My Hermit Crabs

it's been too long

2006-08-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

Real life has been taking over and I've hardly been updating! RJ starts school a week from Monday, and my mother in law is coming for two weeks starting next Saturday. After that, things should be back to normal and I should have a ton of time on my hands. I got two new E's a couple weeks ago. My Aunt and Uncle were here and I got a tip off to a pet store that supposedly sold ruggies. We drove all the way there, 30 minutes away and they only had E's. Some of them were the biggest E's I've ever seen, so I had to get two. I'm about to give up on E's though, I bought about 7 or 8 from the pet store in the mall over the past year and only one made it. I still have Duncan, who I bought in NY when we lived there (He made the move with us) but before I got the two new guys, I only had two E's left. The new ones are cute! I haven't named them yet, but here they are:

Michelle told me her trick for knitting hemp nets for the crabitat, so I finally went out and got myself some hemp and tried it out. It came out bigger than I expected! I just added it into the crabitat today. I'm working on a second one right now to donate to Vicki's forumfor a prize for the photo contest. Here's what mine looks like, the prize one will look different because I'm knitting it a square and using thinner hemp (the fat stuff was WAY hard to work with)

6/18/06 menu

2006-06-19T17:04:00.001-07:00

Tonight the crabs are having Vicki's Fruity Flower Fantasy, some sesame seeds, cheddar cheese and spirulina flavored ground cuttlebone. The crabs I saw out and about were Duncan, the three ruggies, Monster, Herman, El, Dooney and Rupert.

I found an empty cancelleria shell far from the shell bin that I knew an E had been in a few days ago. I only have that one cancelleria and it's never empty. I started digging right around where the shell was and sure enough, I had a naked E. I put him in a bowl with 6 shells for him, and he finally got into one of them. I just hope he stays in it! Every crab I've ever had that's streaked has been an E.

a big hit!

2006-06-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Last night I fed the crabs crumbled sycamore bark, rose petals and krill. When I woke up this morning, the food dish was completely empty! I've never had that happen before unless I fed them just krill. I think I have some happy crabbies!

I'm back

2006-06-09T06:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted. We had to travel to PA because my father in law passed away. We're back in TX now (well, I am, Ryan's back in Iraq already) so I'll update on my crabs. I asked the neighbor's 13 year old son come in and take care of the crabs for me while we were in PA. I left some small bottles of dechlor water by the tank and made baggies with Vicki, Kerie and Michelle's foods in them so the kid could just pour a new baggie into the food dish every other day and top off the water when it needed it. I have to say he did an amazing job! When we got home, the water bowls were almost overflowing and the food dish was full. I hadn't called ahead to let them know we were coming home either! They were still sleeping when we got in, so I left a card on their door saying thanks and that I'd come over later for my house key. I also slipped $20 in it for the kid. He came over a little later to bring me the key and say thank you for the money, and he asked where I got my crabs. I told him and asked if he liked them and wanted some and he said yes and smiled. What a good kid! Now for the update on the crabs. I lost three while we were home. One E is completely missing, so I'm counting it as a loss, it was the one who got out from time to time. I still haven't found it in the house, but I'm presuming it KIA. Another E was naked and missing most of it's legs under the FB, but still alive. We got it back into a shell and handfed it some honey, but it died a day later. My saddest loss was 2D. We found him out of his shell, (but not far from it) dead and torn apart under the FB. Almost all his legs were off and his abdomen was hanging on by a thread. I'm not sure what happened there, but I doubt he was attacked. He hadn't molted or anything as far as I could tell. I think if I get another straw, I'm going to get the smallest one I can find and NOT name it Darryl. That seemsto be the bad luck name. I got Cinnamon and the first Darryl almost a year ago and Cinnamon is still with me and doing fine, but Darryl and his replacement have both died. I might go to Petco next week and see what they have in terms of straws. If I lose another one, I'm just going to give upand let Cinnamon be lonely. I'm down to 13 crabs at the last count, I'm still undecided if I want to replace the E's. I love E's, but the only place to get them around here is the pet store in the mall. The conditions aren't good, the crabs are overpriced and they usually only have a 50% survival rate. I've lost more crabs from that store than all the rest put together. I wish there was another supply around here! I would like a replacement straw like I mentioned, but it going to be the smallest one I can find and it's going to be my last attempt.

5/4/06

2006-05-04T18:13:00.000-07:00

mangrove, hibiscus, honeysuckle

Monster changed into Herman's carved dolphin shell, Herman changed out of it into a spotted tapestry turbo earlier in the week. 2D appears to be under ossibly motling and the smaller of the 2 remaining new E's is up and about.

