I must be doing something right! :)

[Rose7314]

Wow that's cool that you did that with your pools!
I need to redue mine as well, the crabs never seem to enjoy them or go in them that I can see and I would love it if they did. Well Hurby died a couple weeks ago and Smog died on Sunday mid molt one of the other crabs dug him up by accident and he was dead my crabs must hate me. I was trying to help Hurby stay hydrated because his skin felt so dry without a shell and maybe I just handled him too much ugh every time I think about all of my crabs that have died it's just so sad. So now I am down to 3. BJ, KAL, and Emily who all seem to be doing great. Emily keeps burying and unburying and now she has buried herself again. I just let her do her thang and leave her be. I would still like a snail shell though, maybe KAL would move into one. He's still in his stupid painted shell. You're right about the heavy turbos though.
Even BJ tried out the heavy turbo that Hurby had rejected and he said heck no and moved out of it two days later. I will measure KAL and let you know. Thank you so much for being so helpful. Yeah I hear ya about the gauges, I still need a new one lol stupid crabs ruin everything. I got some dirt from my backyard and mixed it with the sand and it did a good job absorbing most of the water. I need to look for some play sand or ecoearth. I'm still so broke though trying to get my bills and debt in place and it's so frustrating because I would love to get all kinds of stuff for these guys. Can't wait to see your pools! TTYL!

[Nia]

Yea all I can say is UGH MY LUCK . So our AC went last night n we about died it was so hot >< so hate this last minute heat wave . So now we have to figure that one out lol. IF we are lucky maybe we can get one cheap since its AC sale season *hopeful*.
Yea I have been down that road even though I knew a few that I had gotten would pass since I rescued them from bad conditions to start with. I do that to much but at least they get someone to love them n treat them good even if it is for a short time. A lil love is better than no love -.- poor babies. I have lost a few from not knowing what to do to just plain unluckiness -.-. Our 4 seem to be doing wonderfully now I have a hardy bunch now it seems. I'll look around and see what I can find once I know his size .
Here is there pools though . I need to redo the whole tat now tho, oh well lol I don't mind n they seem to love it lol. Waiting on Herc's butt to resurface lol I can see him molting really nicely so that is good. He buried where he can see me n I can see him n he is looking good so far still pink tho.
Ocean pool: The canvas slides there on the side (the corner piece) I made that for the bubb tubes. Makes keeping it in one place so much easier lol.


Fresh water pool:

Full pools: lol if you look in the back in the cocohut that is Bat Girl.


Its not much but I think they came out nice and all of it together was under $10.00 so I can't really get any better than that lol. Naturally later when we upgrade them to the big tat the pools will probably get an upgrade too. Bat Girl seems to love them, so I am happy that she is happy. So far she has been the only one that I've seen in them. I keep looking lol.

[Rose7314]

Wow those pools looks great!! I never thought to put ramps like that in the pools for them! Wow I am so doing that. Good job! You're very crafty I'm sure that Herc will love them.
Yeah you know honestly I try to do the best I can for them and a lot of the time I don't know what I'm doing either but I still try. I'm pretty sure that KAL will need a shell with an inch wide opening, the shell that he is in now is so small and I can even measure it because he can't retract into his shell and if I pick him up he freaks and pinches me. I'm going to go with an inch, inch and a half at the biggest. Thank you again, if there is anyway I am help you out please let me know omg that sucks about your AC! It's been really hot here too, crab weather! I hope you guys can find a nice cheap AC. Good luck! I think I'm gonna splurge today and get another E for Emily. I can't help it, they're so cute

[Nia]

Sorry it has been awhile since I have been able to get on, pure craziness lol. Staying positive will soon be written on my forehead -.-, well it needs to be anyway lol. I updated the crab tat tonight but this time I am taking my time and adding it in slowly rather than building it up in a days work this time. I have built it all day twice now n the dang thing just falls apart no matter what I use. This new tank will not let me put anything in lol. Hot glue failed me even tho the first tat it worked great, Aquarium sealant has now failed me twice -.- (tat wise and pools, UGH), Now I used Pro Hot glue this stuff glues n holds anything lol AND aquarium sealant. Goodness if that don't hold I am out of options lol. I had an old Mouse tat that was a Princess cage I have a Prince around here some where too I will use that one once I can find it lol. Kids are keeping to their pink n blue theme so it fits in perfectly lol. After a good cleaning I jazzed it up and they now have a second level with a moss pit n calcium pit lol. Mine go thru calcium like there is no tomorrow . Herc has molted 2 more times since the last time I posted, Idk what has gotten into this boy . I told him don't out grow this tat faster than I can get it set up plz lol. Herc was sitting in the tat so excited while I was putting the finishing touches on it tonight to put it in that he was bouncing lol. I am sure he will be on it before I go to bed tonight, he was that excited . Now I need to find better pools tho -.- They are not so happy with the atm.....its odd they loved them when I put them in n now they won't go into them I don't get it. Going to try and find less deep bins but just as wide. Temp is holding good in there too Top of the tat is at 83deg F atm and we don't have the heat on yet. Oh and I am waiting on those shells once I get them I will send them to you . They are from 1-2" so he should have a good bit of growing room. Some like the snails better than others since they are much lighter. Herc loves his muffin shell lol he is still in it. He tried a bigger shell on once n went straight back to the muffin shell. Lol he looks like a lil cinnamon roll with icing . Hearts is still doing great and Bat Girl just changed into a bigger turbo shell and quickly buried herself so she might be getting ready to molt AGAIN lol. I swear they have gone molt crazy o.0. I hope that is a good sign lol. Here is their updated tat so far.



