my visit to elhc

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:47 pm

thanks guys! it was an amazing adventure...

Caroline

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:50 pm

jakeman wrote:I would love to go there sometime. I am thinking about breeding some of my hermit crabs. Is it possible that crabs can breed in captivity?

yep, they can breed in captivity, bob and I believe Tammy from the crabage patch as well have doe so. but i understand that its very time-consuming and requires a series of tanks with different marine set ups for the different stages in hermit development. with enough study, time, effort, and money, i believe you could do it.

Caroline

spidtat · Post by **spidtat** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:01 pm

Cool pics it is nice to see those coconut crabs up close like that.

This is totally O/T but you look like you could be a twin of a good friend of mine, I had to take a double take to make sure it was not her

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:04 pm

NaRnAR wrote:Looks like fun trip! Nice lookin crabbies too!

I have some questions for you!

What other foods did he feed them?

Did he make the fries or are they like McDonalds fries? (its a valid question )

And it looks like there are metal food and water dishes....now I thought metals leeched into the water....are they a special kind of metal that he has?

And thank you to you and him for allowing us to see pictures of parts of his enclosure.

the foods that he keeps around 24/7 are some sort of total dry commercial food, stuff similar (i believe) to the earthworm castings, and powdered oyster shells. then they get all kinds of fresh food on a rotating basis, both veggies and other fruits like papaya.

the fries are actually from mcdonalds, good guess. bob's holdings on hermit crab nutrition are influenced by the food he sees them eating all over the world in the wild. mine eat organic, but i respect bob's decades of success with his crabs and find his methods intriguing. the same with the dishes...i'm not sure what type of metal they are and i have not researched metal leeching into water, but it has and is working for him. i'm happy with my pyrex, but i think its great to get other perspectives on these issues, especially from experienced crabbers.

amazing how those crabs inhaled their food, even when it was just fresh feedings of food they already had....

Caroline

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:04 pm

MudCrabDude wrote:...did you buy Minnie? XD

She can have minnie... I want MAX!!!!

That's truly amazing. Thanks for sharing Annopia!

Nar, my thoughts on metal in the crabitat are partway down this thread:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=73920&
Basically I think anything iron or aluminum should be safe for crabs.

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:08 pm

Rosepetalbed wrote:OH MY GOODNESS That is what I called a dedicated hermit crab lover!!!! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much for sharing!!!! I was certainly curious but of course its so different then I imagined...

WOOHOO

Does he often let people visit?

hehe, i don't think too many people have visited. i've known bob since before he started the site up, so i was one lucky girl!

Caroline

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:11 pm

MudCrabDude wrote:Sooooooooooooooo....

...did you buy Minnie? XD

hehe....i wish! she was such a sweetheart...shy, but very very sweet.

Caroline

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:15 pm

tigermoon89 wrote:How does he keep the temp and humidity up?

the entire crab house is enclosed, making it easy to keep up the right temps in this season....not sure how difficult it is to keep the heat up in the winter, but i imagine there is some sort of heating system they use. as for the humidity, the sand/eco eart mixture makes it prety easy to keep an enclosed space the correct humidity.

Caroline

JeriC · Post by **JeriC** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:57 pm

Amazing

I am in total awe..........wow
Thanks so much for sharing your experience & the pics

Shivering Isles · Post by **Shivering Isles** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:31 pm

That is so amazing!!!!!!! :crabbigsmile:

I would love to visit there sometime! Great pictures! Max and Minnie are so cool looking!

Thanks for sharing! That is so neat that you have Agate who is bred in captivity!!

Disgruntled Crab · Post by **Disgruntled Crab** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:30 am

All I can saw is WOW.... Thanks so much for the pictures..... If anyone complains about Bobs prices, they have no clue on the stuff he does and research he has put into them.

Curious on the pellets he uses, does he make them himself? Also does he keep some species separate from the others?

<---NC too

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:07 am

JediMasterThrash wrote: She can have minnie... I want MAX!!!!

annopia wrote:
hehe....i wish! she was such a sweetheart...shy, but very very sweet.

Caroline

I probably would have run out of the facilities with Minnie in hand (SO LONG, SUCKERS!)...but then I would have likely ended up like Steve-O...

So, Annopia, you knew of Bob before ELHC was set up? That's news to me...

Anyway, if (when) Bob or Tammy decides to sell the "ants" resulting from their breeder tanks, I'll be the first in line...

hlhiggs87 · Post by **hlhiggs87** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:06 am

What an amazing experience that must have been for you!!

The pictures look great, I can't even imagine something like that.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 7:49 pm

We have those plants in the backyard,now I know a kind to add to my tank!

Disgruntled Crab · Post by **Disgruntled Crab** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:10 pm

scorpiodomina wrote:We have those plants in the backyard,now I know a kind to add to my tank!

What kind is that?