HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I saw this as a topic for another thread a while back and I was thinking about it today and ya know,,...I cant think of a logical answer. All I know is there is something about these little things that make us blabbering idots. I cleaned out my fresh water bubble pool today and even tried hand feeding Reigna Rose. Things that would be chores to most are enjoyable past times to us crabbers. I also noticed that they had a little nest made underneath their moss pit made out of moss thrown over board. When I saw three of my hermies snuggled down sleeping in it I just started smiling and felt so happy. They are just so cute! What is it that makes crabbers sit up at night worrying about a molting crab, or wonder why they ignored that new treat you offered them. Ya know the treat I'm talking about..its the one you went to all those shops looking for and then probably paid an outrageous price for. But the hermies decide its not all that exciting as you thought it was and they suggest with waving antenne that maybe if you like it so much you should eat/play with it. Why would the first thought of a crabber after winning the lottery be "Oh, I can finally afford that tank/waterfall/second level/extra shells/(fill in your own blank)"??? There is no way I can explain the whys of this to a reasonable human being who has never experienced the hermie magical spell. If someone were to ask me... and they have, I cant tell them why. All I find myself saying is..."well they are so CUTE when they...(fill in blank)" ...or "its the personalites". So I get the strangest looks but it doesnt matter b/c they dont undestand us. No one but another crabber understands that warm feeling that starts at your heart and spreads all over when you look at your "babies" climbing or bathing or eating or just sleeping. I cant explain it but every one here knows it. Thanks for listening.

I agee it is at least an hour project just cleaning up and changing out the food and water and I love it.I always set up there food like a 5 star meal different everyday so they have new choices all week long.

My brother and sister don't get it, just like most of my family. My mom will indulge me somewhat, but they're obviously not her kind of pet. I'm not sure what it was, but the first time I saw them in my 6th grade science teacher's classroom, I just thought they were fascinating. It was when we replaced one who had died that I decided that I HAD to get a tank of these. LOL! I think part of it's the unusual factor, part of it is the fact that despite some resemblance to spiders and true crabs, there's nothing else that looks quite like a hermit crab. The way they walk and clean their eyes, they've just got hooks...er claws, in me. I love the difference in sizes and personalities and coloring etc too.

Mami there's no way we could top that. Well said. You cracked me up with the comment that they suggest with waving antenne that maybe if you like it so much you should eat/play with it. lmao but you hit it right on the head when you called it hermie magic and I have stayed up nights worrying, I even slept on the floor twice when I reintroduced a formerly aggressive crab to make sure everyone was safe.I love when I move a dish and I find a little face peering from a hole beneath it. Oops, Mama's sorry! I'll grab another till you come out! I enjoy watching them drink, snack and be silly like when they walk on woods upsidedown or hang by a nail suspended over the substrate. Funniest time I saw that was when my most appreciative eater ran halfway down the wood when I put shrimp in. He then went on the underside, hung suspended by a nail tip and twirled for a few seconds then let go, dropped to the substrate and ran to the dish. Cowabunga!! How can anyone not love them?

I have a good friend that listened with patience to my ramblings about my hermies, but still didn't get it. Last time I went to visit with her, it was an overnighter, so I took my hermies with me. She sat there and watched them as we visited, and all of a sudden,her eyes lit up, and she said in somewhat of an amazed tone, "Oh Cheryl, they really do have their own personalities don't they?!?" (Duh) She lives on the beach and collects shells for crafts. Before I left there, she had gone through her latest finds and sent me off with a whole bag full of different sizes and types of shells for my fellers. By golly, I thik she got it!

Newhermiemami,Crabcellent words. Couldn't have crabspressed it better myself. Only somone smitten with Hermie Magic could have come up with those words.I think I am smitten with Hermie Magic, because I always talk to whoever is up and climbing or eating, etc.My better half just looks at me like I am crazy. But then I think she is immune to the Hermie Magic.Cheers and Happy Holidays to you, and both your families (Human and Hermie) Same to all Hermie Magic smitten people everywhere.