Poop is hard to find

[babesbarn]

Quite honestly since I use the coconut husk substate I have no idea where the poop is. i wonder if the odor I smell sometimes is that. I clean the tank about once a month since I started crabbing in August. Does anyone have a pic of the poop and where do they normally "dump". I thought they do the deed inside their shell as their butt is in there. Please educate me. Thanks.

[ladybug15057]

In Eco earth it will be hard to find. They do poop in their shells, but they use their little legs to roll it into sausage looking links and toss them out of their shells. It is hard to say where a hermie will decide to groom their shells. But one of the retired Sister sites has clear pictures of poop about 1/3 down the page:

http://crabbytalk.com/index.php?s=poop

Now depending on the size of the hermie will determine the size of the poop. (Like humans, adults poo is larger than baby poo)

[babesbarn]

That is very interesting. I bet Spiderman is a clean Hermie. Every day he likes to switch shells. I clean them up and the next day he switches again. This morning I had to tidy things up because they "hit the beach again like a tornado" and Spiderman was not too far off. And when he saw the shell put in that was freshly cleaned he went right over to it and changed into it. I think he watches me sometimes cause this was during the morning hours. And he takes his little legs and feels the sides probably making sure its a "good fit". But heck he wore it last week!
So I take advantage of the shell changes and will have to make sure I spot the poop because the other three definetly have their own personalities and who knows where they poop? Thanks for the help!
Oh I am back. I looked at the page you posted for me. It was great! I think they are "dumping" all together in the coconut husk oval part because it always has black stuff in it and I usually just wipe out with a wet distilled water wipe. So the potty area is there I think and also in their salt water dish because I have seen them in there right after and they like to "fill up" and leave and I guess make their deposit. Thanks for helping me.

[CrabbyJo]

lol at least with the coconunt husk you don't have to worry about the poop, it likely breaks down in the fiber and you don't have to worry about cleaning it up.

Hey, since Spidey is changing his shell every day, it sounds like he just can't find one that is comfortable. Have you thought about purchasing some more shells about his size so he has more to try on?
I know I'm about to make some more orders for shells - I have lots but the ones you order aren't always "blessed" by the crabbies. I even bought some magpies because I love how they look, and not one crab has even slipped one on for size. It's funny because you often find crabs with magpie shells on when they are taken from the wild. Guess they don't like them all shined up lol.

Ebay is my favorite place to buy shells, although I think I've ordered from El's Shells and Seashell City before. Not sure about the latter. It has been a while!

[babesbarn]

I got a bag of different shells and varieties from Walmart and Spiderman came from a tiny shell on the boardwalk and immediately took to changing his shell when a new one was offered. Sometimes he goes back into one he had before except Hercules took it. They had a "discussion" about it after. Well I have to look to see what a magpie shell is as I have tried to find shells that are a variety of sizes and trying to use shapes that fit into the water dish they all bathe in. I saw a book on the Smithstonian Store website and it is all about shells. Maybe I will buy it. Thanks.