Home Run is Recovering!

It's a hermit crab miracle: Home Run survived his molting experience!

He is still resting comfortably in the Hermie Hospital at Mrs. Derringer's house. He has spent most of his time over the past week sitting very still. He has not been burrowing like he usually does. He has crawled into the Hermie Hospital hide and just sat in there, getting stronger, allowing his new exoskeleton to harden. As the exoskeleton hardens, it has been darkening in color too. Also, you can see one of the other sure signs of a freshly molted crab: tiny hairs on his legs!

This morning there was evidence of a visit to the water and food area- can you tell? Since hermit crabs are nocturnal, it can be tricky to know what they are up to while the rest of us are snoozing. The best way to track their movement and activity is to compare before and after pictures (or mental pictures!) of their crabitat. Before bedtime last night, the water bowls and food shell were clean and tidy. But this morning, the place was a wreck! Yay! The coconut fiber has been disturbed, and the food has been pushed around.

Home Run has been sitting in the Hermie Hospital today, peering out, moving his antennae around, just hanging out! Keep getting better, little guy!

Meet the New Crab on the Block: Cosmo!

Meet our NEW hermit crab, Cosmo!

When Home Run had to be placed in the Hermie Hospital, we added Cosmo to the crabitat to maintain our three-hermit-crab family!

(Remember: hermit crabs are social creatures, so they should always be kept in a group of three or more hermies. One solitary hermie will get lonely and die; two hermies will fight one another; three is NOT  crowd with crabs...it's the perfect number!)

Mrs. Derringer gave her blessing on the selection of the new crab: we had to make sure we selected one that was about the same size as Ranger and Mr. Crabs- again, hermit crabs of different sizes might fight one another. In the pet store tank, there were several medium-sized crabs, but there were also a few teeny tiny ones and one great big monster crab! We picked the one who looked like he was the right size, and he was one of the most active ones of the bushel! (Did you know that's what you call a group of crabs? A bushel!)

According to the student who has the crabs at the moment, Cosmo is acclimating to the crabitat nicely. The student says, "He is happy. He is great: very active and he loves the other crabs!"

Stay tuned for more updates on poor Home Run, along with more information about Cosmo!

Here is a popular question: What will we do if Home Run recovers and is able to come back home to the crabitat? Will there be enough space for four crabs, or will they fight since there is an even number of crabs?

Answer: We will cross that crabby bridge when we come to it...but we may just have to set up a second crabitat and start a new crabby family! There may be more happy hermies in our future this fall...!!!

Home Run Scares Us! (GRAPHIC Hermit Crab Pics- Look Out!)

Home Run gave us all a terrible scare this week! Mrs. Derringer was tidying up the hermit crab crabitat to get it ready for the next student hermie vacation host when tragedy almost struck...

As Mrs. D. was checking on each of the crabs to make sure everything was in order, she placed Mr. Crabs and Ranger in their playpen. She had trouble finding Home Run- she looked everywhere! Finally, something horrifying happened: she uncovered a hermit crab's walking leg...and it was NOT attached to a body! Aggh! We were sure that disaster had struck, and something terrible had happened to Home Run. Our suspicions of foul play grew when we then uncovered a cheliped, another walking leg, and the entire body of poor Home Run! The shell was under all the pieces, and Mr. Derringer quickly scooped up the the ruins and some coconut fiber into a glass jar. We decided that Home Run must have tried to molt and not survived, and that we would give him a respectful burial later this week once the rain let up.

The student who was supposed to take the hermies home for the week pointed out an obvious concern: since hermit crabs should not be kept in pairs because they would fight for dominance of the crabitat, what if something terrible happened while the two were at the students house for the week? We were scared that we had already lost one of our hermie buddies- we didn't want to be responsible for a whole crab massacre in one week!

We decided to visit the pet store and select a new hermit crab to add to the group, so Ranger and Mr. Crabs didn't have to fight one another! Mrs. Derringer approved the new addition (which you will read about in another post), and the student and the hermies went on their way.

