Tell the Sea Shell Shop to Stop Selling Hermit Crabs!

Hermit crabs may be cute little sea creatures that are highly unusual, but they are not commodities! Stores like the Sea Shell Shop, who claim to actually care for these animals, treat them as such and sell them for their own profit!

One thing is obvious%u2014hermit crabs belong in the wild. How would you like it if some gigantic monster came, kidnapped you out of your home, and sold you for profit? Not only does captivity frighten hermit crabs, but it also reduces their life expectancy by decades! The average captive hermit crab lives for a few years at most, while wild hermit crabs usually live for at least thirty or more years.

Hermit crabs are too easily stressed out for captivity. Stress is the main killer of hermit crabs. The tiniest environment change can easily kill a hermit crab, including a slight drop in humidity.

The Sea Shell Shop%u2019s Care Advice Dangers:

-On their website, they advise giving your hermit crab a bath twice a week. Bathing your hermit crab twice a week will eventually kill him/her from stress. Only bathe a hermit crab if absolutely necessary. A great alternative to bathing hermit crabs is providing a pool for the hermit crab to bathe him/her self in. What would be better is to provide both salt and fresh water pools.

-On the health tips page of their website, they barely mention humidity at all. Hermit crabs need a humidity range of 70%-85%, or else their modified gills will dry out, thus causing stress and breathing problems. The humidity shouldn%u2019t fluctuate excessively and should be monitored with a humidity gauge, which you can buy from reptile stores on the Internet. The temperature of the tank should also be monitored.

~They sell leashes, which could harm a hermit crab gravely if a little kid were to try to walk the crab. Hermit crabs cannot be walked. They simply do not understand. These leashes can also stress them out, especially if they were to struggle on one. The metal the hook is composed of can also rust, poisoning the hermit crab.

~The cages they sell for hermit crabs are prison cells. The biggest they sell is merely three gallons large, and these hermit crabs are used to being able to exploring the world (where they could get to, anyways) in the wild. Not only that, but the wire cage they cell will rust, which can lethally poison a hermit crab, and can barely hold humidity at all.

~Hermit crabs absolutely need a source of salt water (as well as fresh water,) because they are oceanic creatures. This does not mean table salt, however. It is best to use an aquarium salt brand, like Oceanic or Instant Ocean.

Let's get the Sea Shell Shop to quit selling these beautiful creatures as a piece of property!