Mrs. D. noticed that the crabs were looking quite messy: the substrate in their vacation home is orange sand mixed with coconut fiber, and the orange sand seems to be tinting everything it touches...including the crabs and their shells! Also, since the crabs love to burrow in the substrate, they seem to have accumulated a build up of sand on their chelipeds, walking legs, and shells. Mrs. D. decided to tidy everyone up a bit!
How does one bathe a hermit crab, you ask? Sources differ on methods, but the number one consideration to take into account is to make sure you don't drown your crabs! Yikes! To avoid any drowning scares, a shallow paper plate was used as the hermie bathtub. Mrs. D. added enough saltwater glub to the plate to make a little pool, and then carefully placed each crab in the bath. Each crab reacted differently!
Home Run seemed to enjoy his bath! He came right out of his shell and started moving around, exploring with his antennae. He scooted around in the water, and seemed to like having a little water poured right on his shell- it was like a little hermit crab shower! He was active and busy when he returned to the crabitat after his bath.
Mr. Crabs did not seem to be a fan of the bath. He didn't come out of his shell at all when he was placed in the water; in fact, he used his big left cheliped to "close his door," and just sat there in the water. Mrs. D. started to get a little nervous that he might be just quietly drowning in there, so he was removed at once! After he was returned to his tank, though, he was very active for about ten minutes; he crawled to the food bowl, under the log, onto the branch, and finally burrowed down under the piece of driftwood. Perhaps he found the bath invigorating after all!
Ranger was out of his shell trying to do a belly flop (or abdomen flop?) before he even hit the bath. As soon as he was set down, he took off scuttling for the edge of the plate. He had to be returned to the middle of the bath several times, as he kept trying to escape. He didn't seem to dislike the bath; he just seemed to have a plan in mind that involved crawling across the kitchen counter (which was NOT part of Mrs. D.'s plans!).
Overall, the crabs seemed tolerant of their first bath, and they were active and fun to watch afterwards. For future baths, it will be a good idea to use a larger bathing area with higher walls (less chance of escape). It might be a good idea to make the bath just a tad deeper to help get some of the sand out of their shells. We have learned from our read-aloud book that the hermies use their reduced legs to clean out their shells, but one would think that the little bits of sand that get back in there might be annoying. Have you ever had sand in your shoe? Yuck- if I were a hermit crab, it wouldn't want to have scratchy, tickly sand in my shell all the time, would you? Also, more research is needed to determine what type of water is best for the bath time experience: treated fresh water or saltwater glub?
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