You can have more than a fuzzy pink nosed pet for your science area. I have never had much luck with the rodent variety. They either have babies or die. So, here are my favorite low maintenance, very ugly, cool pets. I love these guys!
This is Plato, he is huge, for a hermit crab. I thought when we added friends, that he would beat them up or badger them. Nope, they all just kinda of hang out. If you did not know hermit crabs are very social creatures. Who, would have thought, hermit crabs social. But, the more the merrier for these guys!
Now, Pinky is kinda shy, never really comes out of her shell. She seems to be always hiding, I have to go search her out. With hermit crabs, it is impossible to figure out if it is a girl or boy unless you take them out of their shell, and then you have to be a specialist to tell. So, we just decided “girl”, because of the pink shell.
Meet Shark, he is also named for his shell. If he moves I do not know what we will call him. He is fast and likes to try to nip with his front pincer. In addition to our hermit crabs, I have collected hermit crab books, for our science area. I have to constantly go looking for the books. They like to try to decide which crabs our hermits look like.
Is This a House for Hermit Crab?
Hermit Crab’s Home: Safe in a Shell (Smithsonian Oceanic) (Smithsonian Oceanic Collection)
Caring for Your Hermit Crab (First Facts)
Why Get a Hermit Grab?
1. They are super cool to look at and are pretty much unchanged since prehistoric times.
2. How cool is it to carry your house on your back.
3. Easy to care for.
4. Inexpensive.
5. You don’t have to cuddle.
6. Kids love watching hermit crabs.
I keep the hermits in a small glass aquarium, on a small book shelf, that is the perfect height for my kids to watch. They get super excited, when the hermits do anything. So, if you are looking for an easy to care for pet, to spruce up your science are, do some looking at hermit crabs. Here are some great resources to learn more, about our little friends that carry their house with them.
As you get to looking around at some of the websites for hermit crabs, you will quickly realize, how crazy people are over their hermits. I never thought I would enjoy our hermits quite so much, but I really do. It was an easy way to put some science into our world in a small package.
Other Recommended Reading:
Preschool Science: Earth Science
