gonna get me some straws.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 6:52 pm

I am going to make a two hour trip just to get some hermies. I acn find anywhere here in my general vacinity. So i am making a 2 hour trip to the nearest petco to me and get me some straws. And maybe a few ruggies and Es if they have any. Is a 35 gallon enough for two straws? I have a 35 gallon and a 20 gallon for all my hermies. So I think I have enough space. I am saving like $150 so I have PLENTY of money to spend while im there. lol I'm gonna have sooo much fun.

Gorthaur · Post by **Gorthaur** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:26 pm

Petco Straws are notoriously fragile - I suggest getting five or six if you would like to end up with two. It might also be a good idea to keep only the Straws in your 35 gallon and the other crabs in the 20 gallon until all the new ones acclimate. I also assume you already have pools and can maintain consistent 80/80 conditions in the 35 gallon?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:51 pm

Because straws are so extremely fragile, I will not buy anymore. I will adopt if necessary, but not purchase. Please don't take this the wrong way, but unless you've been crabbing for along time I suggest you don't purchase any straws. There's too many things that can go awry with straws.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 9:00 pm

My

Speaking from experience, BE CAREFUL with a Petco straw. Generally they aren't in great shape to begin with and they are pretty fragile. I made the mistake of getting a straw as my 1st crabbie and it broke my heart when he died.

BUT - if you do decide to get a few, I'm very happy for you! Straws have a lot of personality on top of being absolutely gorgeous.

NaRnAR · Post by **NaRnAR** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 12:16 pm

I agree that PetCo straws are fragile. Back a couple months ago I bought 7 straws from petco and now have 2 of them left.

But if you decide to get some, congrats! They are great hermies once they are de-stressed....6 months later.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 1:51 pm

Mine were up for a week or so, then they both dug under. I haven't seen them in ages other than when I took most of the sand out of my tank to move it the other week. I kind of unburied them, but not all the way. I was careful...lol. I did see one of Darryl's legs though and he moved it, so I know he was alive. I was freaking out hoping they didn't dig under and die, but they seem to have survived the first 5 or 6 weeks anyway. I just went with the two and if they die, I won't get any more. They're in my 55 gallon tank with 10 other crabs (a mix of one other sort of large crab and the rest are mediums and smalls). Of course I'm notorious for keeping small, fragile pets alive. When I was about 4, my cousin got me some sea monkeys for my birthday and I kept those buggers going for years. It's not from any skill, I just seem to have good pet luck.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 5:25 pm

I will of course have to look at the tank condtions and everything first though. lol casue i dont wanna get some and then drive all the way and they die on me. that would be enough to set me of. lol So I will take all this under consideration. and whats the best kind of lid I can ge? The plexi glass melts and the glass breaks whne lights are set upon it. So I am at a dead end. what do I do? Get flourecent lighting? I think they might work but that seems kind of expensive for what I'm looking for.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:49 pm

At the Petcos that I go to, the Strawberry crabs are always huge! I didn't know that they were so fragile, though... Same thing with the Indos, they're always huge.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 7:41 pm

khill wrote:I will of course have to look at the tank condtions and everything first though. lol casue i dont wanna get some and then drive all the way and they die on me. that would be enough to set me of. lol So I will take all this under consideration. and whats the best kind of lid I can ge? The plexi glass melts and the glass breaks whne lights are set upon it. So I am at a dead end. what do I do? Get flourecent lighting? I think they might work but that seems kind of expensive for what I'm looking for.

Tempered glass will not crack. It's a little more expensive though.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:29 am

ShyGuy2 wrote:At the Petcos that I go to, the Strawberry crabs are always huge! I didn't know that they were so fragile, though... Same thing with the Indos, they're always huge.