Mrs. Derringer came home and sadly prepared to perform a crabby autopsy on Home Run's remains to try to determine what had happened to him...and the plot thickened! As she examined the four body pieces and the shell, she noticed a very pale, squishy-looking cheliped in the shell! AND THEN IT TWITCHED! Home Run was ALIVE!

Upon further investigation (and after rinsing off the parts), it became obvious what had happened: Home Run was in the process of molting, and we disturbed him. We couldn't believe this is what happened- the parts we found did NOT look like empty, discarded shells at all! If hermit crabs are disturbed during the molting process, they can die: their soft bodies are super sensitive when they shed their hard exoskeleton.

Mrs. Derringer prepared the five gallon tank at her home to serve as an isolation tank, aka Hermie Hospital, while Home Run attempts to recover from his traumatic molting experience. After doing further research, she read that hermit crabs who are in the post-molting period are weak and very vulnerable. They may not move or do anything at all for up to two weeks! This causes many hermit crab owners to assume they are dead- including us! But the hermies need to stay still for an extended period of time to give their fresh exoskeletons time to harden.

The first day Home Run spent in the Hermie Hospital, he did not move at all. But the second morning, Mrs. Derringer found that he had crawled about three inches toward another shell, but he seemed to have gotten stuck or worn out when he tried to climb over it. She gently relocated him to a little hollow in the coconut fiber, and carefully covered him a bit with fiber.

We don't know if Home Run will recover from this traumatic molting experience, but we are praying he does!

Crabs Love Coconut!

Have you ever seen a hermit crab eat coconut? Have you ever seen a hermit crab eat anything? Check it out! This video was taken by one of the students who hosted the hermies this summer!

Student Vacation Home Three

 Student Blogger Post!

(Since the hermies didn't want to spend the whole summer alone in the classroom, they have been taking vacations to students' homes! Here is a quick update and some photos from the third student who hosted the happy hermies this summer!)

I have had the hermit crabs for a week. Ranger liked the crab races, he figured out how to climb on the wall. Mr.Crabs and Home Run have been burrowing under the fiber. They all loved bath time. We did a pinch challenge with 3 people Ranger pinched no one. That's what they have done this week!

Student Vacation Home Two

Student Blogger Post!

(Since the hermies didn't want to spend the whole summer alone in the classroom, they have been taking vacations to students' homes! Here is a quick update and some photos from the second student who hosted the happy hermies this summer!)

Hello, I'm the student blogger for this week! I wanted to tell you about some of the adventures our hermit crabs went on! We got to see the hermies eat coconut! They pick it up with one of their pinchers and then they drop it into their mouth! One day when we went to check on them we noticed that Mr. Crabs shell was in the middle on the crabitat! My family and I went digging around for Mr. Crabs! He was burrowed deep down in his new shell! His new shell is white with a hint of green! The last morning we had them we checked on them. Mr. Crabs was sitting on the side looking really closely at his first shell! We went in to eat breakfast and when we came back out to check on them for the last time we saw that Mr. Crabs was in his first shell!! Thank you for reading my paragraph! I hope you enjoyed!!

Student Vacation Home One

Student Blogger Post!

(Since the hermies didn't want to spend the whole summer alone in the classroom, they have been taking vacations to students' homes! Here is a quick update and some photos from the first student who hosted the happy hermies this summer!)

On the first day right away..... Mr. Crabs did not move! I panicked and I called Mrs. D... and Mr. Crabs chose that moment to move. I'm still angry at him. It was so fun, but it was also a little boring when I watched the cute hermits. I gave them a bath and I saw a very horrible thing... Mr. Crabs was being abused! Home Run was  climbing on him in a crabby back ride, and he hit him in the eye stalk! I was surprised! I had to pull Home Run off before he did more bad things. Once Ranger climbed on my arm!! AAAHHHH! I pulled him off though. 
Anyway, it was fun.