Mr. monster legs himself lol, Herc.

Ms. Hearts in the Coco hut chilling.

The Love birds! Herc n Hearts chilling in the Coco hut.


In that this one you can really see how she is starting to match his pattern of colors, its so cute. Hope your crew is doing good.

[Rose7314]

Thank you so much for those shells! if there is anything that I can trade with you let me know how do you make a calcium pit? That sounds cool! I have yet to figure out how to make a second level for my crabs, there just isn't enough room in their tank :/ it's a 29 gallon but I have so much sand that it doesn't leave much room for a second level. I really need a bigger tank lol I really need a new bubbler motor because this one is soooo loud and it's driving me nuts! Lol your tat looks so cool and colorful! I love it your crabs look great as well. You're right, Herc does look like a cinnamon roll lol yum! It's super cute that they are starting to match I can't believe that Herc molts that much! Crazy! None of mine have gone down to molt again. I feel better now if they do because I finally broke down and just bought new sand for them. I was in denial about the sand they had but no matter how hard I tried to dry out their sand a little it was still too wet and it was starting to stink like standing water. My boyfriend walked into the house and was like "I don't know what it is but it stinks in here. It smells like when you open the crab tank." And of course I've gone a little nose blind to it lol but yeah...and then I always worried about them burying and possibly drowning so I bought a lot of play sand and hosed out their tank really good and it's looks so much better now. This play sand is awesome really! Now I have to get some cocofiber but like you said, a little at a time next week I need to go to the dollar store and get some fake plants in it, it looks a little like a desert without them lol I went to the pet store to get another E and they didn't have any but instead I got two of the teeniest little PPs I have seen in person. I think they are even smaller than McKenna was. There's Cheez-It, he's in a cone shaped shell, and CheeseDoodle, super shy and I hardly ever see him. He was Cheeseball but we all like CheeseDoodle better. I'll post some pics later, you will probably already see them on here. I can't get a pic of CheeseDoodle because he's so aloof lol they're soooooo cute though! Cheez-It only had two legs but she is slowly growing gel limbs how long did it take Hearts to grow hers back? I'm very impatient lol she gets along good and an do those little crabs have mighty strong grips! She wraps herself around my finger like she owns it lol the other crabs are doing well and they are all getting along great. KAL is still in his painted shell and I have been finding blue paint chips around B.j slowed down his eating and they are back to barely eating now. I think they eat the bark off of their climbing sticks more than they eat out of their food dish *rolls eyes* gosh they love that bark. I watch them shovel it into their mouths lol well I have to go get ready for work. I will respond to your message later.

[Rose7314]

Just had to share KAL eating the bark off of the tree limbs lol and I just came home and found B.J eating moss! No wonder they won't eat what I give them. They're too busy eating their surroundings lol

[Nia]

Lol Kal sounds just like Herc it took me forever to get him out of his painted shell lol. They can be very stubborn when they want to be . As for Hearts legs to me it seemed way to fast. I have heard of it taking month + but with her to fully get her new legs was than 2 weeks total. First 5days was the gel limbs and the last 2 1/2 days she had her legs back and was running around by day 3, I was shocked. It seemed like it took her longer to recover from the shock of losing them then getting them back. Then again for some reason mine are on fast forward mode . Multi molts, acting crazy, and turbo stuffing their faces lol.
The insert that I used the pink ramp had 2 pits pre built into it so I just dazzled them up a bit. It was for a mouse princess cage so that was the built in food n water bowl lol made a nice moss pit n calci pitt ^.^. They are a good depth too so it holds a lot. I filled the bottom of the calci one if I filled it to the top they would eat it to fast the lil piggies lol. N Herc was in it before I went to bed lol I knew he would. Wish my video cam was working cause it was funny watching him watch me finish it. He paced and bounced around like a dog for that level lol. He is such an odd hermit crab lol. He really does not act like a hermit crab at all lol. If I put him on the floor he follows me like a dog o.0 is that normal? He is such an oddball.

