Lil Hermies

 

A couple of weeks ago, my brother asked me if I wanted their hermit crabs, which I didn't even know they had. 

Super random.  

I've had many pets, exotic and regular, but never crabs.  We certainly haven't had pets in 11 years.  Animals are expensive and we've been dealing with monthly eviction notices for years.  It would just be selfish to bring an animal into this house when we're not financially stable.  The last couple of years, we've gotten better with budgeting and were actually planning on adopting a dog this/next year.

Then comes the crab question.  

My mid kid has been wanting hermit crabs for the couple of years, but it was always a no from us.  I didn't know anything about crabs, much less have space for them.  Any surface either has a house plant or a shrine/altar on it.

Later that night, I consulted my spirit guides, and they gave me a YES to the crabs.  And the Norse Gods were okay with giving up their shrine spot for the tank.  That was surprising.  Okay, we're doing this then.  I began the research, from forums to youtube videos to official websites and so on.  I think it's the responsible thing to do--research BEFORE getting a pet.  It's a no-brainer to me.  They said they had everything for the crabs, so we wouldn't need to purchase anything.

On Christmas Eve, they arrived, and I began to see why the Spirits wanted us to have the crabs.  Three crabs in a small 12 gallon tank.  It should be 10 gallon per crab.  They only had 3 inches of sand to burrow in, which you need at least 6 inches.  And none of them, especially the kids, were handling the crabs correctly!  They were handling them like they were toys, not living creatures.  Thank the Gods they didn't have hamsters!

Other than not enough space and some stressed animals, they had everything else they needed.

Just your run-of-the-mill clueless first time exotic pet owners who did very little research.  According to my brother, they did watch a couple of videos.  But they said that they didn't realize how much work hermit crabs actually were.

So they came to me.  

Caribbean Hermit Crabs.  The largest (pictured) is Charlie--already named.  The medium one is Jack.  For now, the smallest is Stripes--my mid kid has yet to name this one.  I've encouraged gender neutral names; and no naming them after Deities or Spirits--that's so weird to me....yelling at Odin for pooping on the rug...hmmmm, no thanks.  Too weird.  Regardless, I want the crabs to get more comfortable with me before I check their genders.  I don't know if any of them are fertile, much less if we have the right conditions for crablets...or whatever baby crabs are called (zoea).  Ain't having the crab version of the hamster problem I had when I was a kid.

In a couple of weeks, hopefully less, we're getting the crabs a 30 gallon tank, 6 inches to dig, a salt water pool to swim in, and more stuff to climb and hide in, and plenty of space to walk.  These crabs are going to move up in life, and I hope life with us will be less stressful for them.  Also my kids know they have to ask before handling the crabs (and to do so correctly).  For now, only I'm allowed to handle them.

So what's this gotta do with Druidry?  I mean, having and loving these pets has made our human and spirit household happier so far.  Spirit definitely made sure that these crabs came to us, knowing that we'd give them better lives.  

I've fallen into a routine with the crabs, too.  In the morning, I refresh their waters and food.  Check their temps and humidity levels and make changes accordingly.  Then I like to sit with them while they snooze (nocturnal).  Drinking my coffee or tea and a light meditation.  Might be the norm of including the hermies with my daily devotionals.  It'll definitely keep me on track with my dailies.  

Maybe I'll give them crab-safe statues of the Norse Gods?  Might be fun!  Especially since I have no idea where to put the Norse shrine now.

Gentle Holidays!

- Dedicant and Hearth Keeper, Foxlyn