Now for the rest of my zoo...

starmaiden · Jul 21, 2007

I posted pictures of my ratties, now here's pictures of the rest of my zoo:

My ever helpful Zoo Director, Dax. He's not named for the Star trek character, its actually from the word polydactyl. The shelter I adopted him from had named him that. He a male kitty who has 9 extra toes!:

Assistant Zoo Director, Elsa:

Dax and Elsa together:

My dog Collin, Head of Zoo Security, Welcoming Committee, Guided Tours.

jorats · Jul 21, 2007

Beautiful kitties and your dog looks so friendly too.

Tarantulas... females eat their mate after breeding right? Or is that another big spider?

I've been really fascinated with hermit crabs lately, I go visit them at Petsmart while my hubby stands behind me with a worried look on his face... lol ...in due time... :lol:

Shelley · Jul 21, 2007

Oh wow! I never actually knew you could own different species of hermit crabs. Your pictures are awesome! I'll have to show my sister all these pictures later

LA · Jul 21, 2007

Wow, that is a zoo. I like Colin being the Zoo Security and Guided tours and welcoming committee. LOL cute.

I'm not keen on Tarantulas, but they are beautiful.

Melissa · Jul 21, 2007

Wow, Esmaralda is a beautiful girl!! I love the looks on the faces of some of those crabs. Sorta like: "Who me?....nooooo."

Bati · Jul 21, 2007

The tarantulas are horrible - gives me the chivers; but the rest are sweet. Especially the hermit crabs, if I came to visit I'd think they were plastic, they are so colorful

mamarat · Jul 21, 2007

Wow gorgeous pics. They all have titles, are they unionized? lol

starmaiden · Jul 21, 2007

jorats said:
Beautiful kitties and your dog looks so friendly too.

Tarantulas... females eat their mate after breeding right? Or is that another big spider?

I've been really fascinated with hermit crabs lately, I go visit them at Petsmart while my hubby stands behind me with a worried look on his face... lol ...in due time... :lol:

Thanks! As far as the female eating the male, it will happen once in awhile, but not always.

Pet stores are notoriously bad about info on hermit crabs. Usually they are regarded as a 'living toy', a throwaway pet for small children. The 'hermit crab kits' and caresheets they give to new owners are inadequate to keep the crab alive for more than a short amount of time. Yet given proper conditions they can live for 30 years or more in captivity.

Pet Stores don't even know there are different species! It's usually a scavenger hunt to try and find a certain species because pet stores are clueless. If you find something other than C. clypeatus in a pet store, you count yourself extremely lucky.

Ok. I'll step off my soapbox now...

Here's a video I made of one of my Violas going for a swim:
http://s76.photobucket.com/albums/j...7/?action=view&current=Violaswimming_0001.flv

You can hear Elsa, one of my kitties, in the background playing Director! :lol:

starmaiden · Jul 21, 2007

mamarat said:
Wow gorgeous pics. They all have titles, are they unionized? lol

LOL! Fortunately not! My critters are all pretty spoiled, but I'd hate to see the terms they'd ask for if they were! :lol:

starmaiden · Jul 21, 2007

Melissa said:
Wow, Esmaralda is a beautiful girl!! I love the looks on the faces of some of those crabs. Sorta like: "Who me?....nooooo."

Yeah, the Es are really good at giving those "Who Me?"looks.

But don't let their innocent eyes fool you! Conspiring lil devils! Those Es! Always up to no good!

Shelley · Jul 21, 2007

Oh wow, your hermit crab habitat set-up looks amazing from the videos. Do you have anymore pictures of the cage? I'd love having that to look at everyday

jorats · Jul 21, 2007

No worries Starmaiden, I would never buy from a petstore, I just visit.
So it would be best to find a hermit crab breeder?

starmaiden · Jul 21, 2007

jorats said:
No worries Starmaiden, I would never buy from a petstore, I just visit.
So it would be best to find a hermit crab breeder?

Hermit crabs can't be bred in captivity at this time. All hermit crabs in captivity are wild caught because they need to go through a juvenile life stage as free floating plankton in tide pools and so far no one has been able to to duplicate these conditions in captivity.

They sometimes mate in captivity and lay their eggs in the salt water pool, and the babies will even hatch, but it has proven impossible thus far to get the zoea to reach adulthood in captivity. One fella in Australia has claimed to have done it, but so far he's the only one. Marine biologists can't even do it at this time. It would be nice to be able to breed in captivity because many land hermit crab species are going extinct in the wild due to habitat destruction and pollution.

