Susan in TN Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 My younger kids have gone back and forth between wanting fish and hermit crabs. Fish are peaceful and pretty, but I have bad memories of keeping a fish tank when I was in 6th grade. Ugh - what a mess to clean, and the billions of snails! Maybe aquarium technology has improved since then? I've heard that hermit crabs are a fun pet. I'd like something that's relatively inexpensive to set up, easy to clean/care for, doesn't take up a huge amount of space and is more active than a houseplant. What say you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Fish can get expensive. Regular maintenance makes the tanks easy to clean. It is the letting the maintenance go for weeks at a time that makes it difficult. Still even with the expense I'd rather go with fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 I liked my hermit crabs :) (Where's the poll? :)) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Hermies are fun. And their tanks never leak. :D Here are a couple of sites I found helpful: Hermit Crab Paradise Hermit Crab Addiction Oh, and Hermit Crab Paradise really emphasizes the importance of knowing how to properly care for your hermies, and ITA, but don't let its tone of voice put you off. :-) It is not hard, or expensive, to care for hermies properly. You just want to spend some time learning what to do before you bring home those babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 How about one of the modern fish tanks like a biorb, they are easier to clean and look after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We have both, and the hermit crabs are definitely easier to care for. And less expensive in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Hermits!! I have done both and hermits would win hands down anytime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Hermit crabs are fun and inexpensive to care for. We have 3 of them and I love them, BUT.... did you know that with proper care they can live 15-20 years? :001_huh: (I sure didn't, or I never would have gotten them!) Also, they are nocturnal, and they are quite noisy as their shells bump into the glass sides of the aquarium when they roam around at night. ALL of my kids have asked to have the tank taken out of their bedrooms because the crabs kept them awake at night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpidarkomama Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 Also, larger tanks are MUCH easier to take care of than smaller ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFJ in IL Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We got hermit crabs for the kids this past Christmas and then researched them, duh! First, they are nocturnal and make quite a bit of noise (squeaking believe it or not!) and during the day they are buried in the bedding. Second, they need to live in groups of 3-4+ to be truly happy. Third, they can pinch you and that hurts so the kids don't want to pick them up. Lastly, and most important, hermit crabs don't like to be played with.... Ugh! I take care of feeding, cleaning and watering them and their habitat daily because I have to BUT I don't recommend them to anyone looking for a family friendly pet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted May 10, 2012 Author Share Posted May 10, 2012 Wow, so hermits are winning so far. Should've tried a poll. :D. We'd likely keep them upstairs in the bonus/playroom, away from the bedrooms. The kids are back on a fish kick, so maybe I'll start dropping crabby hints for a few days and see if they catch on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We have both hermit crabs and fish. With regular care, either of them are fine. We clean both the hermit cage and the fish tank weekly and the fish care does take a little more time. Daily care only takes a few minutes each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Mouse Posted May 10, 2012 Share Posted May 10, 2012 We have hermit crabs and really enjoy them. I know they are supposed to be nocturnal, but ours move around a lot during the day. They chirp and climb and are just generally interesting to watch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StaceyinLA Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 (edited) We got hermit crabs for the kids this past Christmas and then researched them, duh!First, they are nocturnal and make quite a bit of noise (squeaking believe it or not!) and during the day they are buried in the bedding. Second, they need to live in groups of 3-4+ to be truly happy. Third, they can pinch you and that hurts so the kids don't want to pick them up. Lastly, and most important, hermit crabs don't like to be played with.... Ugh! I take care of feeding, cleaning and watering them and their habitat daily because I have to BUT I don't recommend them to anyone looking for a family friendly pet. I'm not trying to be mean or a smarta**, but the fish don't enjoy being handled either. ;-p We enjoyed our hermit crabs. You can interact with them at least a little more than fish. Edited May 11, 2012 by StaceyinLA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I have bad memories of my sister's hermit crabs dying. Of course she also had several fish that died. She was the one in our family that always had little pets- sea monkeys, guppies, mice, etc. We have one of those little frogs that are about the size of a dime. Fun to watch swimming around the water. Fairly easily to take care of, but more similar to fish (snail, clean water regularly etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 We got hermit crabs for the kids this past Christmas and then researched them, duh!First, they are nocturnal and make quite a bit of noise (squeaking believe it or not!) and during the day they are buried in the bedding. Second, they need to live in groups of 3-4+ to be truly happy. Third, they can pinch you and that hurts so the kids don't want to pick them up. Lastly, and most important, hermit crabs don't like to be played with.... Ugh! I take care of feeding, cleaning and watering them and their habitat daily because I have to BUT I don't recommend them to anyone looking for a family friendly pet. We have had 3 and your description does not meet them at all not even close other than they are nocturnal. Ours were always two in a cage and never had an issue they acted just fine. Yes they liked to sleep during the day but never had an issue when the kids wanted to play. The only only only time any of us got pinched was when my cat knocked their cage off the counter and my son picked the little guy up. Even my son 7 at the time stated that he must have been real scared. Those little things would crawl all over my boys bare bellys and backs all the time. Why are you cleaning and feeding everyday? They just don't eat that much. They don't need their tanks cleaned daily either. My kids used to set up little obstacle courses for them to climb and play on. I have never heard of the hermits you describe at all. They aren't really known to be mean creatures unless provoked or they feel threatened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I love our hermies. I have five. Two belonged to the kids, but I've pretty much taken over and though they take care of them when I ask...it's just I got kind of excited and bought a micro, mini and a small for me. I call them 'My Dudes'. The kids crabs are almost larges. They are the friendliest. I have one small that we call Honey Badger...he's a little wild one. Mine are out day and night. They will if they feel comfy and have enough hiding spaces. I have them in a 40 gallon octagon. They've got a plexiglass lid with holes to help regulate humidity and a heater. Lots of substrate to dig in and a variety of foods to eat (they pretty much eat what we eat during the day). They are WAY easier than fish to deal with. :D I've had them before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 I like hermit crabs AND fish... (not in the same tank!). I'd lean towards fish...they are more interesting long term... (you can watch them any time). I love my hermies--but they are LARGE now and tend to stay buried for weeks (more like months) at a time when they molt... I have 4 and I usually see the smallest one (who is still LARGE) out most often-- he/she is the most tame. Some days all of the hermies are buried-- so nothing to look at. Oh-- and I inherited my hermies from our own WTM Ellie! We have had them a few years now-- bet she would not recognize them since they have doubled in size! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhotoGal Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 We are keeping snails as pets right now (thank you, REAL Science Odyssey Life :lol:). They are so easy. We drop in some lettuce and spritz their tanks once a day. Clean out the tank every once in awhile. They are pretty hardy and also fun to watch. They don't bite! And we can someday release them into the "wild" if we are tired of keeping them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted May 11, 2012 Author Share Posted May 11, 2012 I have bad memories of my sister's hermit crabs dying. Of course she also had several fish that died. She was the one in our family that always had little pets- sea monkeys, guppies, mice, etc. We have one of those little frogs that are about the size of a dime. Fun to watch swimming around the water. Fairly easily to take care of, but more similar to fish (snail, clean water regularly etc). Now, I could see having some fun watching a pretty betta and a cute frog swimming around in a little tank. hmmmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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