The horror behind painted shells

Questions about designing a terrarium.
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hermit crabs rock 10
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by hermit crabs rock 10 »

that was horrible who could do succh a thing, i think natural shells are better.
lilohermies
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by lilohermies »

I got my hermit crab Lilo as a gift, so she was in a painted shell. She literally JUST switched out of her painted shell a few minutes ago, (finally!) but she's re-examining her old (painted) shell and she seems like she kinda misses it. She grabs onto it very tightly whenever I try to take it away, and when I took it out of the tank, she started panicking and running around really fast in all directions (which is not normal for her,) in search of her old shell. She only calmed down when I put the shell back in her tank and she reunited with it, seeming to have second thoughts about her new shell. I want her to be healthy, and I know painted shells are poisonous and can kill a crab, but I want her to be happy and I don't want to stress her out by taking away her old shell. She seems oddly attatched to it.

So what do I do? Should I take the old shell out of the tank and just make her deal with the new unpainted shell? Or should I let her make her own decision, and if she wnts to stick with the painted shell, should I just let her? Someone please help :(
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ladybug15057
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by ladybug15057 »

Is she the only hermie in the tank? If not, do you have an iso you can put her in with her painted shell and other unpainted shells for the night? (this way one of the others do not move into it) By morning she should be comfortable enough with her own shell if she opts to keep it. Meanwhile I would suggest too, to hold onto it for a week or so. If she begins to streak, a painted shell sadly is better than no shell at all.
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Wai
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by Wai »

I would take out the painted shell once she switches out of it, then rip the paint off it. Once the paint is removed, you can put it back in the tank.
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lilohermies
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by lilohermies »

No, she's not the only hermit crab in the tank. There is one other hermit crab in the tank named Stitch, but it's a 55 gallon tank, so I figured there would be enough room to let Lilo choose in peace. Thanks for your help! But what eventually happened was pretty amazing. I watched as my other crab Stitch examined some new. Then, he and Lilo touched antennaes and Stitch got out of his shell and switched into an entirely new shell. Lilo then moved into his old shell, and they both seemed really happy with their new shells! Lilo abandoned her painted shell and completely ignored it for the rest of the night. I just took it out of the tank and she doesn't seem to want it anymore. They are both in unpainted shells now! :)

Thanks for the advice!
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by ZuZu »

YAY for lilo and stitch! (stitch from lilo and stitch is what half my room is dedicated to -.- ) I am so glad she was not attached to it for too long :D
I love my five hermies:
Bumper, the socialite leader
Sticky, The Devourer
Shy Guy, Name says all.
Rose, hyper, never sleeps
Sharky, micro version of ShyGuy
Celebrating 5 years of Crabisism XD
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ladybug15057
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by ladybug15057 »

I'm happy to hear she has decided to swap out of the shell. Meanwhile maybe you could try to remove some of the paint? I always use to keep the horrid painted shells for about a week just in case... as mentioned, sadly a painted shell is better than no shell. If in that week they didn't streak again... out went the painted shell. Thanks for the update!! :)
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hermiesman80
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by hermiesman80 »

one thing on my mind...MURDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I WILL HUNT THEM DOWN LIKE MAD DOGS AND KILL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!![by the way I`m a little emotional about hermies]
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ZuZu
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by ZuZu »

no kidding, whoa 8| well I think in the same way but from another person is different :P
I love my five hermies:
Bumper, the socialite leader
Sticky, The Devourer
Shy Guy, Name says all.
Rose, hyper, never sleeps
Sharky, micro version of ShyGuy
Celebrating 5 years of Crabisism XD
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Thedrawingclaw
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Re: The horror behind painted shells

Post by Thedrawingclaw »

I was lucky enough to have all my hermies in natural shells. The lady I got my first four from were all in natural shells, and the shells she gave me were only unpainted, which is good. My other two crabs were in natural shells in Petco, which is also good. I feel kinda bad, because I could've gotten painted ones, but I didn't.
Meet my [hermie] family:
Scuttles, Crabzilla, Shelldon, Curlicue, Kujo, and Gigantor
Proud owner of these 6 beautiful PP hermit crabs
R.I.P. Kujo
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