Crabs, Stripper Names, And Crisis Averted

Because we apparently needed one more living, breathing thing to take care at our house we decided to get the girls a few hermit crabs a little over a year ago. Never mind that I’m doing good to keep up with the inanimate objects in our house like dirty laundry and dishes.

The girls deliberated what to name their new pets and finally came up with the most creative, original names possible–Ariel, Sebastien, and Neptune. I know. Sheer genius.

Despite our best efforts to create a warm and loving environment with colored sand, fake rocks, a heater, and a net, the crabs didn’t last long. One by one they keeled over. We decided to buy one more, and one more only. Miss A named the chosen one Diamond Waters which in my warped mind immediately conjured up images of a strip club marquis or maybe an R&B singer from the 1960s. Diamond Waters it was!

With end of school year activities,  work, soccer, Girl Scouts, and traveling I haven’t been on to the girls about watching after poor Diamond Waters like I should. I’m definitely a dog person and the thing about hermit crabs is they don’t bark if they’re hungry or thirsty, you can’t take them out for a walk in the neighborhood, and they don’t do tricks. Heck they barely move.

I remember thinking last weekend that we needed to give Diamond Waters fresh water and before I knew it it was Tuesday and the crab’s water dish was bone dry. I picked up Diamond Waters and it didn’t budge. I carried it to the kitchen and it did not budge. Normally they will perk up and come out of their colorful shell. I decided to go ahead and give it a little fresh spring water and see if it moved overnight. If Diamond Waters had expired, so be it. We’d have a funeral for the crab in the yard and then close this crustacean chapter for good.

The next morning I checked on Diamond Waters, bracing myself for the inevitable, but I noticed that at some point in the night it had moved to its net on the side of its habitat.

Diamond Waters was ALIVE!

You’re totally making a bee line to the pet store to buy hermit crabs now, aren’t you?

12 comments

  1. amy @ fearless homemaker says:

    oh my goodness, diamond waters, too funny! we’ve had the same experience with beta fish – apparently they’re the easiest fish in the world to care for, but somehow my husband + i can’t keep them alive for more than a few months. after our last one expired, we decided our fish-rearing days are over!

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