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How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 3:16 pm
by Guest
I am curious as to how long some of you have kept a single hermit crab alive. I'm concerned that the life expectancy of crabs in captivity is quite short.Thanks. Larry in Illinois
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:57 pm
by Jedediah
Carol of Crabworks has two crabs, Jon and Kate, that have lived for almost 30 years in captivity, since 1976.
http://www.geocities.com/hermit_crabs/carol/Many crabs die soon after purchase because all the stress from harvesting, shipping and awful pet shops was too much for them, but if you get everything right and the crabs survive the first three months, you have a good chance that they are around for quite some time.
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:10 pm
by Guest
My original crabs I've had for a year and a half now, and all of the others I have have lived in captivity for up to 3 years (I adopted them from different crabbers who could no longer keep them). Their natural life spans seem to be somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years or more, so I'm hoping to have my guys for many, many years to come. Hermit crabs are definitely NOT a "throwaway" or short term pet. If you're not prepared to make the commitment to taking care of them for years, then you should please reconsider having them as pets.
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2005 4:20 pm
by Willow
There's a member of this forum (she used to be very active, I think she still drops in now and then), Laralla, who had one hermie for 9 years.
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2005 7:17 pm
by TheGreyRonin
Shorty is my longest-lived crab, currently owned for about a year and a half. Wish I'd had internet and this site a decade or so ago...
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:26 am
by Jedediah
I've owned my oldest crabs for a bit more than three years now.
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:53 am
by Guest
Francais is my oldest and first crab I ever got. I've had him for about 10 years now!
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2005 1:20 pm
by Willow
It does seem as though they tend to die for no visible reason, but maybe they do that in the wild, too. We really don't know how many in the wild die from bad moults, etc.The longest I have had a crab is about 3 years.
How long have you kept a single crab?
Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2005 4:59 am
by Jedediah
Some do live longer, otherwise we wouldn't be getting Jumbo crabs. But a lot of them much earlier, either from a bad molt, disease or because of predators.You can count the rings at the base of the antennas of a dead crab, but this isn't reliable since they can re-grow antennas, too.