Mine are huge too. I got the last two Petco had when I went (it's a bit of a drive for me to get to a Petco too). I went intending to get two straws and wound up with them and three ruggies. Out of the five crabs I got at that time, the only death I had was one of the ruggies after about a week and a half or so. I can't wait to go back for more ruggies. My Petco was also trying to pawn off some large PP's as Straws. I'm pretty sure anyway. I kind of wanted them to have a few when I got there so I could be picky. I called before I left and they said they had 5-7 still there. When I got there 30 or so minutes later, the store was empty. I had called before they opened too so I know nobody came in and bought most of them in the meantime. All that were there straw-wise were the 2 straws I wound up buying and a bunch of large PP's. I sometimes wonder if Petco is trying to rip people off, or if their supplier is ripping them off by sending them PP's and saying they're straws or if they're just THAT ignorant about species ID? I will give my Petco that they had great tank conditions. The only complaint I would be able to give them is the depth of the FB substrate. I can understand it though, I'm sure the crabs aren't there very long and it's probably hard to sell them if they're always dug under. The temp and humidity were both 80% and the tank was big, tall, on the end of an aisle and locked so not just anybody could reach in. We had to get an employee, and then it was OK with her that we handled them, but she hung around to help us out (and probably to make sure we weren't some whackos that would hurt the crabs...lol). Good Luck finding them Kory! Let me know if you get them and how they're doing!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:43 am

Amie91280 wrote:I sometimes wonder if Petco is trying to rip people off, or if their supplier is ripping them off by sending them PP's and saying they're straws or if they're just THAT ignorant about species ID?

My petco was doing that too, so I explained to the guy that the purple claw means that it isn't a strawberry, and he seemed to believe me, but I doubt he really did.

Christa · Post by **Christa** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:23 am

Please don't take this the wrong way, but unless you've been crabbing for along time I suggest you don't purchase any straws. There's too many things that can go awry with straws.

Vicki is right. I have owned hermit crabs on and off for over 30 years and I still have had a very difficult time with strawberry crabs. I originally got about six of them from Petco because I was concerned about them falling into the hands of inexperienced crabbers. Unfortunately I learned that even if you have 30+ years of experience with other hermit crabs, strawberry crabs are a whole new ballgame.

Out of the six that I had, two are left. Four died while trying to molt. One was very fortunate that he molted in the middle of the saltwater dish and I found him very soon afterwards. He has recovered and is my largest straw. The second one is doing OK but I worry about when he will molt.

So I guess the gist of this is that you should be prepared for a difficult time with your straws. Initially they will be healthy and active, but look out for molting time. The longest I've had one survive was about 14 months. That was through one molt and a few months afterwards. It was a smallish straw and not from Petco. I believe that the HCA VP, Laurie, has had more success with hers. Her ISO is a 15 gallon tank with about a foot of FB in the bottom.

I am not going to advise that people not buy strawberry crabs. If you've cared for hermit crabs for a year or so and feel that your tank conditions are stable, there is no reason why you shouldn't bring them home. They are only going to die a horrid death in the pet store anyway....

Best of luck to you!
Christa

P.S. Feel free to quote this message to any beginners you know who want strawberry crabs. Let's hope it will make a difference....

NaRnAR · Post by **NaRnAR** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:32 am

I have to agree with Christa about the molting. THey have trouble molting when the tank isns <perfect>.

Many of the straws I have had also have died shortly after molting, for some reason or another. Either that or they make it all well and fine for 3 months and then unexpectedly die. I just had two do this. Shasta was fine at 9am and I left to do some errands, got home at noon and she had dropped 4 legs and her BP. They are definitely a different beast.

I do have one straw *heavy sigh and good thoughts to the hermie gods* that I have had for almost ayear. Skeith has had 2 successful molts and is my first pp's best friend. He has surprisingly done well, considering all of his friends he came with are long past dead. The only thing different, that I can think of, between him and the others is that he LOVES to bathe in the IO pool. THe others that have died rarely bathed in/under water. So I think that is one key to their survival.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:20 pm

I have three perlatis - aka strawberries - i bought from a local Petco.

I bought them several days apart. Not all at once. There was only four in their tank at the store at the time.

That was several months ago in the spring and they are doing very well.

After a week I decided to get the last one after i had read some special info on them.

But when I arrived, it seemed to had died a short time before. It did not have the tell tale smell as yet.

It still looked alive but no movement. When the clerk opened the cage for me i picked it up and it slid out of the shell. Poor thing ...

The best thing is to get them as soon as they arrive at the store.

Apparently there have not been any available for a petco store to receive for months now.

I want to get more maybe next month. I will set up a special tank for them although they seem to do very well with the other species.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 7:27 pm

Ok I am probably gonna go ahead and get some. But i need to know how deep excatly does the saltwater pool ahev to be? and does the ffreshwater pool have to be the same? and what if I cant get the temp/humidity. to stay the same? I for some resason have troubles with this. I really just need glass. lol I'll be getting that after I get my job. So is thsia ll that differs from starws and the rest?