A Crabitat .... to call me own:-)

To the uninitiated, a 'crabitate' sounds major crapola ... but lemme explain.

A 'Crabitat' is an artificial habitat created buy the owner of HERMIT CRABS so that these spoiled critters can have a whole mini-ecosystem to call their own. ( Crab + Habitat= Crabitat. Getit? :p )

Anyway, as mentioned, after years of haggling from my brother, I've finally took the chance and got myself my own Hermies.

Skeptical , even grossed out at first, but I was itching to bring in some new excitement into my life after the Venus Fly trap a close gal friend gave me a while back is becoming more a weed than a wacker.

Guess,my recent spate of depression is kinda making me more open to some meaningful retail therapy well...

Anyhow, I drove myself half way across the island to where it was the only place in these parts where I could adopt these exoticas.

Well, these Hermies needed special licenses to bring them in for legal rearing about 3 years back. It still appeals to an extremely niche clientele today. But in recent context, the word 'adoption' is hardly the apt word here.

My crabitat is only 'almost' done up and it had already cost me 300 bucks and rising.


Back then, perhaps it would have cost me 10Xs less.

Anyway, before I reel in the aftermath of a wanton retail therpy-spree gone bad, I'd say, I'm LOVING what I see !!!

The hermies come with cute adoption cards and their names are as follows:

1. Fossil (looks straight out of stone age)
2. Crush (had Crush the sea turtle of Finding Nemo fame painted on; but has since then shifted shell)
3. McQueen (my race car champion who had the entire family looking high and low for it)
4. KaKa (my football darling who is somehow being bullied by the others now)
5. G.I (we call it 'Gigi' bcos it sounds cuter; my gentle giant who's so limp & boring that it is beginning to become nothing more than a paper weight)

With a meticulous choice (ok , fussy) of furniture within the tank, my Crabitat is looking fantastic although I still feel it lacking something (more trees?) . Hmmmm.

I think G.I and KaKa are moulting and it's a worrisome time for me bcos they are so vulneralbe right now and have to be seperated from the rest and into dark isolation. Dun want the cannibalism to start! (Already, we spotted McQueen and Crush ganging up against KaKa! Phew! Was there on time. Gulp.)

BTW, I was totally grossed out when Crush slipped out of its shell, exposed it's alien-like soft abdomen area and slotted into another shell just to test for fit (it eventually settled for another one that is almost identical but bigger, a lil later) It looked like those Face Huggers from the Alien movies!

I'll be checking on them very often and I hope for the best.

I might even add pictures here. Stay tuned. :-)

Enthralled.