Gardner's TREECRABS?! This is awful...

[Guest]

Right, so I stopped at a local pet store on my way home today to get some supplies and see if they had any hermies. Oh, they had some - a lot in fact. Probably 20 - 30 in a 10g tank....on a mirror...with no water or food...and being advertised as TREECRABS. I ask to speak to the manager, who tells me that oh, no, they're not hermit crabs - their supplier is very adamant that these are a different type of crab that don't burrow. I'm handed a booklet by Bob Gardner. This booklet was written pre-1977 and is so chock full of misinformation that I want to scream. All of the crabs in the store were labeled "Gardner's Exotic Treecrabs", exotic meaning that they're in painted shells.Excerpts from the booklet (stuff in red is me):* Hermit treecrabs, COENOBITA CLYPEATUS, first sentence, contradicts everything else in the booklet alsocalled land hermits...* Just about anything can be used to house Treecrabs...wire mesh cages, fish bowls, boxes, and home-made containers.* For the base material...we do suggest...charcoal in a 1/2" layer on the very bottom of relatively dry setups, and just above the water level in wet setups [which] might consist of ...broken coral bits, gravel or rocks. Add...anywhere from one and a half to five inches of potting soil, gravel, marble, red wood chips....A dry setup might consist of a wire mesh cage with an inch or so of redwood chips over a layer of charcoal.* If you want your hermits to stay in attractive shell homes don't leave drab looking shells in your pet's cage. i.e. provide your crab with painted shells In the back of the booklet there is a Q&A section, where he explains that he's kept a sixty gallon aquarium with well over a thousand crabs inside. He tells you that it's absolutely possible to breed crabs in captivity. He says that Treecrab noises are in no way related to stress or aggression. They live from 20 - 70 years in captivity. Finally, he says that in 1977 (!!!), he hopes to introduce the first Treecrabs bred in captivity.The store manager would say nothing but that all of their supplies and crabs come from this "Gardner's Exotic Treecrabs" company and the way their crabs are housed is strictly in accordance with the care sheets they receive from there. I looked in the tank - there were definitely E's and Indo's in there, even though the manager assured me several times that every crab in there was a "Gardner's Treecrab". Every crab in there was in a painted shell. Who is this guy Gardner? Anyone know anything about the company? I can't go back to the store and argue with the manager unless I have some solid evidence that the info that company provides them with is utter crap. Everything I said to him was countered with "But you're talking about hermit crabs - these are treecrabs - they're different."I'm going to go and scream into a pillow now.

[KittyCaller]

Bob Gardner, if it's the same Gardner, has been selling calico crabs (Some sort of E, a lot of us think) for years. The food he sells isn't bad, but as for the rest... If the crabs weren't being mistreated, it could almost be funny. There are a lot of names for hermit crabs. Tree crabs, soldier crabs, etc. Heck, even robber crabs/coconut crabs are hermit crabs, they're just not in the same genus. Coenobita is hermit crab. You could pick up a copy of Hermit Crabs for Dummies or something like that, and show him that the species names are EXACTLY THE SAME! I dunno though. He seems pretty comfortable believing outdated garbage.

[moire_eel]

There are several horrifically bad books out there from the 70s and 80s. Hopefully they'll all go out of print now that there are a few better books in print. Really, so much has been learned about caring for hermit crabs just in the last couple of years!

[Guest]

I wish that were true, but this one had an updated copyright of 1999 - not going out of print anytime soon. Also, the company is still actively putting out caresheets based on the info in this booklet.

[Guest]

Oh, this man makes me ill. I did a little digging on google, and came up with a couple of things. First, that he's updated the copyright on his booklet at least twice since it was written. Second, I went to one linked site and found this: Bob Gardner - The Crab ConnectionWhat especially gets me is his listing crabs not by their proper names but as Gardner's brand, and that you can custom order any design you want for your shell. This implies one of two things (both bad) - either a) they're painting the shells with the crabs still in them, or b) they're painting these custom shells and forcing crabs into them in order to close the sale. I'm also wondering - did the term "calico" start with this guy?He's still around, peddling his deadly misinformation and making money off of people's ignorance. I've got to talk with that manager again.Rereading that last sentence, I now sound like something out of a cheesy superhero movie. I'm such a dork.

[Froggz37]

If you scroll down on the bob gardner link there is a red heading in the list "hermit crabs and supplies" which takes you to fmr's tidbit. They actually are selling wire cages for the hermit crabs they sell at these expos...

[Nicole]

quote:Live custom hand painted hermit crabs Hmmmph. I had to read this several times before I realized he dropped the word "shells". Nonetheless, the whole link is creepy. The crabs are basically reduced to saleable merchandise. And naming the crabs after himself ("Gardner's Brand") just screams megalomaniac. Thank you for sharing this link and all the info. I used to have that booklet too! Can't believe he's been around almost 30 years. I hope you can get through to the store manager.

[KittyCaller]

It won't be the first time someone has contacted him and politely tried to get through. *sigh* The guy sickens me, but I do hope someone can get him to change his ways.

[Guest]

LOL!!Oh, sweetie, I wish I could tell you that people listen to me all the time because I'm a grown-up, but unfortunately I get ignored by some people as much as I ever did when I was younger. Being a grown-up doesn't change some things, especially when you're dealing with people who don't want to hear you, no matter who you are.Well, I went back to that pet store and found out a couple more interesting items. I talked with the manager again, thanked him for the booklet he had sold to me earlier and brought up some inconsistencies I found in it, especially in regard to the crab species he's got in stock. He informed me that he has no control over the inventory. The crabs, in fact the entire set-up (tank, crabs, lighting, heat, food, shells, etc.) were supplied by Gardner's, as well as strict guidelines for maintaining the crabs according to Gardner's care sheets (also supplied). I pointed out to him that the majority of the crabs in the tank weren't the species that Gardner's company claims to send, and therefore might need different care than what he was currently providing. He seemed a little taken aback and said that he would check back with the company, because if they were providing a different product than they claimed, then he wanted to find out. He then said something like 'at least the current crabs were easier to take care of, because those orangey crabs with purple claws were a lot more difficult'...!!! Right, so it now sounds like he's talking about purple pinchers, which he's claiming are no longer supplied to him and his inventory consists of something else (from what I could see, though, he had PP's, as well as E's and what I think are ruggies). So - either he's not telling me the truth and has no intention of changing either his supplier or his store tank set-up, or he really has no clue and hopefully he'll follow up with Gardner's. In both instances, the only thing I can do now is to follow up a few times and see what he does.

[motley crew]

I am some what of a grown up and they still think your stupid trust me. For the first time in a long time I was at a pet store getting other things when I took a look at the crab tank something I don't like to do at this store because its a real bad tank all the time,but the shipment must have just come in mainly because they were still alive.They were all E's a whole tank of them about 20 all tiny to small real active too so I'm looking and this guy comes up to me and says there differnt because there tree crabs I looked at him like he was going to burst into flames all I could think about was this topic (what a joke) I told him no they were all hermt crabs he said the differnce is these guys need a pinch of salt in there water.This debate went on for about 20 min before I said if you knew anything at all they will still be alive a week from now.He burned me though because he said no they will all be sold we lowered the price there all 2.99 now because you can't make any money if there dead and lowering prices sells these little guys in bulk I was just sick but still brought one only one though because of that tank we'll see how well he does.well thats my story sorry so long.