HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I must say that I'm greatly enjoying this forum and I adore being a hermit parent. So I guess like a proud parent, I want to show off my kids.

I'm new to this whole thing and will be making many changes to their home in the future. This is only the start. My setup is not amazing (and I've seen some gorgeous crabitats on here), but I'm working on a tight budget and I think my 3 hermies are pretty happy right now. I believe it's a good beginning, though I feel it may become addicting XP

This is my tote turned into Hermit Beach.
*Any questions, inquiries, comments, etc. are welcome.





When I brought them home, they were all in those awful painted shells. Next day, I came home with a present of 16 natural shells (5 for each crab) and watched a shell changing frenzy. Their unsafe painted shells have been happily retired. One shell even had a gross hardened glob of glue on it





Now on to the kids.

Opaque:
Curious, benign. Carries around a feminine energy (could be a boy for all I know )
Agile climber, she enjoys hiding in the plants whilst snacking, and spends forever at the salt pool.
Currently working on a beach photo shoot, but we're still in search of a proper swim suit.




*Before, blue painted shell, a cutie pie.




*After, pretty natural shell that took forever to decide on. After 3 shell changes, she picked this one. Ugh, camera wouldn't focus on her face x___x.




Rusty:
Tough, ruggid, and insanely curious. Gets a little territorial over climbing items.
Decisive and knows what he wants and is determined to get it.
Major climber. Preparing for Mount Everest next Spring.




*Before, black 8 ball painted shell, always curious.




*After, pretty natural shell that took one try, though he spent an hour investigating it. Decisive critter and ruggedly handsome.




And last but not least, little Clarence:

Wise little peeper of a hermit. He's stood up to the bigger crabs.
But he is always polite and eventually moves out of the way.
Not a swimmer as he's had some falls in the pool that he didn't prefer.
Requires non-popping, tough floaties for pool parties.




*Before, orange painted shell with...weird design, a little cheeky guy.




*After, pretty natural shell that took one try. He put it on quickly and never looked at another shell. He's got good taste.



Thanks everyone for looking. I enjoy this forum and hope to have some wonderful tips, answered questions, and chit chat about the wonderful hermit crab.

Love your new guys and the insightful narrative accompanying each pic !

You're lucky they switched shells at the first opportunity as some crabs just refuse to give up their painted monstrosities, no matter how many natural shell choices they're offered. Interesting as to which shell each chose: Clarence and Opaque opted for turbos instead of another whale eye while Rusty chose another whale eye. Turbos are the ideal fit for PPs but not all have heard the latest fashion news, I guess .

Thanks. I like to watch their personalities and I even make up little dramas going on in hermit world. Am I nuts? Maybe.

I think Rusty got excited and jumped the gun. First shell and he just stayed there, poking his arm in the opening and turning it over and over. I thought he'd never quit.

What was hilarious was watching Opaque grab on desperately to a shell, even when she was off balance. She ended up rolling down a hill, still clutching her shell.

They are beyond entertaining.

TheCozyFeathers wrote:Thanks. I like to watch their personalities and I even make up little dramas going on in hermit world. Am I nuts? Maybe.

They are beyond entertaining.

Yep, they're addicting! You've officially been irrevocably sucked into the Hermit Crab Kingdom, from which there is no escape (and that's a good thing ).

I am drowning but will require no life preserver. XD I'm lost in the closet of hermit Narnia. Thank goodness.

Your crabs are hilarious! So cute, it's amazing how you keep track of them all!

Welcome to Hernarnia! May your crabs be your guide, because all sanity here is checked at the door!

You've officially been irrevocably sucked into the Hermit Crab Kingdom, from which there is no escape (and that's a good thing ).[/quote]

So true!!

I'm so loving this post. Insanity, Narnia, the world of hermit crabs...it's heaven up in here.

Love your little ones! So cute! BTW, if you're feeling proud or just have a funny story, we have a thread "what are your crabs up to?" where we all goosh over our crabs and their antics! stop on by when you're feeling crabby!

This was hilarioud. My husband looked at me funny because I was laughing at my phone.

Love your little guys and gals! It is obvious that you love them!

And yeah, start saving money and/or start working more hours, cause you won't have that tote for long! I have only been doing this since September and already have spent $500 easy and have gone from a 10 to a 20 to a 55!

Oh drat...I literally JUST posted a "Share your funny hermit stories" in the behavior section. Oy I'm glad everyone is enjoying my little hermies antics. If you want more laughs, you can look in the behavior section for my funny stories post. I don't doubt at all, them getting addicting. I can already feel it creeping up on me .

Haha don't worry, we can never have enough funny crab behavior threads! I look forward to heading over there and checking out some new stories later BTW, just remember, its just starting. Wait till you're a few months in, spending every spare dime you have to make your crabitat perfect only to wake up the next morning going "Well I guess this will work for now... I think I need to upgrade soon! And I need to adopt more crabs to go into the newer bigger tank once its done!" It seems to be a never ending cycle and once you get sucked in, well you never resurface. Luckily for you (and for all of us too) you have found HCA where you can be as crab crazy as you want and we all think its absolutely normal. A lack of crab enthusiasm is what's weird to me now

That sounds like me. My first impulse was to get more. I know I need to upgrade and go bigger first. Within the first 2 days of being a hermit parent, I changed the tote around 6 exhausting, sand castle making times. It's a sickness. A wonderful sickness XD

I am glad they changed out of those shells, and thats a pretty cool tote set up. One trick you might try is scraping off the paint and that glue with a pocket knife. It actually looks like you might have a few solid shells underneath all that paint. And even if your crabs dont want them when they are clean you could trade them. I can think of a few E owners who would go crazy for those kinds of shells. Just make sure there isnt any paint on the inside as well as the out. Welcome to the HCA!