Tuesday 4/25/06

2006-04-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

I tried posting this last night, but my blog was acting up. The crabs ate mangrove, spirulina, brine shrimp, tulip and honeysuckle flowers. Most of it is gone this morning, the brine shrimp are totally gone. Pinchy (PP) changed into Monster's old shell, a polished gold mouth turbo and I'm thinking Winky (ruggie) changed. I found his/her old shell, but no sign of the crab and I didn't want to dig. I have so many shells in there I can't tell if any are missing. I'll post the next time I see Winky.

tonight's menu

2006-04-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

I smoothed out the tank today, it was really dug up! The little boogers! Tonight they're having some lettuce, carrots, spinach powder and a couple blue malva flowers. Pinchy changed shells, but I haven't seen her yet. I just found her old shell by the shell bin. Inky also changed from a silver turbo into a smaller brown one that I got with the small turbo mix I ordered from Naples the last time I got shells.

Lots of things happening in Hermie Land

2006-04-22T05:28:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been exciting as far as the crabbies go. 2D finally changed into a new shell! It's even smaller than his old one, but it least it's a start. There are at least 3 or 4 other ones for him to choose from that would fit better, so I'm hoping he isn't too stubborn. I added some playsand in with the FB yesterday, they're mixed together. The FB was just getting too compacted by itself. The crabs seem to like it. I found one of the new E's dead when I took the crabs out to add the sand. It was the smallest one. I'm sad about it, but not too bad. I only saw it for a few minutes from when I bought it until I put it in the tank, then it buried itself and I didn't see it alive again so I wasn't overly attached. Both of the other new E's are doing good, so I currently have five. Last night the crabs had some peanut butter (it's been months and months since I gave them any) drizzled with honey,. crushed oak leaves, hibiscus flowers, bee pollen and passion flower powder. I think they had another one or two of the things I bought from Vicki's Ebay store, but I already can't remember what. This is why I should write what I feed them as soon as I do it ;)

food

2006-04-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Michelle's food, Kerie's food, krill, red clover and calendula. Herman is up from molting, she didn't grow into the huge shell she picked out before she molted yet either...lol. It's good, I thought she might come up HUGE! She just seems to like really big shells.

Oops!

2006-04-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

I've been forgetting to post what I've been feeding the crabs...d'oh! Tonight they got Michelle's food, a cherry, some chopped acorn and some silversides. Cinnamon also came up from his molt, yay!

new crabs

2006-04-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

I got three new E's at the mall today!

It's not the best picture in the world, but I was eager to get them settled in and out of the cup I brought them home in. Two of them are pretty teeny. Of course the teeny ones disappeared right away, but the big one is currently sitting on the cholla wood looking content.

On tonight's menu: applesauce drizzled with honey and crushed oak leaves, a small chunk of krill, a little bit of hibiscus flower, and pumpkin sprinkled with Epicurean Hermit food. They should be enjoying life tonight!

My little Dooney changed into his first turbo tonight! Dooney has really grown in the 6 months since we bought him! He was really, really teeny and wearing a nerite shell when we found him at Petco in September and now my baby is in his first turbo! It's a green one I got from Naples. I'll have to try for a picture soon. I put some more E friendly shells into the 'tat today so maybe one of the new E's will change as well. I'm not holding my breath. Of the two I got in December, one has changed and one hasn't.

on tonight's menu & an observation

2006-04-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

Coconut, shredded cheddar, diced mango, brine shrimp and a red clover blossom.

I'm not going to go looking in every hiding place, but the crabs that are currently visible are 2D (Straw), Monster (PP), Inky (Rug), Richard (PP), El (PP), one of the small, nameless E's and Dooney (micro PP).

I've been noticing more and more that my crabs don't seem to form groups of the same species, but rather of the same size. Monster and 2D are my two big guys, a PP and a straw. They're usually together. The same goes for my little PP, Dooney and the two unnamed tiny E's. Richard and Inky are roughly the same size and even though Richard is a PP and Inky is a ruggie, they're usually next to each other. My tank seems to be composed of some very strange "social" groups!