Lol I had to tell him today to go find his girlfriend cause he was up on the side of the pool face against the glass stalking me lol. If I moved he moved to the side I was on lol. I think I made him mad tho cause I haven't seen him for 2 hours now lol. Or Hearts came out n he went to her lol. He will be back he always is lol.
Kal is a cutie . What size would you say your lil ones are? I'll see if I get any extra tiny ones with this batch and send some of them too maybe an upgrade for them once they are unstressed.

[Rose7314]

Hahahah I would love to have a Herc! How cool is it to have a crab that follows you oh geez the small crabs shell size...I will have to try to measure it but I am guessing a half inch. They are in very tiny shells right now, I don't even think I would be able to measure the opening of Cheez-It's shell. I would say a half inch at the biggest would be good for them. I have Mckennas shell in there right now for them but they aren't too interested yet. Yeah KAL is taking FOREVER. Lol I think he is picky like Herc. Again thank you so much for the shells, I really appreciate it. I just have such a hard time deciding on what to get online.
You're so lucky that Hearts grew hers back that quickly. Cheez-It's are still pretty small. I've been giving them lots of protein and for calcium I've been giving them egg shells but it's beyond me whether they eat it or not. I feed them fresh veggies, fruits, and protein as yet they still like bark and moss better sometimes lol I need to get some vitamins like you have so they will be awesome and crazy lol
I looked in the tank this morning and KAL, Emily, and B.J were all crammed in their hut and it looked like B.J and KAL were fighting at first but I think they are intertwining their legs together. Kinda weird lol maybe their lovers like Herc and Hearts then Emily was shoving him forward and he almost got pushed all the way out of the hut lol
Your tank is so cool, you've done an awese job! I think I'm going to try to make a calci pit is it calcium sand you put in it?

[Rose7314]

Cheez-It's little gel limbs. I actually saw them wiggling (at least I think
I did) when I was trying to take this pic lol she was not happy with me.

[Rose7314]

Oh yeah and (sorry for the multiple posts) you see how awkward the opening of her shell is? She won't even stay in it long enough for me to measure lol it's kind of D shaped I guess but like
I said pretty sure a half inch should be good. CheeseDoodle is the same size

[Nia]

Np for the multi posts lol Idm. Yea those shells are pretty awkward and are usually about 1/3"-1/2" from what I've seen. These are a lil bigger most are bigger than theirs so they will have growing room. Have a few whale eye shells I threw in there to for you mine don't care for them much now that they found the ones they love the best lol. Sorry there is a lil EE in there with them but don't worry they are all clean. I boiled them and soaked them in salt water so they are sterile and ready to be moved into. Lol I took a few from my shell shop and threw in there so there is a bit of EE in them but they are clean. Mine just don't like the whales eye and they are D shaped so yours might like them better. I'm sending you 18 shells so it should be a good start. It is best to have a good collection, I wanna say 5-10 shells per crab lol at least thats is what I am trying to do, cause you never know if it will be a good size or liking to each crab. Lol in the case of the banded turbo many arguments over those just to discover that they love the snail shells more . Bonus they are a lot less expensive lol. Hubby wants to kick my butt but eh "More shells, don't they have enough" . He just picks on me cause my original statement was they were cheap pets . Well they were when I was 5 lmao. Now that we know a lot more about them they are not so cheap lmao. I took top care of them for what I was told and always gave them more than they needed, not much has changed there lmao but they seem very happy. Here is what I am sending you, lol you will probably kill me for the packaging though . I wanted to make sure that none would break so I over wrapped them I'm sure lol. I will try and send them out next week, I'll let you know when I do. Since you have cute lil tiny ones I threw in thin tiny snail shells that came in the pack lol the small swirly ones. My fat butted Hermies won't fit into them at all lol. I don't have any that small n if they don't they might eat them lol. I've caught Herc snacking on lil shells before. The biggest in there I hope will fit Kal even just for a short time if not for awhile. If these don't suit him check ebay you can find what they call muffin shells usually 2"-3" for a few dollars up to 8 or 9 but he will most likely move into those, He really is a lot like Herc. Lol Hearts is in her banded turbo and the only one in a turbo now . I hope that they like them also and they are pretty. I even threw in some of the natural candy shells, the lil ones with the color bands. I love those they are cute. This is what I am sending so you can see the backs and openings.



