"Elderly"crabs?

[rml6f4]

That is awesome! Thanks everyone for sharing. I'm really surprised that we don't know more about hermits. They're so fascinating you would think a ton of studies would have been done on them.

[soilentgringa]

Such an amazing story. It's funny to think that when my son goes off to college, I'll still have le crabs. Jon and Kate grew by leaps and bounds over the years and Carol is such an inspiration.

[hermieluv1]

Even more amazing, I think, is how well hers did with probably no information and all of the special care that we give ours.

[wodesorel]

Even more amazing, I think, is how well hers did with probably no information and all of the special care that we give ours.

It really is. I think part of her success story is that she's a microbiologist, so she always looked at their care scientifically and modified what she did based on how they were doing. There was a topic posted not long ago where a member found some of the things she had written about what she did for them, and it was making people cringe because it was so different than what we recommend now - but we know to recommend these things from what she learned and from what others have learned. I also think that as a community we've grown extremely cautious about the kind of care we recommend for purple pinchers, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. She let her crabs roam a house in New Jersey for hours on end every single night, regardless of humidity levels. (Though they went back into a tank with proper temp and humidity the rest of the time.) She fed hotdogs and fish flakes a bunch of other things that people would recoil in horror over now. But for her, it worked, and it worked wonders.

If she had had luck with a single crab it would have been a fluke - one of the other longest known living hermit crabs was a purple pincher kept in a birdcage on a desk and fed lettuce for 25 years. In that case, I think what happened is that they ended up with a seriously hardy individual, and it cannot be looked at as a recommendation for care in any way. In Carol's case, she had two crabs that managed to thrive, which is a much better sign that what she did really worked. It's the people who are able to keep all of their crabs alive over a long period of time, not just a few out of many, that are doing things perfectly. Those types of owners are extremely few and far between and are the ones we really need to listen to and beg for information.

[hermieluv1]

How true! I want to interview her! Actually, maybe we should invite her here for a live chat and pick her brain! I am in awe.

But I think you are correct that they happened to get very healthy, very hardy specimens, and added to that their care that obviously (in Carol's instance anyways) worked well. I still can't bring myself to bring mine out of the tat for long, if at all.

[Drakezilla]

How true! I want to interview her! Actually, maybe we should invite her here for a live chat and pick her brain! I am in awe.

How amazing would that be! If not a live chat then maybe we compile a list of most pressing questions and email them to her to answer at her leisure?

But I think you are correct that they happened to get very healthy, very hardy specimens, and added to that their care that obviously (in Carol's instance anyways) worked well. I still can't bring myself to bring mine out of the tat for long, if at all.

My oldest I've had back since the days of constant mis-information, back when they told me to bathe them every week/month and given pellet food, no metal, no citrus...sponges! So he's been through the learning curve with me, during which he'd get let out and handled every week or just wander around the house. So now he's very well adjusted to it and during the process pf upgrading the tat, he's in tight spaces so I am letting him out, especially when it's 80 and humid as in his tat outside! It's honestly up to the crab IMHO you can tell when they're comfortable.

[kieagcarm]

Are Nat and Curlz still on here?

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[amwilliams]

I would love to see Carol's crabitat more than anything.


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[ErikRasmussen]

- one is to hold off the moulting process. This usually is due to the conditions aren't right. They will "build" up of that hormone which could eventually kill them.

....so if my crabs dont mate they will die earlier?

[aussieJJDude]

This post is a few years old. What I believe I was trying to say is moulting not breeding..

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[ErikRasmussen]

oh gotcha, and yeah i find old posts to comb through when i cant sleep lol

[Renroc]

There are a few of us now who know exactly how old our crabs are. I have 13 who hatched on 4th December 2016. Already in that time (7months) there is quite a size difference. 2 of this batch have recently taken 4th shells but the others are still in 3rd shells. The 2 4th shell ones have almost a 1cm opening while the 3rd shells range from 5mm to 8mm.

[LadyJinglyJones]

It will be amazing when we can compare different species' growth rates! The future of crabbing is gonna be so great. People need to get on the PP breeding ride!