*note- Half the crabs are dug under at the moment. Of these, I'm confident that at least Cinnamon (straw) and Herman (PP) are molting. Cinnamon was just due for a molt and Herman changed into a HUGE shell and then dug under. I'm not sure what the others are up to. Just when I haven't seen them in days and think they must be molting, one will pop up for a day or two. I'm REALLY bad at keeping track of who's under and for how long, so this is my attempt.

foods

2006-04-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

I need a way to keep track of exactly what I feed my crabs because I can never remember when the last time they had something was. Lately I've been changing the food out every other day or so. Tonight they're having blue malva flowers, calendula, spirulina powder and some rose hip powder. If I remember, I'll also post what was a hit and what wasn't.

*Edit*
EVERYTHING was a big hit! The crabs ate everything except a few of the blue malva flowers. They even ate most of those. I left the food in for two nights and it actually dissappeared faster the second night.

another image

2006-03-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

I made another image last night using Inky. His coloring looked funny in the original picture, so I had to wing it ;)

Cinnamon

2006-03-26T06:36:00.000-08:00

I was looking back at some of my older pictures and I couldn't believe how much Cinnamon's coloring changed in the past 8 months! He's molted once since I got him and I think he either just molted again or is preparing to. I found him the other night when I dug up the tank looking for poor little Speedy. I had my mind on other things at the time of course, so I didn't really give Cinnamon a second glance. I looked to make sure he hadn't just molted or anything, but I didn't check him over very well. All I know was he was bright red and I didn't find any exo by him. He dug back under within a few minutes and I've left him alone. Here's a picture of him the day we brought him home, and another one taken more recently during a photo shoot with Monster.

Image tutorial part one

2006-03-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

A few people have been asking me how I make my photoshopped images of crabs so I decided to make a tutorial. I'm using a wonderful picture of Vanessa's (from CSJ) Aussie crab for this because I wanted to make an image of it and figured I'd make the tutorial as I started on it this morning. Here's what the finished image will look like:

Once you open your image, start by using the pologynal lasso tool and selecting areas. I usually start on leg segments and do one at a time. After you have several done, you can arrange them in the correct order. I try to do it as I go to make it easier at the end. Each segment is in it's own layer. Create a new layer before or after you make your selection.

It doesn't matter how pretty parts look that will be behind other layers, I went straight across the bottom because it won't show on the finished image. I use the dropper tool and open a new document to record which colors I'm using so they're consistant through the whole project. You can see that behind the crab picture. Fill in your selection in the new layer at 100% opacity.

The next step is to add some other colors. I set the opactiy of the layer down so I could see through it to aid in placing other colors. I usually use a round, soft brush at about varying opacities depending on how dark I want it to be so the lines aren't harsh between colors. I used the darker tan brushed on top of the lighter fill in the same layer here.

Part two will be up next as soon as I write it, I couldn't put all the images in one post

part two

2006-03-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

Here's the image with the darker tan painted on, if you have trouble seeing it while you're working, you can always adjust the layer opacity to more opaque.

After you're done painting, make sure to set the layer opacity back to 100%!

The next step is to duplicate the layer you just made. Go to the layers tab and duplicate it.

I dont know why these two look the same...lol

The next step is to put a gassuian blur on the layer you just duplicated, while it's still selected. If you don't duplicate the layer, the blur will make parts of it clear, so it's very important to have a base opaque layer. The amount of blur will depend on your image size. Do what looks good to you
When you're done blurring, merge the two layers into one. This crab has speckles, so I used the pencil and a darker brown to add those in, while I had the layer opactiy turned down so I could see where to place the spots. I made them in a new layer because that way I can give them their own slight blur so they don't appear so hard edged. When I was happy with them, I set the lower layer's opactiy back up and merged the speckle layer onto the leg segment layer.

Next you're going to have to duplicate the layer again. You should have merged it after making new ones so there should only be the background and everything else should be on layer one. On the duplicate layer, go to layer styles and select "Wow Plastic" and clear plastic. This will make the layer shiny with a white aura around it. It's VERY important that you make sure you haven't deselected up to this point.

You're almost done with one leg segment! Before you merge the clear plastic layer onto the base leg segment layer, you can change the opacity of the plastic layer so it's not as harsh. I usually use about 50% opactiy on the crabs and a higher one on the shells. Once you have the plastic opacity where you like it, merge that layer onto the base leg segment layer, with everything still selected. Now if you left that white aura around it, you'd have a pretty weird looking glowing crab, wouldn't you? What you want to do there is go to the select tab, chose inverse, and then hit delete. that will get rid of that weird glow for you. NOW you can deselect. Whew!

