Thoughts On Crab Retailers

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:19 am

Thanks, Lili! I was hesitant, but now I'm glad I did. I'm really pleased with the way people are expressing their opinions in a respectful manner. Kudos to everyone whose taken part! I've given Felton a link to our site. I know he's visited. I will ask him if he'd be open to visiting and dialoguing with us. He's expressed to me a desire to change, for the better, the way hermies and other exotics are cared for.I'll let everyone know what he says.Thanks again to everyone!

avic · Post by **avic** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:34 am

Personal i felt guilty after having learned so much her to go and buy more crabs. But then i thought about it. The place i have bought, Beach souviner shop, is going to sell these crabs. There is always someone at the crab cage picking out a little souviner from the beach to take home in the KK that the store stocks and promotes.At least i know the 7 i have are living happy healthy lives in a proper habitate and not dying a slow death in a KK in some 8 yr old's bedroom.When i got my newest crabs Saturday night there was a couple there looking at the KK's and picking out crabs. If you buy a large KK (1 gallon size) you get 2 free crabs. So they were picking out a KK. I told the lady please dont waste your money, get a sand pail and some beach sand (free just across the street LOL) to carry them home in. Stop at Walmart buy a 10 gallon glass Aquarium for $9.96 and when you get home go to this site ( www.hermit-crabs.com ) to learn how to care for them. I also encouraged her to get 3 crabs. She did buy the KK but poured the gravel out and went down and got some beach sand.I hope maybe i have helped 3 other crabs find a home that will care for them as much as i care for my 7.Point is someone is going to buy them someone is going to sell them and all i can do is try to make the ones i "rescue" have a safe and happy enviroment to live in and when given the chance encourage new crab owners to do the same.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:10 pm

Yes, but if the fad wears off (and I'm hoping it will) then the "someones" who keep buying become us, the knowledgable crabbers. It's a tricky topic. There certainly is no easy answer. I do have a question for Felton. He wants to buy land, but where? I think anywhere other than Florida or somewhere foreign, and he's going to run into trouble. There is a reason that hermies naturally live where they do, and if you start introducing them to other locations-even just as a holding facility- I think that you're asking for trouble. Either they'll die-which I think is most likely- or they'll throw the eco-system completely out of whack. What I would really love to see is a successful breeding program. Whoever succeeds is not going to be some money grubbing corporation, but someone who truly loves hermit crabs and obviously knows a whole lot about them, if they're able to get those spawning and then tidepool conditions correct. Were I able to then buy, I could wait a long time for the zoea to develop properly and grow. I would be willing to pay more for captive bred, also. Anyways, a little off topic, but it's just a few of my thoughts on the subject.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 2:31 pm

A successful breeding program would be the answer to our prayers!! Does anybody know any biological researchers? Anyway, Felton's business is located in Florida, and he indicated to me that that was where he planned to expand the project.I'll ask him if he'd be willing to post on the forum, or provide some links. If something like this is feasible, I think it would be wonderful for the animals if we could all work together.Since crabbing probably isn't going to go away, it'd be great to have sellers who are willing to ship healthy, well cared for hermies.

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 5:49 am

I was a big cause of the Reptile City threads a couple years ago.I'd worked closely with a local pet store on the sale and care of their hermit crabs. They got two shipments of 24 hermit crabs from RC in the middle of winter, and they were frozen. 1/2 (24) were DOA, and almost all the rest died trying to recover for forced hibernation. Only 6-10 of the 48 survived two weeks, and I adopted them all.Also, the species/quantity that the pet store owner ordered did not match the species that arrived. They sent Rugs instead of E's, and half of the Indos were pink rugs.The pet store called Reptile City, and they blamed a new employee. They did send the second batch free to make up for the first batch.Despite this, I'm not willing to bash Reptile City at this point. If they are getting good reviews now, it's possible they've learned from their past mistakes, and if they are trying to improve conditions, then I think it's great and we should support them.I don't have a problem with selling hermit crabs, either to pet stores or wholesale. What I think, though, is that the distributers/wholesalers should take responsibility to ensure that their destination has good conditions. I think nobody should sell hermit crabs to a pet store unless they've verified that the pet store knows how to care for them, and will only stock good care items. That is, the petstore needs to sign a guarantee that they won't even stock harmful hermit crab "kits" or KKs, and will downplay or not stock other poor items (shell dishes, fancy shells, food with ethoxyquin, etc). And also make sure that the pet store has a good care sheet. And finally, refuse to sell to stores that promote "impulse" purchases (like mall kiosks).I think that if all distributors did this, the hermit crab problem would be mostly solved. We'd no longer have pet stores with crabs in bad conditions. We'd no longer have horrible kits and Kritter-killers. And we'd also reduce "impulse" buys and presents.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:57 am

I also agree with JMT. It is in the best interest of both the original seller and the pet store to keep the right living conditions for crabs., For one thing dead inventory means loss of money. Unhealthy crabs means consumers like us will not by from that store. Also, if an 'impulse' buyer sees the correct way of keeping crabs, they may be discouraged from that 'impulse' buy and thereby a crabs life is hopefully saved. Pet stores also need to make sure their employees are knowledgeable so they can pass that knowledge on to the buyer. Statistics show that, if a seller is more knowledgeable, a consumer is more likely to buy. A 'win win' situation for all, especially the crabs.

avic · Post by **avic** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 2:03 am

[QUOTE]if an 'impulse' buyer sees the correct way of keeping crabs, they may be discouraged from that 'impulse' buy and thereby a crabs life is hopefully saved.[QUOTE]You dont see many impulse buys on Lizards Snakes or even hamsters. But they are still widely sold. I beleive the same will happen with Hermits. People love exotic pets but they also LOVE their pets and want to care properly for them from the start. I dont think proper instructions would reduce Hermit crab sells so drasticly that store would go out of business but it would lower them enought that mall kiosks and souviner shops would most likely stop selling them (and we know thats our 2 bigest Kritter Killer pushers). Also it would lower the demand enough that the Hermit crabs would not be OVER harvested and hopefully slow or stop the hermit crabs from becoming extinct.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 3:38 am

I just wanted to add that I've got an article on my website about shipping crabs and buying online.I know about the ebay guy you refer to, I've reported him 8 ways from Sunday. Now there a lady that does it too. About buying animals in the winter, many pet stores get their winter animals shipped through courier services and in that way they are more protected, but not all. When in doubt ask. A reputable seller with good conditions will be HAPPY to show off their great decisions to you.http://www.naturallycrabby.com/shipping.html