mr. krabs, spongebob, patrick, squidward, sandy, manray, bubble bass, pearl, plankton, barnacle boy, patchy, jelly fish, mrs. puff, gary, squilliam, anchovy,scooter, dirty bubble, flying dutchman, planky, flats flounder, twister, wags, henry, perry winkle, sir charles, chibi, count dooku, master windu, wicket, edward, eloise, mr. evil, mini me, biped, fat bastard, confused, buddha, ruby, padme, akai, mars, rojo, no name, rock lobster

HERMIT CRAB Diary

Wednesday, October 1, 2003

I've been slacking off again. My crabs are doing great. They are loved and they love me.

New hermies:
We have several new additions to the tank. Several of them don't have official names yet but I'll make them up as I go along. We adopted two crabs from a great crabber. Ernest "Buddha" Ecuadorian and Ruby Red. Buddha is the biggest ecuadorian crab that I've seen. He had a great time tearing up my tank before settling in for a molt. Ruby's doing great but she likes to hide a lot. She's either under ground or hiding out with the PPs (purple pinchers).

The crab husband brought home a big purple pincher for us. She doesn't have an official name yet. Her name will either be Padme Crabidala the Queen of Crustacea or Jeepnee Jones. She's in a brightly painted shell right now. It's a little obnoxious and I hope she moves her big 'ole hermie bum into another shell soon.

Our other new crabbies are 3 red cavipes and 1 unknown hermie. They don't have names yet. We had purchased a brevimanus at the same time but unfortunately, that crab did not make it. Coenobita Brevimanus are being called "purples" or Indonesians in the crabbing community. I named him "Fujiiro" post-humously.

"Fujiiro"

Here's a picture of one of the red cavipes. I think I'll name the three reds, Akai, 'Ula, and Rojo. Akai is red in Japanese, 'Ula is red in Hawaiian, and Rojo is red in Spanish.

There's been quite a few molts going on. In addition to Buddha's molt, several other crabs have either molted or are in the process of molting. Biped molted a second time and his legs are all the same size now. I think his pinchers are still a little small but I'm sure they'll get back to normal in his next molt. Patchy molted for a second time too. He's a LOT bigger now and has changed into a large cancellaria shell. Other successful molts: Perry Winkle, Count Dooku, Wicket, Planky. Suspected molts: Barnacle Boy, Scooter, Twister. Sir Charles, a large PP, has dug under for a molt. Other crabs that are going to molt soon: Pearl, Padme, Bubble Bass, Sandy, Patrick. It's so hard to keep up with all the molting.

I've made a few more purchases to complete my Pirates motiff. I got a treasure chest and a little sunken ship to make everything a little more "pirate-like". Yo ho ho ho.

I can't believe none of the people who supposedly visit this site haven't tried to name my poor crabbie. You people suck.

Monday, October 6 , 2003

I'm back to posting again. I'm so excited about our two newest crabs, Sean "Mars" and Rock Lobster. They are so impressive. Just wait until you see them. They are from the coenobita perlatus family, and they're affectionately known as "strawberries". The crab husband said that they are the best looking crabs that he's seen. He puts up with my hobby but I wouldn't say that he's a hermit crab enthusiast. Come & vist my strawberries.

Friday, October 10, 2003
My sister was laughing at me last night because I’m an administrator at landhermitcrabs.com. She’s mean and envious. I tried to explain to her that I started off as an admin because they needed help with technical stuff and now I’m helping out in other areas. Oh well, I’m not the one who visits and bath and body works fan site.

Eureka! I made several significant discoveries today. Several hermit crabs have molted successfully. Akai (the cavipes) and Gary (the PP) look really good after molting. Rojo (another cavipes) is in the process of molting. He’s shed his exoskeleton and will soon eat his exo & harden. I was able to catch a sneak peek at him from the bottom of the tank.

Unfortunately, my last discovery was not a pleasant surprise. ‘Ula has passed away. He is another crab that I found & was holding for a friend. He, along with Fujiiro, weren’t doing great from the beginning but I thought that I could give them a better home than most of the people who buy crabs from the crab kiosks in Southern California. If ‘Ula and Fujiiro weren’t “exotics”, I wouldn’t have purchased them because they weren’t the healthiest crabs at the kiosk.

I do have mixed feelings about “rescuing” crabs from the kiosks and pet stores. Why should I be spending money on “rescuing” sick and mistreated crabs when I could be spending money on the crabs that I want.

I’ve decided that I want a 20 gallon long tank to put on the bottom on my stand to use a large isolation unit. I’d like to have one large ISO instead of using the 10 gallon and 5 gallon reptile tank. We’ll probably give one of the other tanks to my brother-in-law along with several crabs.

I’d like:
1) To rescue crabs then adopt them out to other hermie owners
2) All the pet stores and kiosks treat hermit crabs with the care that they deserve
3) The importation of hermit crabs to be legalized in Hawaii so my sister can have some hermit crabs too.
4) Educate everyone who owns hermit crabs the proper methods of caring for them.
5) A 100 gallon tank for my hermit crabs. Actually I’d like a whole room full of tanks.
6) Pretty shells for all my hermies.
7) Never to lose a hermit crab to Post Purchase Stress or sickness again
8) A jumbo crab as big as Christa’s “Spider” (wowee, that crab is very impressive)
9) To be able to breed hermit crabs.
10) My own island with hermit crabs.
11) To visit Vanuatu (just like CrazySean) so I can see some wild brevimanus & perlatus crabs.
12) My crabs to tell me exactly when they’re going to molt so I can put them into ISO on time.
13) My sister to stop saying I’m a hermit crab freak.

Saturday, October 11, 2003
Plankton had another successful molt. His leg that he regenerated in his last molt is still a little small but he looks great and the tips of his appendages are so sharp now. It feels funny to have him walk on my palm. His coloring is a little funny now though. He looks dark & purplish. I should take a picture of him.

I put Sean Mars into the 5 gallon iso with forest bedding and he buried almost immediately. I suppose I should look if Sean is a boy or girl but most of my crabs haven’t been “sexed” yet. It’s not like I’d change their names anyway. Patrick is a girl.

Yay! A few of my crabs are flavors of the month at the Hermie Hut’s 2004 calendar. Mr. Krabs is the cover boy! Eloise is Ms. January. Patrick is Ms. March (Patrick is a girl). Thanks Crabmom!!

Monday, October 13, 2003
Whew, what a busy day for the crabbies. We gave them all a bath and took their individual pictures except for Sir Charles and Mars who are in ISO. I wanted to take pictures of them so that I can update the website with their current pics.

I believe that Eloise and Edward are going to molt soon. They keep digging in the main tank and Edward seems very lethargic. Edward hasn’t molted since we adopted him & Eloise last molted in May.

March 2003 Diary
April 2003 Diary
May 2003 Diary
August 2003 Diary

Last modified: 10/14/2003