So there you have it, ONE leg segment done! Now you just have to repeat the process until you have an entire image. At that point you can delete the background layer with the original picture in it and you're done. If you have trouble working on new segments because you can't see through the other ones you have done, either click the eye image to the left of the layer you want to hide in the layers pallette, or set the layer's opacity down to allow you to see through it. I don't merge any completed layers until I'm all done unless I'm VERY sure I won't have to rearrange them again As long as you try to keep them in some kind of order as you're working, it's not too hard at the end. After you have the entire image done, background layer deleted and all the layers merged, you can go to the layer styles pallette and add a drop shadow or other effects. I usually add a low drop shadow to give the image a little dimension. A good pointer-NEVER click "flatten image" in the layers tab, that will make all the clear parts of layers white. Use "merge layers" to merge all the layers or "merge down" to merge the selected layer onto the one below it instead. You can add a background color to a new layer and make it the bottom layer if you want some color when you're all done. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask :)

A sad loss

2006-03-24T07:50:00.000-08:00

I lost my first E Speedy. Yesterday evening, I thought I saw him hiding in the log, then later on by the food dish (he had been dug under for a few weeks). Every time I tried to get a good look, he would pop into his shell. Finally, right before I intended to go to bed, I picked him up hoping to get a picture. Much to my surprise, Pinky eventually peeked out of the shell. I didn't see Pinky's old shell anywhere, so with a little reserve, I started to dig. I felt so bad, I dug up every inch of tank before I found Speedy in the last place left to look. I dug up about 4 or 5 crabs. Luckily nobody was soft anymore, they either hadn't started molting yet, or had already hardened up. I finally came across Pinky's empty shell, so I feared Speedy couldn't be far away from it. I was right, I found him naked and dead near the bottom of the tank. I don't have any idea if Pinky stole his shell under the FB or if she happened across him already dead and then took the shell. All I know is there were plenty of other shells she could have chosen. He was a hard loss, he was my second crab and my first molter. When he lost half of his legs his first molt, then streaked for 5 days, Ryan and I nursed him back to health. That was over a year ago and he was doing so well lately. He was always climbing around the tank. It really bothers me not knowing what happened. It also hurts to lose a crab I've had since the beginning.

2D

2006-03-18T14:43:00.000-08:00

I decided to take some pictures today. I submitted some of 2D for crab of the week at The Addiction. His little face just looked so cute on the one that I had to post it somewhere. Since I haven't updated here in a few weeks, here it is:

tank overhaul

2006-02-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to replace about 1/3 of my sand with FB today. The crabs seem to really like it. They've been active all day and most of them seem to be hanging out on the FB side of that 'tat. Most of the crabs are up from molting. I saw Inky and both of the newer E's today after not seeing them for a while. 2D, Monster, Winky and one or two of the PP's are still under. Since most of the crabs are back up, I'll be putting my crabcam on from time to time again. Here's what my newly redone 'tat looks like:

Tank Cleaning

2006-02-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I cleaned out the crabitat. It was only a good light cleaning, but it's almost due for a deep clean. I have so many crabs dug under that that's not possible right now. I felt bad because I uncovered Monster when I took some of the tank decorations out. RJ had dropped him a couple weeks ago and his shell broke. He's in a new one, but I'm still kind of worried about him. He seems to be doing OK so far, he reburied himself next to the water bowls. I'd like to post a picture, but it doesn't seem to be working right now. I'll try again later.

OK, I got the picture working, so there's Monster and his slimy butt. He's in another shell (a polished gold mouth) that I think is too small for him, but he seems to prefer them like that. He can't pull very far into it, but it's better than the old one by far!

Mass Molt

2006-01-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

I currently have my crabcam turned off because all my crabs seem to be dug down molting right now. There are only a couple up and they're the shy ones, so it's pointless to have the webcam in there. I'll post when some come back up and I start using it again.

Live Crabcam!

2006-01-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

I got a crabcam up and running! The link to view it should be under my links on the left. Since it's morning, theyr'e not too active, I only saw Cinnamon mosey on by in the viweing field so far.

