Yay!

[emmac350]

So I found this little Mom 'n Pop type store down here in Southeast Alabama - if you live down here, go there. Even though they currently didn't have any crabs, I checked out their 'tat. It had sand. And a nice piece of grapevine (about 2" diameter) that did a huge loop-the-loop for them to climb on. There was some pellet food, but there was also a bowl with chunks of dried fruit and other various foods. I saw a thermometer and a humidity gauge. I talked to the guy who works there when I was checking out with my stuff, and he said that when he first started working, they would lose almost all their crabs by the time the next group came in, and not just because of people buying them. So he researched crabs, and he started talking about keeping fresh and salt water, how he used EcoEarth the last time he made the 'tat up but they were out of it this time, and how he was distraught when they still lost two crabs out of the last bunch he'd had. He didn't know what kind of crabs they get (PP, E, etc.) but he seemed very eager to take care of their pets so that people would know how to do it themselves.

I was SOOOO excited! My next crabs are TOTALLY coming from there. PM me if you ever want to know where it is.

[erikleeson]

Sounds great. My Petland is INCREDIBLE. It has deep eco earth, red heat lamps, a huge fresh water dish, dried fruits for food and no painted shells! it also has tons of corkbark and fake vines. YOu would never have guessed hermit crabs where living in there. They have a crab there that has been alive in that tank fir 2 years and nobody has bough him

I would but he's a jumbo.

[hiddengrin]

Living in a small town, I thought all we had was the one chain store, but I found a small independent shop that had a huge reptile area with great care... I got hopeful... then I found the hermits, on a book shelf, 30+ (some in painted shells) crammed into a 10gal tank, one cocohut, one water dish with a sponge and a food dish all ontop of 1/2 inch deep dry sand.. no heat, now humidity, and all the crabs too big to escape into their bitty shells. Then I turned around, and found two jumbos, in a tank with 1/2 inch thick bark chips and a food dish, no water, and no where to hide. I wanted to rescue the jumbos, I felt so bad.. but my small guys wouldn't stand a chance. I asked for the owner, and since it was a Saturday, they happened to be around... I told them how bad the conditions were.... soooo... after all that...

YAY!!!! I offered to come in on my day off to help him redo the tanks, and he was very eager to let me do so! We talked about design ideas, and what items he'd need to obtain. He had no idea what hermies needed, said he read a book ( we all know how bad the literature is!) But, he wants to do it right for the sake of the crabs, and so people coming in will know what a good crabitat should look like. I am very excited.