I bought Rocko and Ziggy Stardust from a shop on the beach in Delaware. I couldn't decide for a while; I thought buying pets on a whim seemed like such a dumb thing to do. But, I reasoned, they wouldn't be much more difficult to keep than fish, and they would probably be a bit more interactive.
So on September 2nd, 2005, I picked out a hermit crab in a pretty green shell. I then thought about the issue of loneliness, and how most animals hate to be isolated. Judging by the large number of crabs cohabiting at this gift shop, I thought hermit crabs must be no different. I bought a companion for my green shell inhabitant, one wearing a natural red shell.
The green-shelled crab I dubbed Ziggy Stardust; his red-shelled friend I named Rocko. That is how Ziggy and Rocko came to live with me, but that is by no means the end of their story.
I know many people, myself included, who had pet hermit crabs when they were children.
Most people remember their hermit crabs being sedentary and fairly boring, but what I came to realize while reading up on hermit crab care is that healthy hermit crabs are quite active, especially at night. Most crabs people keep as pets are inactive due to inadequate living conditions, mainly low humidity and temperature. Ziggy and Rocko proved to be in good health the first night I brought them home; they pushed the lid off their cage and escaped! After panicking and enlisting help from Aaron, I found them under pieces of furniture in opposite corners of the room. (After that, I put books on top of the lid to keep them in.)
When I got back to Ohio, I put Rocko and Ziggy Stardust into a wire cage that had been made by a friend of my parents when he was in high school. Though the crabs seemed to enjoy climbing inside the so-called "crab shack," I moved them into a glass aquarium after reading about their need for high humidity in the air.
Ziggy and Rocko are now living the life of luxury in the aquarium. I bought a "Cocohut" under which they can hide (it's a lot less ghetto than the plastic cup I was using before), and I attached a corky fibrous mat to the back of the aquarium so they could climb. I replaced the aquarium's screen lid with a coarser wire mesh (also for climbing). I added a bowl of salt-water, in addition to their fresh water (dechlorinated, of course). I bought a thermometer and hygrometer to monitor conditions inside the tank, and I moved them into the computer room for extra warmth (winter's a-comin'). Over the weekend, Aaron built a humidifier to keep their home nice and tropical.
Sunday was the biggest change so far. I went out to browse the crab supplies at
Pet Supplies Plus, (I think they have a good selection of hermit crab and general aquarium accessories), and came home with Gladys, a crab slightly smaller than Rocko or Ziggy.
After bathing
her, I put her in the aquarium, which she promptly explored top to bottom. She moves faster than Rocko or Ziggy, and is feistier in general. She can usually be found hanging from the top of the cage.
And that is the beginning of the story of my hermit crabs.
The fan, which runs off the power supply, has some stiff wires duct-taped to it to support the wicks (made of paper towels).
The air blows through the wicks and evaporates the water, thereby humidifying the aquarium. The wicks sit in a pool of (dechlorinated) water, which will need to be refilled more often if the tank is dry. The wicks also need to be changed every few days to prevent algae growth and smell.
The whole system is enclosed in a wire mesh cage so the crabs can climb around it without actually getting into it.
