Blueberry crab behavior questions from keepers

[Zoeythelost]

Mites are treatable. I'm sure if there was another option people would not go to her. But a dead crab is a dead crab, there is no changing that. we are knowing buying crabs with mites. People would not knowing buy dead crabs.

I also doubt she is making any money, especially not on shipping. Unless she is getting the crabs for like a dollar each.

[wodesorel]

also doubt she is making any money, especially not on shipping. Unless she is getting the crabs for like a dollar each.

The trade sites often list hermit crabs for sale in bulk at 10 cents each, so yeah, there's usually a serious profit on them for the middle man. A local company pays the local people a few cents per dozen to collect them (which is probably more money then they would ever see otherwise), that local company then sells to a distributor for $1.20 a dozen, the US distributor ships them over and marks them up 200% and sells to the stores for $2 per crab, and the stores sell them for $5 or $10 each. (Granted, the stores usually have to eat the cost of any that show up dead, even if it it's the distributors fault, so the stores just about break even.)

Crazy Crabs in Australia goes on "collecting" trips where they can get 2,000 crabs in three nights with four people, and the only cost to them is driving to and from the beach because they camp out there. Serious profit margin, minus the ones that die.

[CrabAddict99]

And as for the shipping - that's pretty on par with guaranteed overnight costs. Between the packing supplies and the actual shipping costs I seriously doubt she's making any money on that. (I wonder if she's even making on the crabs at this point - if the mite infestations are that severe, how many is she loosing at the warehouse before they even get shipped?)

Livehermitcrabs.com is run out of a private home, there is no commercial space rented out. In August I asked her if selling the crabs was worth the trouble (I believe my exact words were if it is a lucrative business). She looked at me and nodded yes.

Zoey, yes mites are treatable but if left for too long they can kill a hermit crab. I experienced this first hand in December-February that passed. Mites can spread disease to the host while feeding on blood/lymph fluid. It looks like lhc gets shipments in early summer and early winter. My theory is if you order when she's at the end of her stock the mites may have weakened the crab. By the time you get your shipment the crab(s) may be too far gone.

Fate4003, may I suggest you try contacting lhc again about your ruggie. Keep trying until you get a response. I remember emailing her like a stalker I refused to eat a nearly $300 loss. I had no heads up about the mites. I bathed them and found nothing the day they arrived. It's because she (lhc) baths them before they go out washing away the visible adults. The eggs take anywhere from 2-3 days to hatch. Then the juvenile mites become egg laying adults. Laying between 100-200 eggs a day...each!

For what it's worth, her baby boy is very sick. Without getting into detail he needs a lot of care and hospital
visits. I am not trying to excuse her poor and lack thereof customer service. Heck, it took nearly 15 emails and 6 months of patience to finally get her attention.

[CrabAddict99]

I just wanted to add I agree I wish there was another source from which to buy our exotics and not this monopoly. The good thing is atleast orders are being fulfilled. I believe the delays in shipping are because she treats them for mites prior to shipping. This may explain why some on here have not had any mites on recent orders. I wouldn't trust one or two baths though. Mites are tricky.

[Invert Mom]

Thank you for all the responses. I'm starting to think I might give up on the idea of getting blueberries at this point, unless by some incredibly rare chance I find someone more close willing to sell or ship me a pair or trio or is rehoming any (which I doubt would ever happen since they are so rare). I don't know that I want to support a business that has terrible or lacking customer service, especially given the risk of shipping and receiving a crab with mites. I'm not trying to be harsh, but I have had more than my share of negative experiences with places and bad customer service or just not getting back to people.

[Zoeythelost]

I understand CrabAddict. I was just trying to make the point she would not purposely send dying crabs out or slack on heat packs just because their was no guaranteed for the winter. If she had a rep for sending dead crabs no one would order from her. Sure if they had mites long enough they could be sickly. I suppose you could make that argument. But I still believe she would not send them if she felt they were bad off. Its bad business, even more so than the bad customer service. I'm willing to bet something happened during shipping to Fate's crabs which caused them to arrive as they did. Especially since my ruggies, same size, were shipped same day as hers and even though both were injury they were both healthy. Most people report they do receive healthy crabs from her.