Pretty Pinky

2005-12-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

I haven't updated in a while and haven't posted on either of my ruggies in a long time. Pinky is finally into a natural shell after months of being in her painted one. She's so beautiful! I like her coloring the best of any of my crabs. I've been looking for some more ruggie buddies for her and Inky, but haven't been able to find any yet. Pinky's had two molts with me since I got her in Summer, one was to regrow a missing leg. I still don't like the pica shell she's in because she seems to have a hard time moving around in it, but she seems happy with it even though she has quite a few turbos to chose from. Here she is in all her pinkness:

El Conquistador

2005-11-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a looooong time since I posted here! I took some photos of El Conquistador again today. Since he molted, his eyes got really red. They kind of freak me out a little bit! Here he is in all his red-eyed glory...lol

I lost Darryl today

2005-10-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm so sad, Darryl died! He was sitting by the salt water pool this morning. He had a leg dipped in, but his eyes were all droopy. I'm sure Ryan's going to be sad too. He picked Darryl out and gave him his funny name. I'll miss him and his little crabby antics.

Wow! A post without pictures for once!

2005-10-17T08:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited! All my crabby birthday stuff should be coming today! We also got a bigger UTH for the 55 gallon yesterday. I felt like such a bad crabby Mommy! It was getting cooler at night and Ryan had been opening the windows, so my poor crabs were getting cold. I didn't have any kind of heater for them since we moved here and got them the 55 gallon tank. When I realized they must be freezing, I took to UTH off the 10 gallon tank (nobody is in it since they got the bigger tank) and put it on the back of the 55 gallon by the bridge where they all hang out. They all immediately went over and were pushing up against the glass to get warm. We went to PetSmart yeaterday and got a UTH for a 50-60 gallon tank. I put it on this morning (it was HOT again yesterday) but I didn't plug it in yet since it's supposed to be nice and warm today. At least it's ready now. I put it on the back of the tank kind of low and hid it behind some of the plants I have on the side of the tank. It's on the outside of course, but it's not as visible behind plants I have in the tank. I even put the background picture back on over it. I can see it, but if you don't know it's there, it's not really noticable.
About my crabby gifts....When my Aunt Ann asked me what I wanted, I actually knew what to tell her for once. I asked for a TropicAire humidifier, a pump to run it, air tubing, some T-valves and air stones so I can make the water bubbley in the bowls. I also told her an African Turbo shell and if it wasn't enough, some other shells (she could surprise me). My birthday was about a month ago, but since they travel they were going to stop by a week or so after my birthday and give me my presents then. Well, the day they were going to get here was the day hurricane Rita was supposed to hit and since they have an RV, they decided it wasn't a good idea and headed North to go to PA. I can't say I blame them! They're settled in in PA now, so she sent my box last week and it's coming today! The best part is they're going to come down and spend the Winter with me while Ryan's deployed! I can't wait! Ann Louise is the nicest, sweetest person I know and like a Mom to me and a grandmother to RJ. Uncle George is always quick to help me out with anything around the house too. I'm sure I'll post some pictures of the new tank set up soon. I already changed the background when I put the new UTH on. It looked like stones before, but the other side looked like a jungle. I like to change things up frequently, so when I took the backing off to put the UTH on, I flipped it around. I need to clean out the water bowls too, but Darryl decided he was going to hang upside down from the tank lid right over the bowls. I need to take the whole hood off on that side to get the water bowls out, and he looked like he was having so much fun that I decided it could wait till he was done playing. Gotta love the crbas and their goofy little personalities!

OK, Darryl is obviously one of my favorites!

2005-10-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

He changed into the African Turbo that Vicki sent me a while ago and I could't resist taking yet another picture of him.

sheesh!

2005-10-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

I REALLY need to update this thing! Maybe later after I clean the house I can get some more pictures of the crabbies.

Both C. Perlatus molted!

2005-09-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

I did a deep clean on Sunday and unfortuantely found a dead PP. I also dug up a molter due to the smelly dead crab/gotta find out who died factor. I figured since I had everyone up, I might as well clean the tank. Darryl and Cinnamon both molted! Poor Darryl somehow lost a leg (which I didn't even find!) but Cinnamon is looking good! Darryl got even deeper red and cinnamon changed from an orange tint to a nice bright red. Yesterday morning he had already changed into one of the shells that Vicki sent me! He looks so pretty! Here he is :)

If you look back at my older posts, you can see just how much he changed color! I'm so proud of him! I'll have to go get some of Darryl in a little bit and post one too. I had to do Cinnamon first so I could send a picture to Vicki and thank her again for the shells.

*edit*
Here's Darryl Strawberry:

Pinchy molts!

2005-09-02T07:04:00.000-07:00

Isn't she so pretty? She had been dug down for quite a few days. The window was always there, but she hadn't molted yet. I had it covered with a book to keep it dark for her. This morning I just had to peek behind the book and that's what I saw! She's sitting on her old exo (at least I hope she is, or she's sitting on another crab). I could see a big purple claw under her. I can't wait for her to come back up so I can oooohhhh and aaaahhhhh over her!

