The College Crabber

Zealous Euphemism · Post by **Zealous Euphemism** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:57 pm

I have a situation.

I'm off to College this year, and the question remains: what to do with the crabs. The school has a pet policy that allows fish...so I assume hermit crabs will also be allowed, since they are far cleaner and easier to care for. However they say that the tanks must be ten gallons or less. I realize that ordinarily dorm rooms are too small for anything larger, but I was wondering, all you people who have been through this, if there is any way I could get away with the 15-gallon I found last week.

I know that I will not be able to bring all of my crabs to college: to think I'd be able to is a foolish assumption. But the one crab I'd want with me in college is Firenze, who I've had longest. Unfortunately he will not stand for being kept in a 10-gallon. He tried nearly three times a week to escape the last one beofre I caved and bought a 29-gallon tank.

I'd be crushed not to bring him, but I wouldn't want to make him uncomfortable in a smaller home . So...what do you think?
Go out on a limb?
Or suck it up?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:05 pm

I understand, my friend went through the same thing. Would your parents "crab sit" while your away? mabye you can get away with the 15 I doubt they would come in and measure it. I hope the best for you and your crabies!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:06 pm

Good luck with it. I don't know what advice to give you.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 10:46 pm

I am a "college crabber" as one might say, I have an overcrowded 5.5 gallon with all the crabs listed in my sig. I personally don't have too much trouble with it, but what I would be concerned with is traveling. I don't know your transportation plans or how far away from your school you live, but I am required to take all pets home for breaks, which means carrying the crabitat down to my roomates car and making the 5+ hour journey home. My 5.5 gallon is not too heavy, but heavy enough. I live on the 3rd floor, so I have to make a special trip for them, so on and so forth. And not to mention it gets cold in the car in the winter. I would think that a 10 gallon or 15 gallon would get deceivingly heavy. It may not look to be too heavy, but all that sand and stuff adds up. I might even go as far to say that there might be a slight risk in the glass breaking/cracking under the stress of being carried. If I were you, although it may not be the happiest solution, I would take a 10 gallon, but no bigger. Remember, you'll have to share space with a roommate too, plus a lot of stuff you need to live. Space in dorm rooms is not abundant, I would have a really hard time finding room for anything bigger then my 5.5. Just my input, but I have been doing this for a year now. Last year I left my crabs at home all year long, because my roommate liked to drink a lot and I was worried what might happen. Good luck with your decision, keep us informed!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:08 pm

I have a 10 Gallon and I put it on a small "thigh high" tv stand with doors underneath to hide the shelves. i allow my roommate to use the shelves so she doesnt get on my case about having an extra piece of furniture in the room. its a nice compromise!

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 11:36 pm

I wouldn't worry too much about the 15G vs. the 10G, but more about the roommate situation. You may want to wait until after you've moved in and had a chance to gauge your roommate (and hall mates too.)

I didn't have pets in college, but I doubt the would've lasted long with the crew I was rooming with. My roommate was, to put it mildly, a slob. The whole wing (myself included sometimes

) was rather rowdy, and I ended up with several items wrecked (chair, typewriter). I don't think pets would have made it.

I don't mean to be a "downer" about this, but knowing how most of us here feel about our crabs, I'd hate to say a hasty decision turn tragic.

I wish you luck! Having a piece of home around is nice when you're away.

Let us know how it turns out! And good luck at college! (P.S. Stay away from the party life...I speak from experience....'nuff said.

)

Zealous Euphemism · Post by **Zealous Euphemism** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:56 am

I think that's a good idea: Since I'll have to leave most of my crablets behind (I think only my three E's will come...they're small enough) I'll give the school a trial run: When I come back for Thanksgiving I'll be able to see whether or not my school (or roommate) is okay with crabs...and whether or not I can get away with a 15 gallon.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:45 am

My college says 10gal. max but I've seen people with 20gallon tanks and they don't get charged for having a bigger tank, even with security doing room checks every week for different reasons.

