What happened?

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

So, before I got my crabs I did a lot of research. I checked out lots of books from the library, and thought I knew everything there was to know about hermit crabs.
Then I found this website.
Almost everything I thought I knew about hermit crabs was apparently at least slightly wrong!
I thought everything in the cage (including the subsrate) needed to be taken out and cleaned monthly. Crabs lived for 10 years at most. Crabs needed to have a friend. It was impossible to breed hermit crabs in captivity unless you were a millionaire with cooperative crabs. And so many other things!

The books I read were mostly from 2010 and older. What happened to change crab care so much?

[HermitGuy3]

I'm not sure, but I guess people started doing more research about their natural environment. Animal care is always updating, and books can't change their information like online forums and websites. I have learned that books are not the best resource when it comes to hermit crabs( can't believe I just said "books are not the best resource" ). Maybe other pets too. Authors of these books can also fall prey to misinformation too. People used to think that you could not train cats, but now Echo knows shake, hi-five, sit, come, and a few others. I'm pretty sure he knows more than my dog did.

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

Thanks!

That's really cool about your cat! I've only been training my dog, but I might start training my cats, too.
Have you only trained one of your cats?

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

can't believe I just said "books are not the best resource"

lol

[HermitGuy3]

Thanks!

That's really cool about your cat! I've only been training my dog, but I might start training my cats, too.
Have you only trained one of your cats?

Well my other cat is harder to train, and she only knows a few tricks. If you want to train your cat I used this book to train Echo:
https://www.amazon.com/Pounce-How-Speak ... 8858&psc=1
There is also this book to understand your cats body language, which I enjoyed:
https://www.amazon.com/How-Speak-Cat-De ... _ap_sc_dsk
In this case, books are the best resource.

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

Thanks!

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

I saw this on another website recently:
"A 5-gallon tank is enough for a Jumbo Hermit Crab
A 4 -gallon tank is enough for a Large Crab
A 3 -gallon tank is enough for a Medium Crab
A 2 -gallon tank is enough for a Small Crab
A 1 -gallon tank is enough for a Teeny/micro Crab"
Seriously! I do not think that a five gallon tank is anywhere large enough for a small PP, let alone a jumbo one!

I also remember a hermit crab book I used to have, years ago. It talked about how, if you like to collect shells, you could put them in your crabs enclosure for the crabs to move into. It then went on to say that, if you wanted the shell back at some point in the future, you could just put the crab in the freezer to make it fall asleep, then pull it out of the shell (because it would not be holding on to its shell anymore, so you wouldn't damage it). You could just slide the crab into another shell, and now you have your shell back!
What if you left the crab in so long he never woke up? What if you didn't leave him in long enough and hurt him while trying to pry him out of the shell? What are the short and long term effects on his health?
Needless to say, I have never tried this!

[curlysister]

I saw this on another website recently:
"A 5-gallon tank is enough for a Jumbo Hermit Crab
A 4 -gallon tank is enough for a Large Crab
A 3 -gallon tank is enough for a Medium Crab
A 2 -gallon tank is enough for a Small Crab
A 1 -gallon tank is enough for a Teeny/micro Crab"
Seriously! I do not think that a five gallon tank is anywhere large enough for a small PP, let alone a jumbo one!

I also remember a hermit crab book I used to have, years ago. It talked about how, if you like to collect shells, you could put them in your crabs enclosure for the crabs to move into. It then went on to say that, if you wanted the shell back at some point in the future, you could just put the crab in the freezer to make it fall asleep, then pull it out of the shell (because it would not be holding on to its shell anymore, so you wouldn't damage it). You could just slide the crab into another shell, and now you have your shell back!
What if you left the crab in so long he never woke up? What if you didn't leave him in long enough and hurt him while trying to pry him out of the shell? What are the short and long term effects on his health?
Needless to say, I have never tried this!

I would say that all of this information is incorrect, not from a credible source, and should not be followed.