About Us
We are two teenager-- yes, teenagers-- that have developed a passion for hermit crabs. As eight-year-old kids, we bought our first crabs from pet stores and unknowingly neglected their needs. Over the years we've learned a ton about them, and realized that people all over the states are mistreating these amazing creatures because they just don't know what they need.
It's very misleading, all of those pet stores and souvenir shops at the beach. And it's heartbreaking, once you learn where the crabs come from and how they are supposed to be living. Unfortunately most stores only care about the profits they make, not the care of the crabs. (Which is pretty messed up, considering you'd be paying a ton more for a proper habitat for your pet if you did it the right way).
Let's face it, hermit crabs are not very good pets as they're advertised to be, especially when you respect their needs. You can't play with them or even really hold them, and they usually aren't much fun to watch as they are nocturnal.
We are here to give a good home to all the hermits we can and advocate for the correct care of hermits everywhere.
Emily’s Hermit Crab Story:
My first few hermit crabs were three small crabs in brightly painted shells. I had a 20 gallon tank with some hermit crab pellets as food with some tap water. Their tank consisted of a dry bag of eco earth substrate with a variety of decorations. Of course, these crabs didn’t live long. When one of them died I decided to get two more. These crabs were Wolf and Tiddles, who I currently still have. At this time, I had my tank pretty humid and I was feeding the crabs better food. I got more crabs and soon I had my own little colony of about 8.
Fast forward a couple years to when I went through a period of time where my crabs were fighting and many were dying from stress. In that period I believe I lost 4 crabs over a couple months. That was when I decided I wanted to take a lot better care of my crabs. I started to do extensive research and I learned a lot. My tank grew to a 40 gallon and I started to give them enough substrate to molt. They got dechlorinated fresh water and some nice salt water. I still brought hermit crabs from pet stores but I had a decent tank set up. I got Pumpkin and Walnut right before the crab fighting started. Pumpkin got in a fight for her shell. She managed to hold her place but in that fight she lost an eye.
A couple years later, Leah and I decided to start Oregon Hermit Crab Rescue. I want to help advocate the welfare of crabs to reduce the amount of crabs that live with insufficient care similar to the crabs I have had in the past.
Leah's Hermit Crab Story:
The name of my first hermit was Shimmer, for the shine of her painted shell. I was eight. As a kid I trusted adults wholeheartedly and bought a Kritter Keeper for her with my own money, just as the Petco employee advised.
That little crab lived for a surprisingly long time. She even lived through escaping and making her way downstairs to climb up the Christmas tree where my mom finally found her a month later. I did end up buying her a few companions, but they are now gone too.
I loved Shimmer so much. I loved hermit crabs, and having something to take care of. I kept getting them and they kept dying. I had about 10 crabs before starting the rescue. (I had 4 at that point).
My cages evolved over the years. The Kritter Keeper turned into a 10-gallon turned into a 29-gallon turned into a 40-gallon. Painted shells became extinct in my little colony and the levels of substrate rose. I have spent hours and hours researching hermits on the internet.
Most years my family goes to Alabama to see my grandmother. We stay at the beach on the gulf of Mexico and every year I stare sadly into the wire cages packed with hermit crabs in the souvenir shops. And I wanted to stop doing that. I wanted those cages to vanish. I've been to Mexico where purple pincher or Caribbean hermit crabs live naturally. It's amazing how healthy and vibrant they are out there, and heartbreaking when I remember that the crabs I keep in cages can never have this freedom.
So I'm trying to do something to help hermit crabs, both wild and captive. My best friend and I created our little rescue to promote correct care of pet crabs and speak out against the hermit crab industry.
It's very misleading, all of those pet stores and souvenir shops at the beach. And it's heartbreaking, once you learn where the crabs come from and how they are supposed to be living. Unfortunately most stores only care about the profits they make, not the care of the crabs. (Which is pretty messed up, considering you'd be paying a ton more for a proper habitat for your pet if you did it the right way).
Let's face it, hermit crabs are not very good pets as they're advertised to be, especially when you respect their needs. You can't play with them or even really hold them, and they usually aren't much fun to watch as they are nocturnal.
We are here to give a good home to all the hermits we can and advocate for the correct care of hermits everywhere.
Emily’s Hermit Crab Story:
My first few hermit crabs were three small crabs in brightly painted shells. I had a 20 gallon tank with some hermit crab pellets as food with some tap water. Their tank consisted of a dry bag of eco earth substrate with a variety of decorations. Of course, these crabs didn’t live long. When one of them died I decided to get two more. These crabs were Wolf and Tiddles, who I currently still have. At this time, I had my tank pretty humid and I was feeding the crabs better food. I got more crabs and soon I had my own little colony of about 8.
Fast forward a couple years to when I went through a period of time where my crabs were fighting and many were dying from stress. In that period I believe I lost 4 crabs over a couple months. That was when I decided I wanted to take a lot better care of my crabs. I started to do extensive research and I learned a lot. My tank grew to a 40 gallon and I started to give them enough substrate to molt. They got dechlorinated fresh water and some nice salt water. I still brought hermit crabs from pet stores but I had a decent tank set up. I got Pumpkin and Walnut right before the crab fighting started. Pumpkin got in a fight for her shell. She managed to hold her place but in that fight she lost an eye.
A couple years later, Leah and I decided to start Oregon Hermit Crab Rescue. I want to help advocate the welfare of crabs to reduce the amount of crabs that live with insufficient care similar to the crabs I have had in the past.
Leah's Hermit Crab Story:
The name of my first hermit was Shimmer, for the shine of her painted shell. I was eight. As a kid I trusted adults wholeheartedly and bought a Kritter Keeper for her with my own money, just as the Petco employee advised.
That little crab lived for a surprisingly long time. She even lived through escaping and making her way downstairs to climb up the Christmas tree where my mom finally found her a month later. I did end up buying her a few companions, but they are now gone too.
I loved Shimmer so much. I loved hermit crabs, and having something to take care of. I kept getting them and they kept dying. I had about 10 crabs before starting the rescue. (I had 4 at that point).
My cages evolved over the years. The Kritter Keeper turned into a 10-gallon turned into a 29-gallon turned into a 40-gallon. Painted shells became extinct in my little colony and the levels of substrate rose. I have spent hours and hours researching hermits on the internet.
Most years my family goes to Alabama to see my grandmother. We stay at the beach on the gulf of Mexico and every year I stare sadly into the wire cages packed with hermit crabs in the souvenir shops. And I wanted to stop doing that. I wanted those cages to vanish. I've been to Mexico where purple pincher or Caribbean hermit crabs live naturally. It's amazing how healthy and vibrant they are out there, and heartbreaking when I remember that the crabs I keep in cages can never have this freedom.
So I'm trying to do something to help hermit crabs, both wild and captive. My best friend and I created our little rescue to promote correct care of pet crabs and speak out against the hermit crab industry.