Wednesday, October 27, 2010

big claw

This big hermit crab was found at the beginning of October near the beach. One of the bigger hermit crabs we have found (a shell about 2 inches in diameter) and the second we have taken under our wing. He has been a great *pet*. Low maintenance, eats about anything you give him. Quiet. However, during our week away our friends watched the crab and notified us that he is an escape artist extraordiare. You can imagine being charged with another child's *pet* and then find one morning that it has disappeared from its cage...and this happening a few times during his stay. Poor hosts!  The anxiety he caused! We had not witnessed this skill prior to our departure but sure enough, upon returning to our house - he was out! He moved some props around, popped the lid and started hanging from the side. We had heard that in late October the hermit crabs change their shells so we are certain he had some biological drive to get out of dodge. Out of curiosity, we provided him with two shells one evening and watched him scope out the size of one which we knew was way too big and then the size a smaller more likely candidate. The second one he actually climbed into and walked around in for awhile. He eventually traded back for his old shell and we let him go to find his own perfect-fitting shell on the beach.


2 comments:

  1. funny! we have a couple of hermit crabs - they're amazing...

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  2. Ours are also "land crabs". They live right by the ocean, but not in it.

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