporting breeding operations (including puppy mills in some cases), it's not always true. Some stores that "sell" pets--I could name a couple in St. Louis and one here in Columbia, Mo.--actually are taking animals from humane organizations and helping to place them in homes. (I'm only pointing this out so people don't automatically assume that petstores are evil--it's worth checking out their policies first. I mostly agree with you, though.)

Hermie Luver · Post by **Hermie Luver** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

Man, petstores are just stupid (I know I have said this many times). The more hermies they ship in that I see they are neglected, the more I will get hermies! I WILL stack my house full of hermie cages...I'm not joking. I rescued a hermie just a couple of hours ago. Haven't named her yet, but she was in a cage with no food or water. I also rescued a fish from that store. It looked like a swimming skeleton. It was the skinniest fish I ever saw. So far, the new hermie has eaten half of the 1 oz. food from FMR and the fish has had four dinner courses. In my opinion, I think petstores will improve over time, gradually building up to taking good care of hermies. (Hope and pray!) If I saw abused hermies, I would just buy the whole lot. If I can't take care of all of them, I would give them to friends and family who promise to take care of them...or sell them online, making customers have their word that they will take good care of them. This is what I would do. Of course, I'd eventually run out of money. I've also made the Mall's Pet Store look bad... I told all my friends the story and none of them shopped there. They told their friends, and the friends told their friends, and we have a little chain. My science teacher collects hermies, so I told her the story. She wrote about 20 letters and e-mailed them about 15 times and talked to the manager so many times they got sick and changed it...Sometimes being a pest can actually help.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

I think about this alot. My most recent two crab purchases died; however, I have 11 that have prospered from the same petstore. The problem for me is that living in a small town there aren't many choices. I either buy crabs from a bad petstore or I don't buy them at all. I do see adoptions of furry animals in my local paper but no hermit crabs are ever in the "Free To Good Home" section. I buy most of my pet supplies online. I try to talk to petstores. I do what I can; however in a small town especially people are resistant to change. If I want more crabs at some point, I will have to buy them from less than ideal conditions and I really don't want to. Sigh. My main goals right now are keeping the crab kiosks out of our county fairs and the local amusement park. The impulse crab purchasing bothers me the most.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

Hermieluver,I try to buy hermies from stores that are good ones because then I know that my money will go to keeping pets in good conditions. If I buy from a "bad" store, then my money is supporting that situation. They will use my money to buy more crabs that will be neglected.The reason that I do not buy supplies from stores that sell animals that can be adopted (small animals, dogs, cats, etc.) is that my money is supporting the breeding of domestic animals when in most cases, there is always an overpopulation situation that needs to be taken care of first. (i.e. save a pup from the Humane Society rather than support a puppy mill)There are lots of other reasons, but that's the short version.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

My strategy is to seek out those pet stores that -are- doing a good job and purchasing solely from them. This encourages them to continue to do good work.I also do not purchase pet supplies from pet stores that sell pets that can be adopted from the humane society. (rabbits, ferrets, birds, kittens, puppies, etc.)

hermit_king · Post by **hermit_king** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

I don't want to sound rude here, but the point of this forum help others with taking care of crabs, asking and answering questions about their care, talking about our crabs, crab care, and all that. To stop crabbing, stopping petstores from selling hermit crabs, that is what PETA does.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

The fact that our pets cannot reproduce in captivity does lean the agrument towards not buying any more, since we can't increase their numbers should their populations dwindle due to havesting. I've thought about that. The option to breed in captivtiy could, and has saved many species of animals from endangerment or worse.If we all stopped participating in the market for hermit crabs as pets, what would happen to the safegaurd effort to breed them in captivity? Would it be minimized if the hermies were not under such a viable threat? If it were minimized would that be good? Would it take twice as long to accomplish? Should it not be accomplished at all? I think it should be, for a number of reasons.Whether we adopt or buy, we all are contributing in one way or another to the industry. We feed it by purchasing supplies and toys. One could agrue we contribute to the market just by joining this forum, where people who don't own hermies can see us talking about and find an interest and buy them. I think that, like what newcrabber said: quote:It's just come down to what I can live with unless your a purist who owns no hermit crabs, there is always a degree of hypocracy quote:but i just sort of feel like a hypocrite... and it just comes down to what degree of hypocracy you want to live within, and what you can do to make yourself feel comfortable with it.

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

There came a time during my days of crabbing when I tortured myself with that very question. I continued to buy hermies and continued to feel guilty. Convincing myself I was doing something good getting them out of stores that were killing them wasn't working. It's been a little over a year since I've actually purchased any and I have no plans to in the future.For me, this is the right thing to do and it doesn't mean I have stopped talking with and trying to educate those stores who keep them in terrible conditions, I will continue my efforts to make a difference in that regard whether I am buying them or adopting from other crabbers or whatever the case may be. Obviously, my feelings and what is right for me differs from those who purchase to add to their troops and those who purchase what they term, "rescues" from stores. I in no way criticize or feel anyone who buys from stores, kiosks, etc., is wrong. Let's face it, what I'm doing isn't going to stop the sale or harvesting of hermit crabs, nor is continuing to buy them. It's just come down to what I can live with and still be able to be a crabber. There are plenty of hermies out there that are in need of homes that could probably keep me crabbing for a life time without buying them from a retailer.

Jedediah · Post by **Jedediah** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

I have decided that I'll keep my eight crabs, but I won't getting any more unless I can adopt them (not much chance of that, but on the other hand i already adopted two).I'm very much into exotic pets, but if I cannot get captivity bred animals of a species I want, then I just don't keep that pet. I avoid pet shops with live animals, too and I always look for animals I can adopt before looking for a breeder, especially when it comes to rodents.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:46 pm

But we cannot ignore the good we have done by complaining to pet stores, handing out care sheets, it has made a difference. All the Petco's in my area have corrected their crabitats and are more knowledgable then ever before. The places that have not are mostly gone (bad kiosks), except for Petsmart. Even our Walmarts do not have the notorious "Crabs in a cup." Its working, slowly, but it is working. Where would crabs be if the people who really do care give up?