I'm not really trying to tattle or brag, but today was blessing of the pets. My pets could not come because my parents weren't off- neither my mom or dad! And anyway, there were lots of dogs, a few cats, 1 mouse, 1 hamster, 2 rabbits, the poilce department's 2 horses, a farming student's goat and LOTS of hermit crabs. All the people with hermit crabs were YOUNGER kids. 1 from 3rd, 1 from 4th, and a few from 3rd and 4th. Each one had gravel a micro kritter keeper (less than 1 gallon!) Gravel or NO bedding, no heating, no saltwater, and majority with toxic painted shells (even one with googley eyes!). All of them were pps. I saw a parent holding a micro kritter keeper with 2 painted shells, gravel, tap water and FMR food and I said "Oh! A hermit crab! That's cool, I have 5 (Luna sadly passed)." Her response was "Yeah. We got 2 boys for our boys *laugh*." I stared at one with a orange lion shell with cement looking ears and googly eyes glued on it. Both crabs looked at me and scraped on the cage with their purple claws. "We bought these on vacation. Where did you get yours?" She asked. "Petco, the pet store." *nods and smiles* I walked away and found another parent with an empty kritter keeper with a micro shell water dish that was a little bigger than a button, but smaller than a bottle cap with tap water and sponge, gravel, FMR food in another micro dish, but still no crab. I looked on the side of me to find a girl who was holding a hermie laying flat on it's back trying to come out sticking each leg out slowly. I found a lot more hermit crabs. Then I merely passed by one with the same as the top with NO bedding. A boy showed me his PP with the same conditions, but with a plastic igloo and in a cardboard shoe box. (The woman with the lion said to the woman on the side of her with the girl "How long have you had yours?" "These a few months, but we had some previously who lived to 2 years." "WOW! That's a long time!" This goes to show you, people need to research proper care and will have healthier pets!) So my point is, people are still making the same mistakes. Either it be the pet store, or not being responsible by reading or researching, hermit crabs are still obviously viewed as toys. I am so glad I found this site, or else I or anyone else would have done the same thing.
I'm not trying to fuss and say they don't know anything- infact I'm glad they're intrested! But please, learn about your pets before you're getting them and you'll have a better time enjoying the experiences of pet and the hermit crab world!
Christine