If she is delaying orders for mite treatment than i'm perfectly fine with that. I actually had the same theory as to why shipments were delayed. I just wish she mentioned it somewhere. I'm glad she now has the estimate shipping date now instead of the misleading 2 weeks on the website. I also think she prefers to do all her shipping at once so she waits until she has a large amount to ship.

[NeviNuNu]

I agree zoey. The only compliants I have heard of are poor customer service, taking forever to ship, and the mites. Never unhealthy crabs besides the mite issue which with straws is quite common.
The customer service is usually in relation to the extended time she takes to ship and when people email and say "hey where's my order", she doesn't answer back. In fact every email I've ever sent her has been answered besides the one I sent 3 weeks after my order asking her if she would be shipping them soon. So maybe Zoeys guess about her waiting to make a bunch of shipments at once is right on.
We really don't have another exotics dealer to compare her business with so it's hard to say if this is all run of the mill everyday issues when it comes to ordering hermit crabs. I do know there's no other place to fulfill my dreams of owning different species. So there's not really another option and believe me finding them in the pet stores is hard! I've been to tons in the tristate area and have family in the pet trade who have no clue what they are let alone where to look or who to talk to. So for right now this is pretty much it and thank goodness most are healthy and she does eventually fill the orders.
Hopefully one day we will either have another option or we will be able to breed hermit crabs in captivity and they will be accessible!

[crabteacher]

I was kinda surprised on how tight the burlap was around each crab. It was a good thing that they were only bound (from what we are told) for the 24 hour period.

[NeviNuNu]

Omg I know it was wrapped with electrical tape and it was so tiny!! My violas were in one together, which I couldn't imagine how tight of a squeeze it was for them that whole ride!!!

[Zoeythelost]

all 4 of mine were in the same bag and yes I had to use scissors to get them out

[CrabAddict99]

The crabs I ordered from hermit crab patch (crabbage patch) were bundled pretty tight too. Only difference was they were in small plastic tupper containers. Vicky send me brevis from Cali and she too had them packaged tightly. I'm guessing it prevents them from getting knocked around resulting in injuries.

[Striker0086]

I have been looking into Blueberries as well. I already have two straws that I got from a friend. I'm not so sure. LHC seems to have a 50/50 rating based on what I just read.

[Zoeythelost]

I have been looking into Blueberries as well. I already have two straws that I got from a friend. I'm not so sure. LHC seems to have a 50/50 rating based on what I just read.

depends what you are considering. The crabs are generally healthy, some have had problems but some margin of error has to be allowed especially with not knowing what happens in shipping.
The customer service is lacking, not slacking I do mean lacking. Crabs are generally not sent within the 2 weeks estimated quoted time frame. Be prepared to wait a month and you may not get much of a notice before shipping. She is the only person selling exotics unless u can find them at a petstore. You can ask your petstore, they might be able to order for you.
High risk of mites. Of course with any crabs, even petsmart crabs, there is a chance for mites. But it would seem the parts of the world the exotics are collected from is having a large outbreak of mites, not just the LHC crabs. Its not LHC fault, they come in with the mites. She does try to treat them.
That being said I received 2 violas and 2 ruggies that were healthy and mite free. And since i'm ordering again obviously I felt like it was worth it. Very excited about my new guys.

[NeviNuNu]

Zoeys right on about LHC!
And zoey I've noticed in older post they come in the burlap sack all together but she must have had issues with them climbing out because in recent post on here and other boards they are separated and in smaller bags. They can not do more then come out of their shells in the smaller bags and I'm guessing they can hardly do that which may be safer for them. You never know how they are handled during shipping and with out the protection of their shells they are could possibly loose limbs.

[wyethia]

What is "LHC"? I am curious what places sell/ship hermit crabs online.