Woohooo! Two females with eggs! Update P.6! BABIES! (PPs)

[deesjebeesje]

Omg so cute, happy one week birthday xxxxx

[Trenac]

OMG! They look like shrimp. How cool

[wodesorel]

Happy week B-day little guys!!

[parrothead]

[Happy Crabber]

Happy Birthday baby crabbies
You're cuter than feline tabbies
We hope you find your shells soon
Happy birthday baby crabbies

[Strawberry Black Cat]

They're all so cute! Then again, I think pretty much anything is cute. They kinda look like a smaller version of the shrimp one guy caught in an estuary we were walking through while at the beach this year. I remember one other year when we were walking over the boardwalk when so many beach crabs started crawling away from the water at once that it looked like the sand was moving! I hope they make it onto land.

If lots of them do make it, what are you going to do with them? They're might be hundreds. I wonder if an aquarium could set up some kind of huge terrarium. That would be kinda awesome.

Wolf, did you ever find out just how long they should be carrying eggs for? Hubby and my mom are bugging me constantly about when Holo will drop.

Wodesorel, my inner nerd compells me to ask this: Was the male crab named Lawrence?

[wodesorel]

Wodesorel, my inner nerd compells me to ask this: Was the male crab named Lawrence?

I finally sat down to watch the second season the other week, and since the crab is so orangey I couldn't resist calling her that.
Sadly no about Lawrence, it was one of the big guys who I actually know by name. (Mighty Man, who came with mites. )

[wolfnipplechips]

They say thanks for the birthday wishes! Or they would if they had bigger brains and vocal cords...I'm sure of it.

I don't think there will be hundreds. I think best case scenario would be 25-30. Anything greater than or equal to 1 would be a miracle, really. haha. You can tell I have high expectations. I figure if I don't get my hopes up, I won't be disappointed when my husband kills them all while I'm out of town. (well, I will be, but not as much as if I expect a ton to live) I told him if he can get them to live, I'll love him more. Of course, he knows I'm just kidding him.

If any survive, I'll be setting up either my 10 or 20 to house them for like 2-5 years depending on their growth rates. That would be SO SPECTACULAR to measure their growth rate from the very beginning!! Just thought of that.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be going to Lowes (and maybe a couple other stores depending on my luck) to get supplies to make an elevated sand/molting box. I have to build it now in order for it to cure in time!! But I won't install it in the 20 until I come back August 20th (also contemplating installing it in my extra 10ga, but not sure how many babies there would be). If some babies are still alive Aug 20th, that would put them at 38 days, so they should be newly-ish molted into glaucothoe, and ready to go onto land in another 3-ish weeks at that time. Again, IF IF IF any are still alive.

[Skymall007]

It shall be hard not having updates while you are away

[wodesorel]

I really think your hubby can handle this! It shouldn't be too bad with feeding them, and water changes get easier the more you do them. Once you get the system worked out he should be able to fly through them. As they grow larger I would imagine that you could even set up a pre-filter on the vacuum tube to keep them from being sucked up - like a large chunk of foam attached to the end, or even pantyhose. Then he could shine the light on one side and put the hose down to the bottom on the other end without as much worry.

My hubby was talking about how it would be neat to watch them grow and track their growth rates. Here I am talking about throwing any I get into the same tank, and he's all "no! we must buy more tanks so you can monitor the different groups through the years! No putting them together! No putting them in your big tank!" I laughed so hard! He was so not into hermit crabs in the beginning, and now he's more hardcore than I am. I have to admit that I think if I don't get viable eggs this year he's going to be more disappointed then I am.

[kuza]

my wife is becoming a crab nut too. She picks favorites and I always catch her watching them.

[parrothead]

it's funny how the crabs seem to steal the hearts of those around them

[rane4102]

Happy one week (and one day!) birthday, little ones

Also, I totally agree with this:

it's funny how the crabs seem to steal the hearts of those around them

As I've said before on different topics, I live at school during the week while my parents take care of my hermit crabs, and on weekends I come home to fix any problems and make new food for my dad to give them during the week. At first, my parents were not pleased about this idea, and they made thay very clear to me, but now they are constantly calling me to tell me they've found the perfect branch to put in the tank (we live near a small expanse of woods) or that the crabs look cute all cuddled together on the cholla. When I told my dad about how wolfnipplechips and wodesorel are trying to raise hermit crabs from hatchlings, I thought he would be marginally interested, but instead he got really excited and said that if we were ever lucky enough to have that happen in my tank, we would HAVE to try and raise them!

I love spreading hermit crab love!! <3

[CrabbyIrene]

You guys that have managed to spread the hermie love are lucky! After 5 years my family still thinks I'm nuts!!!lol! The only one who understands is my 6 year old daughter, who is an absolute animal lover from the day she was born(or pretty close to it) there is not an animal she won't try to help if it's injured (except for bees) she is already saying she is going to be a vet. She's very gentle with animals and they are just drawn to her. She's the one that started my hermie "problem" when she was 1 1/2! Very observant with what goes on in the tank and when we're out she's always pointing out things that they might like Love it!

[wolfnipplechips]

Lots of babies dying today. Like 100 or more. Not sure if it's my fault or what. I can't think of what I'm doing wrong. Maybe they need a better diet than just brine shrimp? They don't like the spirulina...and the papers said they just used brine shrimp I think. Or maybe it's just natural that a bunch die...hundreds more are still living, but if 100 die every day, I doubt they will last much longer! We are off to get supplies this morning so I can build a sandbox thingy. It's still raining!!! Gah...you live in a sub-arctic desert and you get rain for over a week? Ridiculous. Will have to wait until it stops to build the sandbox. My husband doesn't want me doing it inside because I make messes.

My dad's side of the family thinks I'm nuts. They think pets should be dogs or cats. My grandpa never forgets to tell me when I am home that crabs "don't do anything". Yeah, well, I could say the same thing about their 5 cats. :roll: And I don't have to scoop out a ltiter box. I told my grandma about the crab babies, and she just seemed...uninterested. My Mom's side of the family is a lot better. They love my crabs. It's always better when you have support and other people who are interested.