HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Sorry this is so long, but you'll see why in a minute...I've read several posts about Petco here and how they always seem to have exotics. The closest to me was an hour and a half away so I'd never been. Well, they just opened one here and I went to have a look see this evening. Because they just opened, I wasn't sure what to expect when it came to hermies. I thought maybe they wouldn't have any or they'd have FMR crabs since they are so close. Well, let me tell you, my eyes bugged out of my head when I spotted them. I counted 30 very large, beautiful straws. I was so surprised it took a long time (I spent I don't know how much time in front of that tank in awe) before I realized there was another tank beneath that one. There were about a dozen shells in the bottom tank, but I couldn't see what they were. The tanks looked pretty darn good. Locked for one, both had gauges, both humidity and temp at great levels, three large dishes with the straws, two in the other and big huts in both. The bottom tank had about 2 inches of a mix of something that looked more like dirt than EE mixed with sand. The straw tank had barely enough "dirt" to cover the bottom.A tag on the tank said temp should be between 70 and 80°. GREAT! They should be feed a combo of commercial, fresh fruits, veggies and cuttle bone. WOW, wonderful!!! Said they are social and should be kept in groups. By this time I am practically pinching myself!!! THEN, I see humidity should be between 50 and 90% and because they have modified gills they should be misted often. Grab an employee and ask for a manager. I tell him how impressed I am with the set up and the care they are providing, but would like to point out a few things that are inaccurate and potentially dangerous to the health and longevity of the hermies (since the tag states they live 20 years). He is all ears, very polite, professional, friendly and ready for me and he was. I went into the spiel about over misting and the humidity and before I could bring it up, he told me the straw tank was intended for reptiles and they would be adding sand to the substrate. I'm just loving this. But he explained the tags are a corporate thing, they come out of coporate to all their stores, heard that a million and one times, but would absolutely call them with that info and go from there. Heard that a million and one times, too. I told him I could provide him with a copy of a research paper written that addresses osmoregulation, etc., and he asked me to drop it by. I then got into the KK kits they sell. I told him I understand this kind of thing being sold, but this is one that can be a death trap for the unsuspecting buyer, unlike some of the other things experienced crabbers object to. He said he had worked with a woman who is very into crabs and learned from her the same thing and so always suggests the $10.00 10G when he can. We walked and talked and he gave me a care sheet they provide and asked me to critique it. WELL, again, I could not believe my eyes! If a hermie has to be in captivity, this is the place from which to be purchased. High quality commercial food, include natural foods (as treats, but good enough), fruits, veggies, nuts, applesauce, SEAWEED, brine shrimp and so on.Crush pellet food! 10G or larger GLASS housing!Info on shells and their sizes, climbing material, proper substrates.AND the humidity level on the care sheet is CORRECT! LOL Sorry, for going on, but I still feel like it was a dream. Correct temp, chlorine free water, SALT WATER. I guess that really shouldn't be too much of a surprise since they seem to have done much homework and do sell exotics, but still. It includes a list of "Recommended" supplies, but everything that is needed, is on it, even natural sea sponges.It says to check humidity daily, don't disturb while molting and describes characteristics. They do recommend weekly bathing, but if that's the biggest mistake, it isn't bad! It even says to clean every other day. It even mentions mites for goodness sake. LOL it also suggests what to check for in a listless crab, very limited, but it adds "or contact your exotic animal veterinarian." This store deserves an A. I hope the conditions stay as they are.On a sad note, one of the straws looked a little lethargic, trying to move, but couldn't. By the time I left, I think he passed. Also before leaving noticed one on the bottom crawling around, a black ruggie, handsome little guy!They had a lot of hermie supplies and food, some I haven't seen in other stores so I spent a while just cruising around and checking everything out. Someone finally figured out another way to make money on painted shells. It's a kit with a moon shell, paints and a brush in it. The paint looks like kids' little pot paints and probably is non toxic, but. Never heard of the company before, Exotherm. They also have those water pillow and Glub, fresh and salt water (no mention of specific gravity.Some of you have probably seen Petco stores like this one (at least I hope so)so this isn't news to you, but all of the stores that sell hermies here are at best mediocre and at worst, bordering criminal. So, needless to say, I was just about jumping out of my shoes in disbelief and being thrilled. And so out of my excitement comes this very long post.