But it all depends on the college and how strict their rules are.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:01 am

USMC0321 wrote:But it all depends on the college and how strict their rules are.

Very true... get to know your RAs well. I know a girl who lives on the other side of campus from me. She said at the beginning of the year, somebody was forced to send their hermit crabs home. My RA has seen mine several times, and doesn't care at all. You'll find the better you get to know the RA's, Housekeepers, all those people, the better off you are. They are great people, and if you get to know them, will usually go out of their way to help you with something. Don't try to beat the system, get friends inside the system

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:29 pm

I agree that it probably depends on how ridiculous... I mean strict... your university dorm is. I had fish in my dorm room and as far as I know Guelph didn't restrict tank size, they did however restrict "dangerous" fish, lol. I knew ppl who had lizards, frogs and all sorts of other things in their rooms but our school didn't do inspections. I would also just not tell anyone that it's a 15 gallon, just tell them it's a 10 breeder or long or extra large or something goofy like that, they honestly probably won't know what the heck you're talking about and just let it go. OR bring the big tank, set it up and bring the little one just in case there is a problem that way if they make you take down the big one you have a back up

They're probably worried about a big tank bursting and causing a lot of water damage.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 6:03 pm

It all depends on your situation. My college said No to hermit crabs and to tanks over 10 gallons, and they were serious about it. However, I snuck my crabs in anyway because my roommate said she didn't mind having them in the room. I talked to my RA, and she said that they were against the rule but that she would overlook the tank when she did room checks once a month.
I guess my advice to you is to leave them home at first until you get a feel for how strict people are at your college. Once you have that established, then you can decide whether or not to bring them. Also, I have a nice 15 gallon set up at home, but I use a 10 gallon at school.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:28 pm

As a college student I can give you this one piece of advice. Do not take your crabs with you until after Thanksgiving. You have no way of knowing what your dorm/roommates will be like. You need to get a feel for the situation before bringing crabs into it. There might be one or more factors that make the situation undesirable for crabs.

To give you the idea of how crazy it can get my roommates kicked me out of the room. If I had my crabs with me at the time I would have been at a loss as to what to do.

I'm not saying that something like that is likely to happen, but meet your roommates first, get to know them and decide if they're the sort who can live with hermit crabs . The biggest problem will be room temperature, which is why I probably won't be able to have my bugs with me next year. I can live in a room that's the right temp for crabs and handle a humidifier running all night long, less that four feet from my bed, but i doubt that other people will be so adaptable.

I'm not trying to scare you, just tell you what I think will be best for both you and your pets.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:56 pm

You have to be careful, some colleges actually do mean just fish, like mine. Hermit crabs aren't allowed here, so my crabs live under a pile of knitting and blankets in the making. If there was any chance of them surviving at home they would, but my family would kill them all within a month. Usually there aren't any problems as long as you keep them out of sight, but I'd take the advice on being careful with them. If you can room with a friend who you trust and knows about them I'd go for that, then all you have to hide them from is the RA and RD instead of adding in your roommate like I'm doing. (Very easy when you hardly ever see your roommate...)

I find that the hardest problem is to keep them warm because I'm on the first floor with a draft, and the blanket pile really seems to help with that, as did putting them in a corner and on a rug. I also altered their day and night cycle so that I can just have their tank light on at night and not worry about the blankets getting too hot and catching on fire.

I also had them in the closet for a while, but the undertank heater (Which I have on the side of the tank that's just at the open part of my bed and doesn't need covered) couldn't be plugged in all day, so heat was even harder to keep up. It's perfect right now though, and they're eating more than ever, which is making me wonder if they're just getting really good at hiding their food from me or if they're getting ready for a mass moult..

Anyhow, I wish you luck with your crabs. Hope you're allowed to actually have them at the college you're going to.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:25 pm

good luck. Hope your hermit crab gets to come with you!