Well, Rattie's tank mates have all died off. He is my little survivor and deserves some more company. I happen to know quite a bit about hermit crabs. They were my heart and soul for 5 years, 2 years before I got into birds. Now, I admit, birds are my true passion, but hermit crabs are great none the less. They are quiet, don't need training, eat whatever you don't, can be taken outside on warm days with no harnesses and live 20 years. So honestly, they're easy to care for birds with exoskeletons and a lack of flight. They are actually very similar in many ways.

I'm going to PetSmart tomorrow to his friend. Very excited.

But can they do the wolf whistle?

Seriously though - congratulations!

Poor guys how did they die? I know nothing about hermit crabs but I still remember the day when I found out that they can be pets... It was on TC and you told me something like "of course they are pets! I keep several". I was mortified for not knowing

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How exciting!!

No they can't whistle, but they can chirp. Yes, that's really what it's called. Chirping. They often do it when they get into a shell fight to try and get the opponent to back off. It is a very quiet sound. Some really cranky crabs can even do it when you pick them up!

Barbara, I've lost 3 of my crabs during molts (just like birds molts). Except molting in hermit crabs is dangerous and stressful business. They have to molt off their whole exoskeleton and appendages, then eat the old exoskeleton to conjure up enough energy to grow the new one in. If one thing is wrong with their environment, it can end in disaster.

Do they like to be handled? Do they have a name? What do they eat?

Can you post pix of your current one?

I forgot to ask these questions. Is your current one a male, or female? What sex are you planning to get?

There are several different kinds of hermit crabs. Purple pincher, Ecuadorian, strawberry, blueberry. I plan to get an Ecuadorian. Sexing is hard on hermit crabs, so they have to be very trusting. They have to come far out of their shell to be able to sex. Mussles was definitely male. You just have to guess the sex if you never know. And yes, most of them love to be handled. I've only ever been pinched twice.

I'll take pictures of them both when I get it and put up a diagram on how to sex hermit crabs.

I'll post some pictures of him tomorrow when I can download them onto a computer. He is actually a light toned purple pincher. I don't know his sex for sure, I'm just calling him "him" for now. He is about the same size as Rattie and the same type of crab as him too, PP. I put him in the crabitat when he got home and he socialized with Rattie a little bit. Rattie tackled him. Oh well, they'll get there.

I'm calling him Noah.

And this is the website I use for sexing. I honestly haven't had Noah or Rattie come out far enough for me to get a good peek.
http://www.hermit-crabs.com/sexing.html

I love the word "crabitat".