I use the Coral Calci. I used to use the sand too but I was told that it was bad for them so I tested to see if they would like that better n they love it. The Hermit Crab Patch has good size bags for $2-2.50 I can't remember the exact price of it but it was around $2, I bought more then one since my lil piggies gobble it down so fast lol. The pit I made them was already built into the level I added stones around it an a dip in the side so they can get in n out of it. It was a level to a Princess Hamster/Mouse cage. Came in handy lol. I still am looking for the Prince one that I have some where in the attic lol. I just added Ramps n stones for traction mostly lol glammed it up . They love it it is far enough away from the water now and it isn't spilled into the EE anymore, they can be so messy lol. I hope that you like them and even more hopes that they will love them lol.









swirly

[Rose7314]

Wow those shells are very pretty! thank you! I'm hoping they will like them too, if not I will really have to break down and buy them offline. Maybe check the craft store one more time and see what they have. Darn picky crabs! Lol hmm I will have to try that calcium stuff. They don't like the calcium sand and like you said i don't think it's that good for them either. Trying to feed them is terrible now. I gave them cucumber, apple, and peanut butter and I still for think they touched it. Lol that's ok about the thorough packaging, I don't blame you, I wouldn't want them to break either. Thank you for cleaning and sterilizing them, I need to do thy with the shells they have. Well maybe not, they never go in the shell shop lol wow 5-10 shells per crab? That's a lot! lol I'm very behind then and I do have a pretty small collection. Yeah I think having a big collection like that is a good idea and will prevent less shell fights probably lol
Yeah I think I've had the same thing happen with my boyfriend but most of the time he just ignores it and doesn't say anything. That big one does look like it will fit KAL. Can't wait to find out!

[Nia]

Lol guys, right lol. Him and I were just laughing at our last night cause Herc wouldn't stop tanking the pools lol. He'd climb to the top and fall into the pool butt first just to get all mad and do it again lol. I guess Reese decided that looked like fun and joined him.....the girls sat back on the ramp and watched them probably thinking what morons they were being . That went on for hours lol. Guess they got mad or sore after that cause they went to bed lol. He likes them and thinks they are funny lol but wants no part of them lol. If they are out so is he lol. Not a fan of crustaceans I guess lol.
It might be to many shells idk lol I look at it as you can never have enough shells cause you just never know lol. I see everyone else has boxes full n drawers full and I am like man mine are lacking lol. Just do what I can when I can to get the stuff cause they eat so dang much its hard to have that spare few bucks to buy shells lol. My guinea pigs ate less -.- lol. Heifers all of em lol. When you give them egg shells do you clean them or boil them or anything? Might start mine on some shells they like the mix I got them that has pollen, egg, egg shells, n honey in it. Would be nice to do something with them rather then throw them away -.-. I used to compost them but my health has gotten to bad for me to garden this year -.- n with the cold coming so does the more extreme pain -.-. Oh I hate that part of winter . I love the snow n how pretty it is but I hate how it affects me >.<.
I am so glad that you like them . I hope you have better luck then I did at the craft store but ours suck compared to the other I have heard of lol. You'd think there would be an abundance of shells here since we are on the beach but nooooooo -.-. Mostly all that is available are clam shells or scallop shells and they are not much help lol. I think if I ever get a chance to go back to FL to visit my family I will be all over the beach scouting for shells lol. Glad to hear that a few are Kal's size too I was worried . I hope that they like them ^.^.

[Rose7314]

Hahahaha that sounds like great entertainment! that's good that he likes watching them at least. I boil the eggs and then peel off the shell. I try feeding them the egg too but they don't seem to like it. Not even sure if they eat the egg shell but I try. No I think you're right on the shells, you can never have enough. So far B.J is the only one in a shell with some growing room. The babies have a little but not much. How much is the shipping going to be on those shells? I would like to pay you back for that
I'm sorry to hear that your pain gets worse, that's no fun at all I'm kind of looking forward to winter but not at the same time. My car sucks in the snow and last year I spun around in circles in the road so many times :/ ugh. Speaking of, and I'm just ranting, the past couple of weeks I've been letting my kids play this cop game in my car because they love it and let's face it, when you tell a kid to go outside and play these days they can't find nothing to do sadly. I figured hey, they're having fun and what can they hurt? So far I have a broken vent, my stepdaughter left my sunglasses on my seat and I sat on them and broke them, and now the door handle on the back passenger seat is broken and you can't open the door from the inside. *sigh* kids. So now I put a stop to it before it gets worse. My car is a piece of crap anyway but let's not make it worse, shall we? Lol
You're on the beach? That's awesome I used to live closer to the beach growing up, now it's like a half hour drive or so. I never find shells here, like you said just clam and little snail shells. Well the craft store has bags of shells but the trouble is finding the turbos. Most of them are all D shaped shells.
I hope you have a great day! take care!

[Rose7314]

I had to share this with you, but since yesterday morning B.J has started a fashion trend of having a day shell and a night shell. Early in the morning he is in the shell shop and puts on this shell:

(By the way, he's attempting to eat my couch in this picture lol)

And in the evening when I get home he will have this shell on:


I bet anything that when I get home tonight he will have that green shell on again. That doesn't mean he's sick, right? He obviously wants a new shell and because of the slim picking in his size he is probably just having a hard time making up his mind? Both are good shells (grey one is kinda heavy). Just thought it was funny how he kept switching lol