Ruggies

2005-08-22T14:58:00.000-07:00

Inky finally changed into a natural shell. I grabbed the painteed one out of there as soon as I noticed. The bad part is he's now wearing the natural turbo Slinky came in. When he died it was pouring for days, so I couldn't bury him. I kind of had to jiggle him out of his shell and flush him. It was sad, but I didn't have any other choice. I'm wondering if it's a bad omen that Inky is wearing it now. Pinky finally came up from being under the sand for a long time too. She didn't molt, she's still missing a leg, and still in a painted shell. At least both ruggies are above sand now though, they can keep each other company till I get a chance (and some funds) to run into Temple to go to Petco and get a couple more.

Spotlight on Speedy!

2005-08-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Speedy was above the sand today, so it's his turn for fame...lol. Speedy is my second crab and first Equadorian. I've had him since last fall. He was also my first molt. His shell was stolen by Duncan, so I put him in ISO (he was in a HUGE shell) with some shells to let him pick one. Later that day, he was hanging out of his shell and looking dead. I was so upset I could hardly look at him! Later on that day, I realized he was surface molting! For some reason, every limb on his left side (including his BP) got stuck in his old exo, so he just dropped everything on that side. I thought he was going to die again when he decided to 86 the shell alltogether. After a week we decided he had hardened up from his molt enough and forced him into a shell. That was in Feb. and since then, Speedy has been molting constantly. He's not much bigger at all (he's one of the smallest crabs I have) but he did regrow some very nice limbs. After all that he went through, he earned himself a special place in our hearts. He must have just molted again because I hadn't seen him in a few weeks and he's sporting some new lovely, sharp "fingernails."

Inky Lives!

2005-08-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm such a bad crabby Mommy! All this time I thought Inky was down molting in the main tank. Last night I couldn't sleep, so I went into the crab's room to watch them for a little while. I heard someone digging around and it didn't sound like it was coming from the main tank. I looked over at my iso tank, and there was Inky walking around. Since I had no idea he was in there, I hadn't put any food or water in with him! He must have been there for about 3 1/2 weeks! At least he was busy molting! If he hadn't been, I would have seen him in the iso. He regrew the leg that he was missing when we bought him, but it looks like he's missing an antenna now. As soon as I put him in the main tank, Herman and Duncan went over and checked him out. I was scared they were going to beat him up! they were taking turns feelering him and both of them climbed on his shell and were turning it over like they thought it was empty and wanted to try it on. I sat up even later to make sure he got away from them OK. He was perched way high up on the vines this morning when I got up. I had to take him out for some pictures since I haven't seen him since the day we brought him home.

*Fresh, sharp crabby "toenails"*

*Hi there!**I'm beautiful and I know it!*

El Conquistador

2005-08-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

So we went to PetSmart today to get Chester the bottomless pit some more food and Ryan went over to look at the crabs. I wasn't planning on getting any more because I want some ruggies and all PetSmart has is PP's. Well, Ryan fell in love with the one little teeny one, so we had to buy it. He named it El Conquistador in the truck on the way home. It's good I took some pictures before I even put it in the tank because it already seems to have dug under. So here's EL:

Herman's 15 minutes of fame...

2005-08-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

Spotlight on Herman!

OK, my new idea is I'm going to post about each of my crabs when I feel like getting around to it...lol. Today it's Herman's moment in the spotlight. I've had an apple murex shell in the tank for what seems like months now. Today I noticed it wasn't on the shell pile, but halfway across the tank. I picked it up and sure enough, there was a crab in it. I wasn't sure who it was, I just wanted some pictures before I even figured it out. As soon as the crab peeked out, I knew who it was (how LONG it took the crab to peek out should have been my first clue, Herman is the shyest crab I've ever seen).

Hmm, I wonder who's in this shell....

Are those feelers BLUE? Could this be Herman?

Those feelers ARE blue! It IS Herman, yay!

Shell Swaps!

