Is this irritating my Hermit Crab?

[Fanfarlo]

I take him out of his cage a lot. Maybe too much? I have a small Maltese and I am constantly having him hold on to her hair and ride her like she's his throne. It's funny, but I don't know if I'm scaring him? I would imagine he would be in his shell if he were afraid. But, one can only imagine what it would be like to ride on the back of a dog. Hah.

[ladybug15057]

Am I reading your info you have 1 hermie and a 2 gal tank? Have you read the Crab Care section yet?
http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com/crabcare/
(If not please do)
It is very unnatural for a hermie to ride any dog, horse, hamster, rat, etc. IMO the hermie certainly is being stressed from this, and especially every time the dog moves from the fear of falling. It is also an unsafe situation for the hermie if a strand of the dogs hair gets within his shell and gets wrapped around his soft curly abdomen.

[Fanfarlo]

I actually have no idea about how many gallons his tank is. I have read all of the information on the HCP site to familiarize myself with their needs, and I know his tank is big enough for him. Those two hermies are in separate tanks by the way. One of the reasons is that crab isn't actually mine. It's my aunts. Fanfarlo has "toys" for exercise and sells big enough for a) food b) water c)water crystal thingys to ensure humidity. He's all good^^

When I got him, he was reluctant to even look at me- but now he'll just sit next to me on the computer and run abouts my desk. He's really sweet. In fact, he's doing that right now, trying to climb the ledge of my computer monitor, haha! I'm so proud of him. He's got such a nice personality.

[ladybug15057]

Posts: 3
Joined: 01 Jan 2011
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 1
Total gallons: 2
Total tanks: 2

The information I am referring to in my reply is the information you have under your avatar to the right.
How many inches is the tanks floors width and length? The shell that is the water source, it is large enough the hermie can climb in with ease and fill his shell with water and/or soak if he needs/wants to?
What is a “water crystal thingys”?

by Fanfarlo on January 1st, 2011, 3:11 pm
I take him out of his cage a lot. Maybe too much? I have a small Maltese and I am constantly having him hold on to her hair and ride her like she's his throne. It's funny, but I don't know if I'm scaring him? I would imagine he would be in his shell if he were afraid. But, one can only imagine what it would be like to ride on the back of a dog. Hah.

[rhemaangel]

Jumpin' Jehosaphat!!! Those water crystal thingies are POISONOUS!!!!!!!!! Not only to hermies, but to PEOPLE and other critters as well. They are designed to hold water in soil for PLANTS. Many brands also contain fertilizers & chemicals as well. Get them out of the tank NOW!!!!!!!

And fer pete's sake, get a bigger tank & get your act together on their care. Yes, hermies are cute and have fun personalities, but they are NOT the toys you're trying to treat them as. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but you're setting yourself up for heartache if you don't make some serious changes -- like, yesterday.

Please RE-READ the care section again. Make the needed changes, get your crab a buddy (they NEED the company!), and then LEAVE them alone for a while so they can de-stress and molt if needed.

[ladybug15057]

Sally thank you for the info. Do these 'water crystal thingies' have a name, or are there different brands of them?

[rhemaangel]

There are different brands and types of them. You see them in with the vases,etc. in craft stores inclear & other colours, and are used instead of water for decorative effects. They usually come as dry crystals that youadd water to & then they swell up about 10 times their size (a little goes a long way with these things).

There are also some found in garden shops & departments spcifically to put into potting mix to hold water. A lot of these will have a slow-release fertilizer infused into them.

Both types are NOT made of gelatine. They are made from a polymer. In other words -- they're a petroleum by-product!

Great for floral arrangements or keeping moisture in your pot plants, but not so good for critters.

[Wai]

Better get that info out there. Thanks for the alarm, Sally!

[ladybug15057]

Yes this needs to be passed around! Sally may I add this to our sister site CrabbyWiki too? (giving credit of course)

[rhemaangel]

Go right ahead & get the info out.

(And just WHO the hairy-heck started this nonsense about putting this stuff into the crabitat in the first place??? I would have thought they would have researched it a bit better. It's not like the info was that difficult to find (Google is our friend ). ) /rant