Glass Shells

[phynyx525]

I've been doing a lot of surfing on the net trying to find out as much as I can on hermit crabs and I stumbled across this website... http://www.glassshell.com/. Has anyone seen anything like this and is there a downside to glass shells. I thought it would be very interesting and a great way to see what's going on under the shell. Just wanted to share what I had found and would love to hear any input from experienced owners.

[rmbrmb]

I like the thought of glass shells. They are stronger than real shells and you can see whats going on in the shell and are a creative solution to a man-made problem However there are some drawbacks.

Price:
Price is a big issue. Like 14+ dollars for a small shell. You also have the risk of a hermit, not liking it and it just taking up space.

Hermit habbits:
Hermit crabs like to eat/adujust their shells (usually near the eyes) and with it being glass, it could cut up your crabs. And if this does happen good luck getting your hermit out of the shell.

Design:
If the shell was to be accidently messed up inside, when the crab moved in, SLICE! And, because its clear it doesn't make your crab feel sucure. (getting colored ones don't help, bright colors tend to be less popular with hermits)

[ladybug15057]

When a hermie is getting closer to molting, they do need darkness which is something the glass shell cannot provide. A hermie also retreats in their shell when startled in attempt of hiding. By going within a glass shell they would still be able to see which very well could cause them more stress. And being man made, there is no real way of knowing if there are any sharp edges/points within the shell.

[Wai]

There are also stability issues that I learnt about at uni. If the shell is made of typical glass, the glass will leach hydroxide ions into the shell water and increase its pH (making it more alkaline) over time. If hermit crabs flush out all of their shell water regularly, this shouldn't be a problem, but if not, there may be problems. However, this is purely theoretical.

[phynyx525]

I see there are a lot of different issues that can come up with the glass shells. I thought it might be a cool idea, but being in the light constantly and not having a place to hide out in, would not be so cool to the hermies. Also I never thought about the sharp edges and the type of damage that can be caused by chipped glass. I guess you can't go wrong with going natural (Now if I could get that through to my smaller hermit crab and get him out of his painted shell that would be great!).

[blondy627]

http://www.geekologie.com/2012/08/clear ... -see-t.php

Just out of curiosity, what does everybody think of this? On one hand I find it very un natural, but on the other hand, it is kind of a good educational tool for children or people new to crabs. I hope the crabs are choosing to use these and not forced to use them.

[ladybug15057]

Seems the glass shells are making it to a couple different sites.

[Jedi_Sena]

I was excited when I found these glass shells not long ago. They really satisfy the curiosity factor allowing you to see just what they look like without pants on! They Voyeur in me loves the idea!

But nothing is going to be as good as the original, natural, God-given seashell.