Hermit Crabs

Pet hermit crabs are all the rage. Sadly accurate care information is not readily available. The stores selling hermit crabs often know nothing of caring for them or are using far outdated methods. As part of a larger hermit crabbing community I do my part to educate people about these fascinating pets so that they will live a full life and thrive in captivity.

Hermit crabs can live 70 years in the wild and at least 30 years in captivity if properly cared for. These are not easy, throwaway pets even though that is how they are marketed. Often targeting small children with garishishly painted or decorated shells. The child cares more about the shell than the creature living inside.

Land hermit crabs are from the decapod family and have modified gills that allow them to live on land but only in a humid environment. Recreating a tropical environment for them is the first step in providing a proper habitat. Using natural items to decorate the tank is another important step. An all natural diet is important too. Hermit crabs eat a wide, wide variety of foods in the wild. They scavenge on the beach to do their part in keeping beaches clean.

Daethian

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This week Carol Ormes(Carol of Crabworks) is celebrating the 32nd Anniversary of Jon and Kate coming home with her. The AP did a short story where they interviewed Carol, Aaryn of The Happy Hermit Crab and Eleanor of El's Shells. A very short overview of care was given. So fun to see our fellow crabbers in the news! You can comment on the article here:

Daily Illini

and you can DIGG it HERE

Your comments and DIGGS will help increase awareness of hermit crab care by bringing new readers to the various hermit crab sites.

I'm writing to let you know that The Crab Street Journal website is back online as of today. I hope you will give us another chance and come back to help us keep our work rolling along.

When the site went offline last month I was not sure how I wanted to proceed. But after a week, or maybe it was two, I started thinking about the wealth of information housed at CSJ. We are the largest repository of information on hermit crabs on the web. Yes there are other sites with bigger, busier forums but no one has our archives of information, caresheets, research documents or a photo gallery that comes close to rivaling CSJ's. I began to see that it would be a travesty to allow all that information to be lost. So with that in mind I contacted Vanessa about taking legal ownership of CSJ. Vanessa too understands the importance of the keeping our information out there, after all CSJ was her labor of love for many, many years. So with that in mind she readily agreed to give me full ownership of CSJ. So as of today, I am now the owner of The Crab Street Journal!

My goal today, moving forward, is to continue to building our library of information so that anyone can access it. Working full time means that my time on CSJ must be spent wisely and productively.

While the forums are fun and helpful, not all users want to participate on the forums. At this time I do not expect to personally be active on the forums if I am to continue to build the site content. I hope our members will pick up the slack and keep the forums active and help each other out!

I would like to continue our monthly contests but only if someone is willing to run the contests if Serena is not able to continue. I've not heard from her that she is not willing to return and pick up where she left off but we need a back up plan just in case.

The species site is still in progress at www.coenobitaspecies.com

The wiki has been converted to cover several types of crabs and is no longer specifically CSJ branded. I like the idea of including other types of pet crabs in the wiki. It is now at www.crabbywiki.com and there are forums there as well as the ability to start your own blog and image gallery.

The adoption center is still in place under the ownership of Marie, it was never offline. You can access it via: www.hermitcrabadoptioncenter.com or www.crabstreetjournaladoptions.com

The caresheets STILL, STILL are in desperate need of updating so they reflect our current information. This project needs to be headed by someone goal oriented as it is probably the most important pending project we have.

The Sister Site & Local Rep programs will continue on, though I'm not sure what the structure of the organization will be. Previously LHCOS was the parent org but I did not acquire that site with CSJ. These projects may be shelved for the time being while we focus building other areas of the site.

Michelle has taken ownership of www.hermitcrabcuisine.com and will be working to build a super awesome food site there with the help of Jedi_Sena and NarNar!

Marie, Michelle, Angela, Yvette and Sue will still be site managers. Sue and Yvette are working in a decision making capacity at this time until they are able to return full time.

I hope you all will give CSJ another try and maybe even be compelled to volunteer to work on one of our projects!

*crabby hugs*
Daethian

You've filled the pool and broken out the flip flops, there's lemonade in the fridge and the ice cream truck is coming down the street. You've got everything checked off on your summer list from Beach Ball to Water Balloons but there is something that may not be on your list. Something many crabber's forget about . Before you run out the door stop and check the stats in your crabitat.
With summer temps on the rise it's time to check your tank to make sure you are not overheating your little babies. Checking the air temperature is not enough, it is vital that you check the substrate temperature regularly to make sure it is not too hot. Depending on where you live and how you cool your home you may not need a heat source at all in the summer. If your home is cooled by air conditioning you will most likely still need some added warmth in the tank. If you require no additional heat source, be sure to change your overhead bulbs to a very low wattage. Your hermies need their light year round! Check the location of your tank and ensure the air conditioning is not blowing directly on your tank or you will cause wildly fluctuating temperatures inside the tank.

For additional information on Crabitat overheating check out the article that Marie wrote.