I went to get my crabs today

[Merideth]

and talked to teh owner of the pet store about the way he had his crabs set up. I talked to him in terms of profit, because you know how store owners can be, and told him all the things he could do to extend the lives of the crabs he had in his care, and what he could tell his employees to do to keep them alive (apparently they dont always put salt water in with the crabs, for one, and there is NO SUBSTRATE at all in the box, which is an open mesh thing that doesnt keep humidity in at all.

Long story short, the owner agreed to get rid of his painted shells, and also agreed to let me come in and make him a brand new crabitat. He gave me a pad of paper to write down my name and address and all the things he'd need, then told me he'd order them tonight. I'm so excited! All the future crabs will be set in there so long as the employees are briefed on the things that need to be done daily/weekly/monthly for these guys.


Edit: also after i got everyone home, bathed them and got them in their new home, Norbert immediately went about switching his crappy small painted shell for a nice big natural shell he's totally happier now!

[ladybug15057]

Congratulations on your newbies! I am happy to hear you spoke to the pet store owner too and he seemed to be open minded about the suggestions.

[Merideth]

He's a nice guy. He's just misinformed about what crabs need, and he was more than happy to help keep the little guys alive. It might have to be an actual attack though, on my part, because i'm going to have to talk to the employees about how important salt water AND fresh water is to hermit crabs.