2005-08-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

I got the shells yesterday and they were AWESOME! The only thing that wasn't what I expected was the 1" opening banded tapestry turbo. It was smaller than Naples 1" opening turbos. It's all good though, there's already a crab wearing it, although the shell is a little big for the crab! Two of my smallest PP's switched last night! I was so happy to find that out this morning! I've been having so much trouble telling Richard, Rupert and Pinchy apart lately. They're all the same size roughly, all molted together and were all wearing black and white pica shells. Now that two of them changed, I'm going to have to sex them so I can at least tell one of them apart. Richard is the only male in that group of three. I took some pictures of them this morning and also finally loaded two other pictures I had on the camera. One is Herman hanging upside down fron the tank hood and the other is Monster peeking out of the tree. The ruggies are still buried, Duncan is still in the same babylon shell he's been in for about 6 months (he's an E so I guess it's OK) Speedy is still in a molting frenzy to get his BP back, the ruggies are still buried and the straws are still shy. I lost Slinky the other day and was really sad about that. I'd like to get anohter ruggie or two and also another E to keep Duncan company while Speedy is constantly molting. Oh well, here are my new pictures:

YikeS!

2005-08-03T05:51:00.000-07:00

I finally found out when my shells are coming...Friday. I'm not entirely impressed because Naples always seems to have them to you in like 4 days. Seashell City DOES have some more cool shells I'd like though. My birthday is coming up in about 5 weeks and when my Aunt Ann asks what I want, I'm going to tell her shells! I can never think of what to tell her, but this year I can! I totally want an African Turbo shell too. Maybe I'll ask for a digital hydrometer/thermometer in one or a habba mister too. I have to look at prices and fine a good place to buy one online. Heck, I'll just post in the HCA forum and see what people recommend. That's always the best way! Since I have to clean the house today, I'm going to do the tank first. It always trashes the house. It seems like there's more poop than crabs in there anymore! And they always get the extra shells all full of sand like an hour after I wash them! I'm just going to scoop the poop and rinse the shells out today I think, I can't wait to add the new shells!

sheesh

2005-08-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

I know I only ordered the shells on Saturday night, but I wish I'd get an E-mail with the UPS info on it soon. This is why I hate ordering online, I'm too impatient...lol. When I want something, I want it NOW! When I do get the shells, I'll post about them of course

edit 8/02/05
I just finally got an E-mail that UPS has recieved the billing info, hopefully by tonight I'll at least know when to expect the shells. I can't wait! I wish they would have gotten them shipped yesterday though.

Some Shells

2005-07-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

I ordered some shells from Seashell City last night. Some of the PP's and the ruggies totally need more 3/4" opening turbos. I ordered five of them and one larger (1" opening) one just so the straws have plenty to choose from. It's really hard to find 3/4" turbos anywhere! Since I've never ordered from Seashell City before, I'm really hoping their shells are sized the same as Naples, who I usually order from. Naples only has one (I think) kind of turbo shell with a 3/4" opening and I wanted more of a variety. I ordered (3/4") one silver, two greens and two tapestry, plus a 1" tapestry with a stripe. I can't wait for them to show up! If they're the right size, I'll probably order more in a couple weeks. I have the size thing online down pat if everyone measures the same! I ordered so many from Naples that weren't quite what I expected that I know exactly what to order now. Monster is in a 7/8" opening tapestry turbo, the 1" green ones are too big for him and the 5/8" turbos are too small for anyone but Speedy. All that's between 5/8" and 7/8" would be 6/8" or 3/4, so I hope they're good shells! If they're too small, I guess I'll have to take my chances with more 7/8" ones, but Monster is the only one who really fits in them. The ruggies and most of the other PP's are pretty much smaller, so they'd almost have to fit in a 3/4" one if the 5/8" are too small, right? Lol, math is my weakest point!

Pinky Surfaces!

2005-07-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Pinky was up and about this morning when I went in to check on the crabs. I was all happy and didn't really look at her too hard till I just went in to take some pictures. Of course she's still in that horrible painted shell that looks to me like the yellow brick road. When I took her out for pictures, I noticed she was missing a leg (the same leg Inky is missing)! I was pretty sure she wasn't before, so after I took the pictures of her, I went into my photobucket and looked at the pictures from the day we bought her. She wasn't missing a leg before! I don't know what would have caused her to drop it, I haven't bothered her at all till today when I realized the leg was missing. She was even under the sand for a few days and I'm pretty sure she had it the last time I saw her before she went under. The tank conditions have been pretty near perfect too. I just hope she doesn't drop any more and makes it through PPS because she's the coolest pink crab ever...lol. I like her coloring just as much as the straws!

I love this picture! She looks like she's marching along!

