Adoption success stories.

[Guest]

I thought it would be a good idea to share success stories about adoptions. Future adopters could beharps pick up some tips on how to go about it!

I have adopted twice.

The first 4 were PP's from Tareshen, who lived in Atlanta... She immigrated to the Netherlands in October 2004 and couldn't bring her crabs. So we met up at a big mall here and she brought her crabbies and she followed us home to see our tank and everything. It's a good idea to meet up in a busy public place! You never know what may happen! Pinchy, Nemo, Cletus and Clyde have all molted beautifullly atleast once, swapped shells a lot and are becoming more and more outgoing! If Tareshen ever comes back to the US I have promised she can come and get her crabbies But if not, they're more than welcome to stay with us!

Today I also adopted 2 ruggies and 2 PP's from Ron Warren, he simply couldn't handle all the molt stress and such. We swapped cell phone numbers and met at the same mall. We took the crabbies and the supplies and went home. They seem healthy and happy, except for a molter we got in a plastic KK... I sniffed it when we came home and smelled fish... dug the crabby up.. he was decaying YUCK! So we adopted 3 crabs and a dead one.. He will get a decent burial today.

Tips I'd like to share:
*Always go with an adult (if you're under 18 ) or with a friend/partner/parent (even when over 18 ) NEVER go alone!
*Swap cell phone numbers!
*Make clear arrangements about place, time, date etc.
*Swap pictures, so you know who to look for!
*Meet up in daytime, it's often too cold at night (for crabbies) and not to mention dark (safety)!

[Guest]

Great idea Yartac!!

I adopted two but they were from a nieghbor's little girl who'd had them for a year and got tired of them. So I don't think it will count for what you are trying to accomplish here.

I will keep this marked for future reference, I hope to get my feelers out and adopt some day.

[Guest]

It's for all adoptions, no matter if you're shipping crabs from Florida to Antartica, went next door... or met up with someone. I'd also would like to hear about people who keep a diary or other updates or something for the previous owner...

[Guest]

I have an excel chart for my hermies. It has the name of hermie, whose it is, where we got it, species (blank right now except for ones I am positive are PPs), if they are missing any limbs, date went down for a molt, date when back up from molt, date back to main tank, did they regenerated limbs and which ones, and a notes column. My daughter thinks it's just the coolest thing and I told her without it there is no way I could remember all of the things in there.

I also am going to start a food and crabitat journal as there are a lot of things they don't like to eat that I have tried and some that they do like so I want to keep track of what they do like so I always have it around.

As for the crabitat part I want to be able to reference what I did this winter so when I run into problems next time I will know what I did or if I figure out a better solution I can note it, etc. I think it will be very good reference for myself and maybe I can help someone else with the info, that would be an added bonus.

[Guest]

Good idea Yartac!! I have had one adoption - but it was a major one! On November 23rd I adopted 9 crabs from Shalon. She was getting overwhelmed by dealing with kids, other pets, and having a husband that was away on a tour of duty so she decided to give up her crabs. I was a little nervous because up to that point I had only had 4 crabs (and 2 of those are very tiny so they aren't much work) and I had been planning to just slowly expand my crabby family over the next year or so. So the thought of having 13 crabs was a little overwhelming! My husband went with me to pick them up at her house and she was very generous and gave me a lot of stuff along with the crabs - cocohut, vines, climbing wood, water and food dishes, and even a 29 gallon tank! The hardest part for me was trying to get to know the crabs enough to identify them and name them (that took awhile!! ).

One thing that really helped me was to keep an ongoing "journal" in a word document. I have photos of each of the crabs at the top with their names and what species they are. Then I have been writing little entries whenever something happens that is noteworthy. It really helped me to keep everyone straight when I had some of the new crabs in the main tank and some in a 10 gallon tank. Then everyone started digging down and it helped me to keep track of who was up and who was down, etc. So far the crabs have been doing good and get along great with my originals and a few have even molted!

[Guest]

I adopted 2 crabbies from Corinascritters on January 2nd. She lives in Buffalo, NY and I was going there with my hubby, his Dad, and sister for a Steelers/Bills fan....GO STEELERS! [smilie=cheer.gif]

Anyways, they were two PP's. Unfortunately Tiny didn't make it. Corina said she had her out the day before I picked them up, but I never saw Tiny move...even at her house. A week after I picked them up I was sure Tiny was gone, so I got her out of ISO and she's awaiting burial.

On a good note, Shrek is doing amazingly well...he's a very active climber! But he's been dug under for 9 days now. I'm thinking he's molting! I don't see his legs moving, but it looks like the sand is changed down there. Can't wait to see him come up!!

[Guest]

I adopted two crabs on March 6. I met their owner in Lansing, MI. They're set up in a 10g for now because most of my regular clan is all dug under in the 29g! So far they're doing well! One was in a pink murex painted green...yuck! She said he was a pity purchase from some pretty poor conditions. He changed shells the night I brought him home, but then went back into the murex. I guess I need to go and get him some shells! lol

Shrek, that I adopted back in January has been dug under for almost two months! I know he molted, I can't wait to see him again. He dug down 8 days after I brought him home!

[Guest]

On Sept. 13, we adopted 5 Es, 2 Rugs and 1 Purple Pincher. Unfortunately, we lost one of the Rugs, due to a molt. We again adopted 2 Purple Pinchers on Nov 16. They are both doing great. On Jan 24., we adopted 31 hermies that came from Las Vegas. We got 10 Rugs, 10 Indos, 1 Cavipe, 6 Es and 4 PPs. One Rug and 2 Indos have died due to molting and then not making it. On Feb. 18, we adopted 3 large PPs. With all the deaths and I adopted out one PP, to one of my daughters friends we are now at 46 hermies.