Here's more on their lifecycle: http://www.thecrabbagepatch.com/lifecycle.html

The Crabbagepatch lady is also a really responsible and humane supplier and is working on breeding in captivity. I plan make all my crab purchases from her in the future. Unfortunately since you are in Canada Jorats, I don't think she can ship you live hermit crabs.

You might find some hermit crabs in your area up for adoption if you don't want to support the pet trade. Many of my hermit crabs were adoptees. Here's a link to a site that lists adoptees in Canada:
http://hermitcrabassociation.com

Another great site:
http://www.hermitcrabaddiction.net/forum/

Oh wow, your hermit crab habitat set-up looks amazing from the videos. Do you have anymore pictures of the cage? I'd love having that to look at everyday

Thanks so much! I actually have 5 tanks set up right now. I have some older pictures, but I'll try to get some newer ones of the whole tanks on cleaning day (tomorrow) to post.

Ashley · Jul 22, 2007

I never knew the were all wild caught, thats so sad! I often find petstores keeping them in dry tanks, and always check the water bowl to make sure they at least have water there. There are sooo many in petstores too, but I never knew about the lifestages. Thats something I will have to look up, it sounds facinating!

Bronwyn · Jul 22, 2007

Wow, what a zoo! I tend to favour critters with fur, haha, but those photos are so interesting. I have no idea there were so many species of each.

starmaiden · Jul 22, 2007

Ashley said:
I never knew the were all wild caught, thats so sad! I often find petstores keeping them in dry tanks, and always check the water bowl to make sure they at least have water there. There are sooo many in petstores too, but I never knew about the lifestages. Thats something I will have to look up, it sounds facinating!

Many of the exotic critters you see in pet stores (tarantulas, snakes, lizards, geckos, chameleons, scorpions, etc.) are wild caught because captive bred are so much more expensive. Captive bred exotics are generally healthier than wild caught and you know the age of the animal you are buying.

There are actually at least 14 species of Land Hermit Crabs worldwide. They all live in tropical regions, mostly around Asia and in the Indo Pacific. Some get so large they are even used for food! :shock:

Vanessa · Jul 22, 2007

Ok, I am all over those hermit crabs. They are gorgeous! I loved your pictures, and the video was just awesome.
I am so interested in them, they are fascinating. Can you have lots living together? Are they territorial towards each other? I read your message about the breeding and nonviable eggs, does that mean you can keep males and females together? Do they bond? Some look like they had buddies.
Wow, your setups are great. I remember seeing someone with a setup that included this nifty little ramp to a fleece hammock. She said that they loved their hammock and easily got in and out of it using the ramp. Do you have to worry about mould forming?
I could go on with my questions forever. Thanks again for the awesome pictures.

starmaiden · Jul 22, 2007

You can have different species and males and females living together. They sorta seem like they bond, but its not in a deep emotional manner like higher level animals. More like schools of fish I guess. Certain species prefer to hang out with their own kind.

The number you keep together usually depends on how big your tank is. You want to make sure each crab has plenty of personal space, especially at molting time. They need to dig under the substrate and make a molt nest in order to molt. They are very fragile during this time and sometimes if your tank is overcrowded or your substrate too shallow your molters will get dug up and cannibalized.

Usually they fight over one thing...empty shells. Hermit crabs will sometimes fight to the death to get a shell they want off another crab. Provide plenty of spare shells and this shouldn't be a problem.

I don't know about a fleece hammock, plastic shower caddies filled with moist organic spagnum moss seems to be what my crabs prefer for second levels. You can see an example in this old pic of one of my tanks:

OdysseyDesign · Jul 23, 2007

I never knew how interesting hermit crabs were! Im in awe! How inviting their environment looks.

now, to figure out what I want to do after I pass....

1. come back as a TEK rat
2. come back as one of Starmaiden's hermit crabs

starmaiden · Jul 23, 2007

OdysseyDesign said:
I never knew how interesting hermit crabs were! Im in awe! How inviting their environment looks.

now, to figure out what I want to do after I pass....

1. come back as a TEK rat
2. come back as one of Starmaiden's hermit crabs

Funny you should say that OD! My mom said when she dies, she wants to come back as one of my pets! I'm taking that as a compliment! :lol:

Now for the rest of my zoo...

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