Mr. Crabs Changes Shells...AGAIN!

 Mrs. Derringer was cleaning up the crabitat after school on Wednesday in preparation for the end of the year...when she moved the shells and went to pull Mr. Crabs out, "Gasp!" His shell was empty!

There were two very similar shells in the crabitat: the one Mr. Crabs had previously inhabited took on an orange-tinted color after we had the orange hermit crab sand a couple months back. The orange-tinted shell sat empty, with just a bit of water inside!

Mr. Crabs was found burrowed deep down in the sand...in the OTHER shell that was almost just like the one he had before! The shells even have the same little shiny spot on the side. They can be told apart by the color of the shell itself: the old one has the orange tint, and the new one looks cleaner and has a greenish tint.

We still haven't found a molted exoskeleton in the crabitat, but if you look very closely at Mr. Crabs' second pair of legs, you can see prominent hairs. According to our research materials, this is a sign of a freshly molted crab! We assume he probably molted and ate his exoskeleton...yum!

Mr. Crabs got a special salt water bath as a house-warming present!  :)

Hermit Learnit in the Classroom: Third Grade Edition!

 Hermit Learnit in the classroom!

Student Blog Post:

Hermit Learnit Parent Night 2015!

 Hermit Learnit Parent Night was a CRABTASTIC success!

 

Imagination Station: Hide Construction

 As we prepared for our Hermit Learnit Parent Night at the end of May, we spent time in the Imagination Station to explore possible alternative hide constructions based on the geometric shapes assigned in Math class. We invited our preschool Book Buddies to accompany us, and here were some of our creations!

Student Blog Post:

Hermies Deserve Presents Too!

Our hermit crab habitat project has come to an end! As a reward for all their hard work, we presented our hermies with a gift: a custom-made hermie hammock crocheted from all-natural jute! (Yes, yes, we DO spoil them!)

As soon as Mrs. Derringer hung up the hammock, Mr. Crabs surprised us all by getting adventurous and climbing right up onto it to check it out! Over the next few days, all the crabs moved behind it, using it as a new hide!

We also did a full clean-out of their crabitat and replaced all the old sand with fresh new coconut fiber. We added another inch or two of substrate to see if they seemed to like this better, and they burrowed down so far that we thought someone had crab-napped them! We really had to poke around carefully to locate them- Home Run was all the way down under the food dish, Mr Crabs was underneath the big blue plant, and Ranger was underneath the "I'm Crabby" sign.

We think that perhaps they wanted to dig deep to relax after all their recent crabitat adventures, and we are hoping that one of them molts before the school year ends so we can see what a shed exoskeleton looks like!

Group Six, Super Crab Paradise: Day Four

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we found it Friday morning!)

This is the last day of the crabtastic project. I guessed that no one would go in my tub, and I was right. No one came. It was very fun doing the project. I want to do it again! I wish it took more time...

Group Five, Cool Crab Mansion: Day Four

Group Four, The Crabby Resort: Day Four

Group Three, Crabby Condo: Day Four

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we found it Friday morning!)

Today is Day Four of our hermit crab project. Home Run and Ranger were in Group Three's crabitat, The Crabby Condo. Some observations for the Crabby Condo are that the climbing branch fell over. The food shell had coconut fiber in it, and there wasn't as much food. These are some observations I made on The Crabby Condo. I wouldn't change a thing about this project. It was really fun!

Group Two, The Hermit Crab Bay: Day Four

Group One, Hermie Hotel: Day Four

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we found it Friday morning!)

On Friday we did the final part of our experiment. The crabs were all over the place! Home Run and Ranger were both in Group Three's bin, while Mr. Crabs was in Group Five's bin. If we did this again, I would change the positioning of the openings. Some holes were on the short side, and some were on the long one. I would let the hermit crabs stay in all day, but put them back in the middle of the end. I would have Mrs. Derringer provide shells. Overall, this was a fun project! We hot to design our own hide. We all got to watch the crabs being released. The project was so fun!

