Hermit crabs are advertised as easy pets, often marketed to families looking for low-maintenance options. However, many buyers are unaware that these creatures can live for 30 years if properly cared for. Initially sold in souvenir shops, their popularity surged in the 1970s with misleading marketing. Retailers claim they require minimal care, but in reality, these shells are taken from the wild, contributing to the high mortality rate of pet hermit crabs. Advocacy for their proper treatment is needed to address widespread misconceptions.
Hermit crabs have long been billed as low-maintenance animals, the harried parent's alternative to a hamster. They were first sold in the U.S. to tourists at a souvenir shop in West Palm Beach, Florida, in 1953.
The popularity of the hermit crab as a pet soared in the 1970s, when one company branded them 'Crazy Crabs' and told buyers they would eat anything: pizza, cookies, cornflakes!
Few people know the truth about the crustacean that briefly resides in their child's bedroom: that it was meant to live for at least 30 years. That it was taken from the wild.
This quiet tragedy of the dead-before-its-time hermit crab repeats itself over and over every summer. If it's ever going to stop, crab advocates say, we need to reconsider everything we know about these creatures.
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