Sillier Monster

2005-07-28T20:56:00.000-07:00

I can't stop posting here! Maybe the newness will eventually wear off and I'll hardly ever post. Yeah, right....lol. Anyway, I went to check on the crabs a little bit ago and I think Monster thought he was hiding in the moss, but I could totally see him. I had to take a picture, I kind of think you can even see one of his eyes through the moss in the first picture. It's easy to see why he's Ryan's favorite, he has the most personality!

Silly Monster

2005-07-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I took some pictures of Monster to help someone with ordering shells online (sizes). And he was being a little booger. He's in a 7/8" opening shell, which is what the person was thinking of ordering. I took his picture next to a tape measure, and when I tried to take one of the opening size, the little booger wouldn't go in his shell! I even tapped him on the head lightly, but he only went part way in and opened his claw at me! Then by the time I was taking the next picture of the other measurement of the opening, he was already coming back out. I honestly wonder why he's like that. Every other crab in the tank goes all the way in it's shell when you pick it up, but not Monster. He's out and waving his legs around from the time you pick him up till you set him down again. Even if you roll him over on his back! He's never pinched anyone, so I know it's not cause he's mean. Here are the pictures of him being a goofball!

Oh, I made this out of sheer boredom yesterday too. I was surprised so many people liked it, it honestly took me about 5 minutes to make!

A few people think I should make it as a T-shirt design for the HCA. This is the best I could come up with!

AARGH! :)

2005-07-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm pretty sure my crabs are trying to drive me crazy! I haven't seen my E's in days, it looks like all my ruggies are under too, and I only see half my PP's. I hate going in the tank all the time because I've been having humidity fluctuations. If I leave the AC off, they're fine, but if it's on at all, my humidity drops to like 60! I kind of solved the problem by closing the AC vent in the crabs room and shutting the door when the AC is on. Oh, I think Darryl dug himself under too. He's the biggest crab in the tank, and there's a HUGE mound of sand next to the cocohut that looks like someone big dug under and there's no Darryl. I understand they need to destress, but I want more pictures. I want more of my other two ruggies. I really do hope Inky is molting though, he needs a new leg. Ryan said it looked like some were in pre-molt at Petco, but he didn't tell me any of this till we were on the way home. He had picked up quite a few more than I did because I had my hands full with RJ and some other stuff I was buying. If I would have known, I would have bought more so they could have a nicer place to molt. The Petco closest to us actually had a great tank! It was a big tall one on the end of an aisle, the temp and humidity were both about 80, they had plenty of hideys for the crabs and the substrate was a mix of FB on one side and calci sand on the other. The only problem is it wasn't deep at all, but the tank was the best I've seen so far. It even had plenty of food (with some fresh mixed in) and water, although in my excitement over finding straws and ruggies, I didn't notice if they had salt water or not.

Maybe some molters

2005-07-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

I checked on my crabs like I do every morning and I think I have a few down molting again. Darryl and Cinnamon were trapped on the bridge! The cork bark I have propped up to it for a ramp had been knocked over. They could have climbed down if they wanted to since they're pretty big, but they seem to like it up there. I put the cork bark back where it belonged though, just in case they're wimps...lol. Herman always just climbs down over the side, and she's smaller than the straws. I can't find some of the PP's, Speedy (the E) and now it looks like Pinky might have dug under like Inky. I didn't go overly nutty picking everything up to check if there were any crabs under it, but I did peek into the hollow tree and the cocohuts. It seems like I have one down molting at any given time anymore! Speedy I understand because he lost most of his legs and his BP during his first molt in late winter, he grew all the legs back in the next molt, and now he's working on regrowing that BP back to the right size. He's down more than he's up. It seems like he usually has company though. I didn't think they molted that often! I'm always finding one that comes up after being "missing" for weeks and when I check, they always have pointy fingernails. I think all of them have molted at least twice, except for Monster and of course the ones I just got on Saturday. Crabs! I figured I'd take some better pictures of Slinky since he's the lone Ruggie above the sand.

Some pictures

2005-07-25T15:28:00.000-07:00

The C. Rugosus

My new C. Perlatus

The last ruggie (the black one) is already dug under and I think he might be molting that leg back! He had a pretty large gel limb that you can see in the picture when we bought him. I've had him two days and he was only above the sand for a few hours. I'm still getting used to this whole blogger thing....lol. I'm sure I'll post tons of stuff about my crabs and tons of pictures too :)

In the beginning....

2005-07-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is my very first post. I noticed quite a few people have these, and although I'm familiar with and have a xanga, I thought this would be fun to try out. I usually post about everything that's going on in my life in my Xanga, but I decided that for here, I'll stick to just my hermit crabs...lol.