Show Crabs by KyMart

[KyMart]

I am in Ag, and interested in potentially getting show crabs to show! What size tank do they need? What kind of care do they need? Where do you get them from? How much do they cost? Is it worth it? I have so many questions!

[curlysister]

I am not aware of anywhere that crabs are 'shown'. And doubt that it would be a good idea.

[KyMart]

I am not aware of anywhere that crabs are 'shown'. And doubt that it would be a good idea.

I know a place that I can buy them from, they could order me one, I have heard about this dude in my area that used to do it. Show crabs and basically really big crabs, that you can show I think? I don't really know much about them, trying to learn more! If anyone has any info, please share!

[myllkti]

The only relevant things I can think of is LHCOS giving demonstrations of proper crab care and a thing called Mister Crabs abusing their crabs for entertainment

[KyMart]

The only relevant things I can think of is LHCOS giving demonstrations of proper crab care and a thing called Mister Crabs abusing their crabs for entertainment

I mean more along the lines of getting bigger crabs and taking them to the fair every year for ag. I would then show them off, and educate people on proper Hermit Crab Care. There would be farm boys with pigs and cows around me, but it would still be fun!

[myllkti]

I mean more along the lines of getting bigger crabs and taking them to the fair every year for ag. I would then show them off, and educate people on proper Hermit Crab Care. There would be farm boys with pigs and cows around me, but it would still be fun!

sorry what is ag?

[myllkti]

like agriculture?

[KyMart]

like agriculture?

Yes, sorry! I am a second year highschool student, I have a total of 2 business credits and one agriculture credit. This coming year I will earn 2 agriculture credits and 1 business credit in 2 classes. I am very into the ag (agriculture) business industry, and I am hoping to help make advances within it one day. Business and ag (agriculture) both have a very big impact on the economy, and there is much science involved with both, which can be improved upon. I plan to do one of the following careers:
Digital Designer For Ag Related Companies
Marketing Manager For Ag Related Companies
Agriculture Education Instructor
Marine and Exotic Animal Education and Communications Coordinator
or I might just become a public speaker for marine animals and exotic pets one day, and go around educating agriculture education students, who knows!
I just hope to one day make something of my own, whether it be a company, a project, an organization, or a movement, I just want to have a positive impact on the many misunderstood and mistreated marine and exotic pets around the world. I am very confident that in order to take care and nurture something right, you have to always be finding ways to improve your care.

[myllkti]

Sounds very cool! You could possibly look int o how LHCOS does it, although I dont agree with all their care standards, they do do some outreach that involves bringing crabs places so that could at least be inspo

[myllkti]

We are also working on something in the Discord in my signature, I'm not really supposed to mention it outside of admins (not a dark secret, we're just at an earlier stage and will make it more public later on) so if you are interested, I invite you to join for when we share with the server! It's not very agriculture related but its a project I'm very excited about, and we are def still growing and discovering how we fit into community outreach so there is most certainly a place for you!

[curlysister]

Taking crabs around to various places has risks. What if all the crabs are underground when it is time for a presentation? How will you maintain temp and humidity? Moving and travel and handling can be stressful for crabs. Large crabs have a harder time surviving in captivity after being removed from their natural habitat and sold at pet/ souvenir stores - and adding more stress may be more than they can survive.

[KyMart]

Taking crabs around to various places has risks. What if all the crabs are underground when it is time for a presentation? How will you maintain temp and humidity? Moving and travel and handling can be stressful for crabs. Large crabs have a harder time surviving in captivity after being removed from their natural habitat and sold at pet/ souvenir stores - and adding more stress may be more than they can survive.

