Trying hermies again..

[krackersmom2]

Aside from the paint chips, the methods they ude to get the hermies into the painted shells is inhumane. They may be gassed, subjected to freezing temps. etc. to get them to the point where they are almost dead and will not fight for their natural shell. Then they stuff their almost lifeless body into the painted shell.
The only painted shell crabs I bought were living in shells that were broken. I felt compelled to rescue them. I understand that sometimes there is not other option offered by your local pet store. If you do buy one, be sure to offer them plenty of natural shell options and remove the painted shell immediately after they change. Of the four crabs I have acquired that came in painted shells, only one did not change within minutes of being offered new options. Violet buried almost immediately and has only resurfaced a few times since I got her several months ago. She finally came up this past week and changed shells.

[MoribundMaverick]

Okay, so I was at the mall today, and I ended up buying hermit crabs =O

The home was completely ready except for one aspect- salt water. >.<

I have some stuff that I think might work, but I'm not 100% sure.
It's called "Aquarium Salt for Freshwater fish- all natural"

Does this work? Or no, because it's for fresh water?? If not, the crabbies will have to settle for fresh water until tomorrow

From what I can read on the "online box", it's this:
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarium Salt at PETCO

[alli'smommy]

That is what alot of us use! It's a good one!! Post pics soon!

[MoribundMaverick]

Oh, score! Wow did I luck out =D

I will post pictures of the crabbies and their new tat tonight... hopefully you guys will have some ideas to help spruce it up just a bit more

[MoribundMaverick]

Okay, here's pics. My camera's super lame so the pictures are really blurry, but you can still kind of make out what's going on... lol.

MoribundMaverick/Hermits - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

There's the album.
The white hermit is Leah,
The purple one (I wish she'd change out of the shell already) is Jerzy, named after a famous mountain climber, because she climbs A LOT.

I took out the vines because 1.) I hadn't secured them yet and didn't want the hermies climbing on something that'd fall, and 2.) It led up to the not-100%-secured second floor.
I then proceeded to go to Wal Mart (which I said I wouldn't do) and get another suction cup and a ladder to lead up to the second floor.
Imagine my suprise when I come home and Jerzy is sitting in the second floor staring at me!! I still have NO CLUE how she got up there... lol!

So anyways, the second floor is no longer leaning, and there is now a vine-covered lader leading up to it. =]

[HermitPaws]

ummm......... its locked

[MoribundMaverick]

Oh yea... haha. I unlocked it, it works now. =]

Wow, Jerzy switched shells last night, so it was nice to see her in something different this morning. Then, while I was getting ready for church, she switched AGAIN, and when I came home from church, she'd switched again!!! She just can't decide what she wants to wear =P

Leah has switched too, but only once.

[krackersmom2]

My guess is that Jerzy climbed up the coconut bark wall and got on the rim of the tank and possible fell into the basket as she scaled the rim of the tank....that's judging ffom the pics of the tat

[MoribundMaverick]

I guess... I have no clue!

I took a friend to Petco today to get a new fish, and I ended up coming home with another crabby! This tends to happen to me a lot, lol.

But in my defense, Petco has all their crabs for $4, even the jumbos! I guess it's because they're remodeling. Idk. I really wanted a jumbo, but I just don't have the set-up for them. Yet. Teehee.

[MoribundMaverick]

=[
Leah didn't make it, I think. She's not suspended from her shell like normal, though. She's still inside her shell, but when I shift her shell from side to side, she shifts too. It's almost like she dried up or something.
Her shell was way too big for her. So Idk if she's really alive and letting me move her, but I really doubt it.
I'm pretty sure she's dead. But I've only had her for two days, so I bet it was stress.
Anyway, poo. Does a hermit crab ALWAYS pop out of his shell when he's dead?
And one more thing in the determination: I tipped the opening towards the ground and she held on to it. Idk if that makes a difference.