Bath Time!

The crabs have been so busy exploring their new overnight playground that they needed a BATH!

When we came into school today, we found that the crabs had been burrowing in the moist coconut fiber in the crabitats, and when we removed them, they were covered in fluff! You can observe the fiber particles on Home Run's shell, and Ranger had a huge clump of fiber on his back side!

Home Run seemed a bit more sluggish and slow to come out of his shell this morning, which had Mr. Derringer worried. As we have come to know our crabbies, we have been able to observe their behavioral differences. Mr. Crabs is always hesitant and extremely slow to come out of his shell. When he is moved, he will sometimes sit perfectly still for up to a full minute or more. He will then typically poke out one feeler...then the other...then a leg...and sloooooowly start to crawl around and explore. Ranger has always seemed to be the sociable one: it's actually a little freaky when we pick him up, because he hangs so far out of his shell that we worry he will pop out entirely! Home Run is sort of in between: he is more hesitant that Ranger, but he seems more tructing and curious than Mr. Crabs. Poor Home Run just didn't seem like himself this morning. Bath time always perks the hermies up, and it did the trick this morning: Home Run was hesitant at first, but then he popped right out and started crawling all around in the water and on the wet towel!

We are concerned that he may be either a little stressed out from all the new activity, or that he may be getting ready to molt. When we found him in the Crabby Condo this morning, he was under the Coco Hut, and he was churning up the substrate in an odd way. Several students commented on his unusual behavior. When we placed him back in his original crabitat this morning, he went directly to the water bowls and burrowed completely underneath them! Only the tiny tip of his shell was visible.

When we released the crabs in the Hermit Learnit structure for the last time this afternoon, he took off as usual...we hope he is able to find a cozy, moist hiding spot tonight and that all is well with our little Home Run in the morning!

Group Six, Super Crab Paradise: Day Three

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we left it on Wednesday afternoon. The bottom picture shows the crabitat as we found it on Thursday morning.)

I am going to be blogging about the Hermit Learnit Crab Project, Day Three. Today Home Run was in the Crabby Condo. He has been in there every day since the start! Ranger was in the Hermie Hotel, and that was their first crab. Mr. Crabs was in the Cool Crab Mansion. He seems to like that place. Thank you for reading this blog post today...good-bye!

Group Five, Cool Crab Mansion: Day Three

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we left it on Wednesday afternoon. The bottom picture shows the crabitat as we found it on Thursday morning, but the structure on the right is missing from the picture because Mr. Crabs was wedged in the back of this one and we had to deconstruct the hide to rescue him!)

Today Mr. Crabs was in the square hide. He broke the hide! I was surprised that he would be in the hide. I think we should secure the hide more. I hope Mr. Crabs will come back tomorrow!

Group Four, The Crabby Resort: Day Three

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we left it on Wednesday afternoon. The bottom picture shows the crabitat as we found it on Thursday morning.)

Today was day three of our hermit crab adventure. My observation was that the coconut fiber was clumped. The changes we needed to make were to move the hide back to where it belonged. My prediction is that the crabs will stay where they were, and this was Day Three!

Group Three, Crabby Condo: Day Three

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we left it on Wednesday afternoon. The bottom picture shows the crabitat as we found it on Thursday morning.)

Home Run was in our crabitat! The food was all scattered about and the water level was down below the bottom of the bowl. We did not see any hermit crab droppings. We need to refill our food and water bowls to get ready for the last day. I predict that Ranger will end up in our crabitat on Friday.

Group Two, The Hermit Crab Bay: Day Three

Student Blogger Post!

(The top picture shows the crabitat as we left it on Wednesday afternoon. The bottom picture shows the crabitat as we found it on Thursday morning.)

On Thursday morning, nothing in our crabitat had changed. Some food was in the coconut fiber, but nothing else had happened. The changes we made today were to move the food and water. Our predictions were that we will have one crab in our crabitat!