As I stated in an earlier post in a different topic, I understand that bigger crabs require more care and are harder to keep, and I am more focused on helping my current crab grow and thrive. I also previously mentioned the idea of showing off a proper habitat vs. an improper habitat, with or without any crabs in the proper one. Ofc if they are molting and it was time to present I wouldn't dig them up, I could show proper crab care without my crabs being there. I would also like to note that I would show them outside in the summer where it would be hot and humid, so temp and humidity would not be much of an issue, I would not handle them more then maybe once if at all during show time, it would more be their behavior in a proper habitat, and comparing it to how they used to act/would act in an improper habitat (my old wire cage with blue gravel, a shell dish, a sponge, and a painted shell in it). I would also bring along proper shells and improper shells and show the differences of them, and why it is important to give your hermit crabs proper preferred shell options. I would have a few painted shells, a few with different hole types, and unusable shells (cracked, thin, spiky, etc.). I would also get one of those small 1 gallon fish tank things (the ones sold as "hermit crab tanks"), and talk about why those where better then the wire cages, but still not proper care for hermit crabs. I would also bring my old painted hide, and pellet foods, and their current diet to show proper food care, I would even get some Esty food to show off. My showing would be less of my crabs themselves and more of proper care. I would also like to educate people about how breeding them in captivity is still being researched and how they are stolen from the beaches and what they go through. I would have photos, video presentation, oral speeches, and more! I don't need my crabs for the presentation, I just might take Frog along bc he likes to explore and honestly it wouldn't bother him too much! He loves bring handled, he loves to crawls around, and if I can do that in a safe way with him while educating people, why wouldn't I?

[myllkti]

My two biggest worries besides the risks Curly mentioned are

a) when people see you handling your crab, it may encourage them to handle it improperly, even if you give a disclaimer. I think if you were to include handling at any presentation youd have to go indepth on safe vs unsafe handling practices as well.

b) now i dont know you and your crabs, you may be interpreting the situation perfectly right! But an easy misconception, one that I fell into when I was new to hermits as well, is that just because they're crawling rather than hiding they enjoy handling. Which is sometimes true, it can show they're comfortable enough to come out of their shell, in some situations. BUT it can also be a different sign of stress, of trying to escape. This also plays into point a about how it may be difficult to teach beginners to handle crabs, there are just a lot of nuances

Its really cool you put a lot of thought into this! But for something like this theres never an end to how well thought out it can be haha.

Have you looked into LHCOS's procedures by chance? I didnt catch up on the thread super throughly so sorry if I missed when you mentioned, but they might be able to inspire more ideas. I'd love to be updated as you keep working on this!

[KyMart]

My two biggest worries besides the risks Curly mentioned are

a) when people see you handling your crab, it may encourage them to handle it improperly, even if you give a disclaimer. I think if you were to include handling at any presentation youd have to go indepth on safe vs unsafe handling practices as well.

b) now i dont know you and your crabs, you may be interpreting the situation perfectly right! But an easy misconception, one that I fell into when I was new to hermits as well, is that just because they're crawling rather than hiding they enjoy handling. Which is sometimes true, it can show they're comfortable enough to come out of their shell, in some situations. BUT it can also be a different sign of stress, of trying to escape. This also plays into point a about how it may be difficult to teach beginners to handle crabs, there are just a lot of nuances

Its really cool you put a lot of thought into this! But for something like this theres never an end to how well thought out it can be haha.

Have you looked into LHCOS's procedures by chance? I didnt catch up on the thread super throughly so sorry if I missed when you mentioned, but they might be able to inspire more ideas. I'd love to be updated as you keep working on this!

If he doesn't like it, I can tell and I stop, normally if he doesn't want to be handled, he won't come at all. I don't do it very often. I have not looked into LHCOS's procedures by chance. I plan on working on this concept until July of next year, and then containing to improve it in the many years to come. I plan to write a speech, make slideshows, and dedicate hours to researching everything I can to ensure that my information is not only accurate, but understandable for beginners. I also plan to create a "Hermit Crab Pamphlet" that goes over everything I talk about and more so that way people can take a piece of the information home with them for future reference (if they have crabs this would be to improve/check their current care, and if they don't this would be for them to reference if they are planning to get crabs or thinking about getting crabs so that way they can ensure that they can care for them properly). I know a lot of people won't care, and won't listen, but if I can at least try, and help save one crabs life by informing people, that is enough for me to say that I succeeded with this project.