[Guest]

Last month I adopted elmer from Freida. She lives in KY and I live in Knoxville, TN. We both drove halfway and met in Harrogate, TN> She gave me some fod and sme shells too. As soon as I got him home he changed shells and has been swtching back between two every day since then!

[Guest]

This is a great topic
I have adopted 5 different times 1st one was 13 Hermies from TN., 2nd one was 8 Hermies from IL., 3rd one was 6 Hermies right here in Nevada, 4th one was 8 Hermies right here in Nevada and the last was 2 Hermies here in Nevada. Adoption for me was much more rewarding than buying Hermies, out of 60 Hermies 37 of mine are adopted
Sandra

[Guest]

I forgot about this thread.

Last Sunday (04-17-05) I adopted for the first time. We met at a Starbucks that was a halfway point (yay, 2 addictions fixed at once). She was really nice. The crab is a small PP, who didn't have a name, and I've not picked one yet. He came in a huge Rubbermaid tote on wheels, with ~50# of sand in it, 2 pcs of driftwood, a small hunk of choya, a huge sea sponge from the Bahamas, a big coco hut, some extra shells, a small UTH, and a couple other things. S/he is doing very well and quickly made friends with all my crabs.

I look forward to more adoptions in the future!

[NaRnAR]

Gosh, Ive got a few adoption stories! LOL!!

5/11/2004: I adopted Squidward from KGarland, b/c he just didnt fit in with her troops--he was a mean crabbie to the others and she often had to ISO him. So I volunteered to take him and put him with my larger hermies. We swapped addresses and phone numbers and shipped when it was warm enough for Squiddy. So far Squiddy is doing great! Hes had two molts and a zillion shell changes and no longer picks on others.

9/1/2004: I adopted Acorn and Mr. Krabs from AmazonTankz b/c she was downsizing. We had been chat buddies here so we knew eachother fairly well. They both are doing great and have had a few molts and have both changed shells...Mr. Krabs fancies his ugly painted shell over anything I have to offer LOL!

2/18/2005: I adopted 4 pps from a guy here, who I cant for the life of me remember his sign on. I also adopted their tank. It was a troublesome tank once the weather got warm...and is the reason I have, well had a mite problem this summer. So this was a definite lesson in adopting crabbies---you never know what to expect. Sadly only 3 are still alive, but are doing well. IMO they werent taken care of very well before I got them and this is why the one had died.

5/13/2005: I adopted 10 pps and 3 fiddler crabs from NemotheCrab, as well as all the hermie belongings and their 75 gallon tank. These hermies were very low in the humidity range, which I didnt notice until I noticed there were no gages in their tank and their sand was DRY, so when I added them to mine that night (I didnt have an ISO since "mite-fest" had just been completed) I shocked a few of them and they gradually died, almost like what we see with PPS. One fiddler and 7 hermies remain from that adoption, but they all see to be doing well.

7/30/2005: I adopted 7 pps and their 20 gallon tank from a gal I met 7 months ago at PetCo where I rambled on about crab care and she took what I said to heart. Her first hermie is still alive. *so proud of her!* So far (I just got them tonight) they are out eating, one is molting and they seem to be adjusting well.

[Guest]

I adopted 4 crabs from a member who lives a couple hours away and took very good care of her crabs, but just felt it was time to use that crabbie-care time for something else, I think. I totally understand.

There are three rugosus and one little pp, I've had them since April 30th. I know the three rugs have molted (one twice, due to a molting mishap, all better now), and I suspect the little PP did too. I spiffed up the 10g with UTH she gave me, and it is now my sand iso (I also have a ee iso).

[Guest]

9/11/05

This weekend I adopted 5 crabs (4 PP's, 1 Rug) from alis0n in St. Paul. I was up in the cities area (1/2 hour away) and drove over. Unfortunately she was already at work so I picked up the crabs from her boyfriend. Luckily we had a hot spell this weekend and it was 80-85 degrees all day. She was very generous, giving me a 10 gallon tank with tons of toys, logs, and a coconut climbing background. There was also a big bucket full of shells, extra coconut bedding, play sand, calci sand. When I got home I dug through the substrate for any buried shells and whatnot and discovered a dead crab I was very sad but it was obvious that he didn't die that die. So I'm just glad the car ride didn't kill him.

With the extra tank and now way too many crabs for a 20 gallon, I decided to make a Eccie/Ruggie Crabitat in the 10 gallon. Currently I have 3 E's in that tank plus the ruggie, and then 1 more E molting in the 20 gallon. As soon as he's finished I'll switch him so he doesn't miss the others.

[Dawn]

We heard of three that were up for adoption through crabstreetjournal (LHC) and drove to Ventura to adopt them last Friday (the 23rd of December). We drove two hours to get there and two hours back. We took our own critter keeper and moist moss. We found out on the way down there that one small one "Quagmire" had molted the night before so he was delicate. After some mishaps with someone breaking into his isolation in the trip back and also inside the home tank the molter has completely recovered and enjoyed a christmas feast of dried papaya, flaked coconut and a turkey bone. All are doing just fine.

Does anyone think we should have a separate forum for adoption updates?

Update: Quagmire is still doing wonderful and has grown quite a lot! 2+ years after his adoption.

Sincerely,