Post
by mool » Sun Mar 07, 2021 4:54 pm
I bought the tank, a 40B with all the contents. It contained fouled, slimy kitty litter across the bottom and had a large shallow "catch all" dish and an gigantic aquarium decor ship that I dubbed the Mother Ship because about 50 crabs hid in there and refused to come out for months.
I bought tanks and lids at every garage sale and 2nd hand store I could find. I bought 100's of pounds of sand and probably 25 triple packs of EE along with heaters by the dozens.
I probably spent upwards of $5000.00 in the first 24-48 hours. I started sorting crabs into tanks by appearance of good health. Those that were super lethargic or with multiple limbs dropped went together into "sick" tanks. Those that were more active and vigorous went together into "seems okay" tanks. As they bailed out on the Mother Ship I continued placing them into tanks and buying more tanks. Most tanks were either 20L, 29, 40B, or 55 gallons. I had them on the floors because stands were not important to me at that time.
After the first week, I started spending my money on food and shells. I made 2-3 orders of shells that topped $1000.00 because they were all in painted shells.
After they started molting, I started giving them away in trios and larger groups to experienced crab owners.
When I had them down to about 4-5 larger tanks, my marriage went kaput and I had to get rid of them all in a hurry. I gave the rest (except for a 10g with my original crab) to a teen boy who ran a reptile rescue out of his home--with parental support. He got all the extra tanks, shells, food, spare parts, decor, etc . for free. We stayed in touch for a couple of years and he was doing well with them.
I can't even imagine how much I actually spent over the course of the year or two that I had them all. Surprisingly only one died that wasn't DOA. I did get a tank of mites and I had roaches inhabit one tank--never knew how I dragged them in...
I've already partnered up with one of my friends, pumpkin crab and her shop, CloverScrubsShop! She's going to make bundles for my rescue to go with the crabs that are adopted. I'm planning on starting a Facebook page for the rescue where I'll post everything. I have a 20 gallon long and a 10 gallon tank I would be using for the rescue. I'm making a big Amazon and Petco order with all of the supplies that I need. I ask the person with an ad on Facebook marketplace with for hermit crabs if they were still available but she hasn't responded yet:/
