Man-made shells?

mechelle · 06-10-2008, 07:59 PM

I was looking for some shell sites and came across this article.
Kinda interesting. Apparently scientists have come up with a shell alternative.

Cabinet Magazine Online - The Hand Up Project: Attempting to Meet the New Needs of Natural Life-Forms

kittyosu · 06-11-2008, 01:15 AM

Wow! Very interesting stuff.

**HERMEZ** · 06-11-2008, 06:32 AM

its horrendous--this is quite old and not really good for the crab at all........any smart crab would stick their lil pinchers up at it---although out in the wild the larger crabs have stuck their butts in all kinds of things for lack of shell. Shell shortage is really becoming a problem sadly

krackersmom2 · 06-14-2008, 08:13 AM

Stick with natural shells

Hildegarde · 06-14-2008, 12:02 PM

This is an old post. It would be great if it works the way the author claims. But the artice is from 2004, so my guess is that they decided, for whatever reason, not to mass produce the shells.

There also is another person who's created glass shells for hermies. He claims tha crabs prefer the glass ones 2:1 when offered a variety of shells.

It would be great to be able to help hermit crabs from the struggle they have in the wild to try to get decent shells.

krackersmom2 · 06-16-2008, 01:39 AM

Glass shells sound interesting.....I would be afraid they would break if they land hard on a dish or against the glass. I don't know why anyone would want to come up with an alternative when natural shells are abundant?

Hildegarde · 06-16-2008, 02:22 AM

I'm talking about hermit crabs in the wild. While this person is doing his experiment on captured crabs (at least that's what I was led to believe) this type of shell would be used for crabs in the wild, so they don't have to sport the latest in medicine vials or the containers picture film comes in.

silver616 · 06-16-2008, 07:17 PM

Yeah, I believe that the point of experimenting with the man-made shells was due to a reported shortage of shells in the "wild" esp for larger crabs.

06-10-2008, 07:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
mechelle Hi, I'm New Here! Join Date: May 2008 Location: Hot Springs, AR Posts: 6	Man-made shells? I was looking for some shell sites and came across this article. Kinda interesting. Apparently scientists have come up with a shell alternative. Cabinet Magazine Online - The Hand Up Project: Attempting to Meet the New Needs of Natural Life-Forms

06-11-2008, 01:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
kittyosu "Never Molted" Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 36	Re: Man-made shells? Wow! Very interesting stuff.

06-11-2008, 06:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
HERMEZ Moderator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: NC Posts: 1,080	Re: Man-made shells? its horrendous--this is quite old and not really good for the crab at all........any smart crab would stick their lil pinchers up at it---although out in the wild the larger crabs have stuck their butts in all kinds of things for lack of shell. Shell shortage is really becoming a problem sadly __________________ 22PP's~9 Rugs~9 E's~5 Straws~2 Indo's~4 Violas~ http://photobucket.com/albums/a96/Herm-EZ/

06-14-2008, 08:13 AM	#4 (permalink)
krackersmom2 (Large Crab) Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: South TX (near the beach) Posts: 1,088	Re: Man-made shells? Stick with natural shells __________________ 12 PP's: Spooky, Baby, Flash, Rocky, Herbie, Violet, Fester, Zeus, Neptune, Mars, Luna and Apollo R.I.P:Hercules

06-14-2008, 12:02 PM	#5 (permalink)
Hildegarde (Medium Crab) Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gainesville, Florida Posts: 749	Re: Man-made shells? This is an old post. It would be great if it works the way the author claims. But the artice is from 2004, so my guess is that they decided, for whatever reason, not to mass produce the shells. There also is another person who's created glass shells for hermies. He claims tha crabs prefer the glass ones 2:1 when offered a variety of shells. It would be great to be able to help hermit crabs from the struggle they have in the wild to try to get decent shells. __________________ The Kids: Big Momma, Bwana, BiBi, Honey, Aggie, Stretch, Sparky, Houdini, Tang, Zeke & Izzie; The Big Guys: Kaiser, Mo-de-law', Belle & SuzyQ; and our 15 new Little Ones; all PPs and our baby Es: Killer, Ol' Yeller, Scooter, Mr. Greenjeans, Orange and our tiny Smidgen.

06-16-2008, 01:39 AM	#6 (permalink)
krackersmom2 (Large Crab) Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: South TX (near the beach) Posts: 1,088	Re: Man-made shells? Glass shells sound interesting.....I would be afraid they would break if they land hard on a dish or against the glass. I don't know why anyone would want to come up with an alternative when natural shells are abundant? __________________ 12 PP's: Spooky, Baby, Flash, Rocky, Herbie, Violet, Fester, Zeus, Neptune, Mars, Luna and Apollo R.I.P:Hercules

06-16-2008, 02:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
Hildegarde (Medium Crab) Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Gainesville, Florida Posts: 749	Re: Man-made shells? I'm talking about hermit crabs in the wild. While this person is doing his experiment on captured crabs (at least that's what I was led to believe) this type of shell would be used for crabs in the wild, so they don't have to sport the latest in medicine vials or the containers picture film comes in. __________________ The Kids: Big Momma, Bwana, BiBi, Honey, Aggie, Stretch, Sparky, Houdini, Tang, Zeke & Izzie; The Big Guys: Kaiser, Mo-de-law', Belle & SuzyQ; and our 15 new Little Ones; all PPs and our baby Es: Killer, Ol' Yeller, Scooter, Mr. Greenjeans, Orange and our tiny Smidgen.

06-16-2008, 07:17 PM	#8 (permalink)
silver616 "Preparing For Second Molt" Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 378	Re: Man-made shells? Yeah, I believe that the point of experimenting with the man-made shells was due to a reported shortage of shells in the "wild" esp for larger crabs.

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