Caribbean Land Hermit Crabs

 

Orlando Xavie Morpheus
Orlando Bloom was named by my teenage daughter.  I'm not sure what the real Orlando Bloom would think of having a hermit crab named after him.  Actually this is the second Orlando, the first was a teenie and died during a molt.  Since my son insisted he was Orlando Doom, it was decided that we could use the name again.  A picture of him is on Orlando's page.  Orlando has changed shells twice since we go him,  The current one is too large allowing him to hide deep inside.  . Xavier is not particularly aggressive and takes a while to come out of his shell.  This picture was taken right after his bath, which is probably why he is showing so much of himself.  His favorite spot to be is in the leaves of the silk plants in his crabatat. Our friendliest crab,  Morpheus Rolls around in his crab ball often because he is too quick to scurry away when put on the floor.  He doesn't mind being held. and seldom is aggressive in any way.  The camera flash didn't even phase him.
Shy DSCF0521.JPG (35654 bytes)
My son likes crabs with handles which is why he wanted Shy.  I hated this shell because I constantly found shy stuck somewhere.  I was very happy when he changed into a more manageable shell.  Shy originally did not come out much.  He could hide quite well in his large shell.  He is a lot more adventurous now.  There are pictures of him climbing on the plants in the crabitat on his page.  If he's not hiding he's climbing. Pele was the tiniest crab we had ever seen.  He has since molted several times and changed shells even more often.    Pele is growing quickly and is not as small as shown in this picture any longer.  He also seems to be turning into a very light colored crab. We think Micron is actually smaller than Pele was, but he is wearing a shell that is too big for him.  He is always a very fast little crab meaning that I have a hard time getting a picture of him.   The opening on the shell shown above is inches.
 

 

Crabitats

Hermit Crabs as a low maintenance Pet

 

Links

   Care Informative
           FMR Care Sheet        Critter Collection
           Hermit-Crabs.Com        Animal of the month - February/March 2003
           Vanessa's Land Hermit Care 101        Hermit Crab Biology
           Land Hermit Crabs        Movements of the terrestrial hermit crab

Hermie Haven

Hermit Crab Parasites

   Groups        Hermit crabs and their crab-like allies
       Land Crabs of the Seychelles Islands
           Hermies Talk     Coconut Crab
           Hermies        Flat Clawed Hermit Crab
           Hermit Crab Owners         Terrestrial adaptations in the Anomura
           Hermit Crab Association    
           Hermit Crab Forum
   Supplies Miscellaneous
           Pet Discounters (this is where I shop)        Hermit Crab Dance
           hermits-direct
           Sea Shell City
           Sea Shell Shop
           Shell Horizons
           The Hermie Hut

 

 

 

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