I've not yet seen a pet store that comes close to that! It sounds like a great store. Did you get a straw (or two)? I have to say that we had a new pet store open up here, a local chain, that had great hermit crab conditions when they first opened, and later on they started going downhill. Now I won't even go in there. I hope that your Petco doesn't go that direction, it sounds promising and I hope they keep up the good work. I can't help but think (in my own naive way) that if the big chains continue to keep improving their small animal care, the smaller stores will have to follow suit.

I understand your shock and amazement. We really oughta bombard Petco Corporate with raves about how the stores are doing. FINALLY a chain is starting to come around! The petco in Elmira is frightening, frankly (more the fish than the crabs, but still) but the one in Syracuse, NY is good, and the one in Scranton, PA is beyond amazing. And the employee was also interested and kept asking me questions about my set up at home (partly to make sure I was doing things right. hehehe) and questions about the crabbies. Anyways, I get your excitment completely and totally.Selkhet, all three petcos I've been in recently have charged 10.00 a piece for the straws. That's less than having them shipped though. I'm kinda for raising prices of crabs anyways. (Hard to keep a throw away pet mentality, when you dish out 10 bucks a crab, or whatever, in my opinion)

No, I didn't buy any hermies. I vowed a while back to only adopt. I don't have an empty tank set up anyway and I wasn't prepared to spend $10.99 per straw and you know we can't buy just one! I don't know though, I'm a little worried. I've stuck to my vow for almost two years, but if I keep thinking about how wonderful this store is, that means I'll keep thinking about those gorgeous straws. I'll just have to keep reminding myself, though, that they are big guys and the large hermie molts make me sooo nervous. My success with the bigguns hasn't been all that good.I don't know if it's so naive to think that if the big stores set a good example and create competition easily matched that it wouldn't work to some advantage for Mom & Pop stores' hermies.The straws were specifically priced at $10.99 and "Small" hermies at $4.99. I wish I knew what they were, but probably exotics, too.KC, I think that is a really great idea! I mentioned the online crabbing community, HCA and LHC, etc. to the manager. If we send emails to corporate mentioning this store, (and those you mention that are good) really praising them, maybe it would help get conditions in their other stores up to par. If anyone wants to, this store is in Sarasota, Florida and the manager's name is Bill. That might entice them to do what is necessary to keep those great conditions, too!

PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc.Customer Relations Team9125 Rehco RoadSan Diego, CA 92121 That's the address listed on their website for those interested in writing snail mail. (For some weird reason, snail mail is sometimes less ignored than e-mail, but there's also a form on the website)

I took my husband to the Petco in York this morning. He rolled his eyes at my hermie fascination, but he came home with a Straw and an Indo, lol! I need another ISO tank...Anyway, I was waited on by a man this time, and he didn't seem to know much of anything! In his defense, he didn't work the reptiles department, so he was never really trained on their care.He asked me questions and was very interested in what I had to say. Now, I'm far from an expert, I'm still learning, but I told him a lot of things he never knew. I really felt like I helped teach him about the proper care.He said a lady brought in a hermie she found walking in her driveway, and he took it home. He had play sand, a UTH, and salt/fresh water, but that's about it. I told him about temp and humidity levels, about mites (the hermies there had mites) and about food, shells, companionship, and treats.He was thrilled to find out all the things I was telling him, and I even showed him some differences in the species he had there. He let me ramble on and on, and I felt proud for knowing so much! Thanx guys!One more hermie helped through education!

My Petco in Florida is the same when it first opened. I nearly did backflips when I saw the excellent conditions of the tanks and the person that helped me knew a lot about crabs and wanted to know more about them when I told him what else they should do. The store is under employed now and its hard to find someone in the store to help me but the tanks are still in good conditions. I just hate how they sell crabs in painted shells and price them extra because they are 'fancy'. Slow service and painted shells are the only problems I have with them go. They are more about selling the supplies then the pets I think.