Our Teeny Tiny Hermit Crab

Our hermit crab is so cute!

We visited friends on Long Island this summer, and I finally got to add a hermit crab to our collection. Our 12-year-old host was kind enough to fish this fellow out of the depths for us. We've kept him alive on frozen shrimp (brine shrimp from Petsmart, that is). If I can find some brine shrimp eggs, I will try to provide him with live food (and us with ever-smaller pets!).

I am totally impressed that he has managed to survive this long, in just a jar of sea water with some playground sand and a few pebbles thrown about for an environment. I stuck in a few larger shells -- he does seem to have grown in the weeks we've had him -- but I suspect they are a little large, and he shows no signs of being ready to move.

As for our other pets, we have released the worms and the cricket back into the wild. The worms because I found their box crawling with gnats: harmless but annoying. And the cricket because his keeper seemed to be slacking off in supplying him with fresh grass, which will be hard to find in another few weeks anyway.