24 October, 2009

Sarah, Jaz and Spikey

It's more than 24 hrs since we became proud owners of three hermit crabs. They've been named Sarah, Jaz and Spikey. (Sarah and Jaz pictured - though they're very difficult to get a good shot of). Spikey is our 4 y.o.'s. He helped us chose them while his brothers were at school! Much pride! Nearly got himself run over as he left the pet shop and carried them ever so carefully across the carpark, heedless to the traffic he was holding up. Spikey's shell is, well, spiky. We're unsure if that name will hold when Spikey decides to change shells. Jaz (correctly spelled his proud 10 y.o.owner tells me) managed to change shells this afternoon without anyone noticing - quite a feat when we were all home and the novelty of 'hermit crab watching' hasn't yet worn off. Sarah's name was a surprise. Her 7 y.o. owner has a reputation for being pretty anti-girl, maybe that is changing. Of course we cannot tell the sex of the crabs, but for now Sarah is a girl. Her name hasn't changed in 27 hours, despite our fears. She is a challenge to integrate into our household, though. Up till now Mummy is the only one for whom female pronouns were required. She, her and hers should be getting a work-out now, but just sometimes the male pronouns slip in. We watched with amusement when Jaz and Spikey fought over a desirable pozzy in their new home. For several minutes they continuously flipped the other out of the cosy corner. At first Spikey's owner was upset, but soon he realised that no one was getting hurt, they were just playing. Eventually Spikey won anyway and Jaz sulked away to another spot to rest. We've been to three different Pet Shops in two days now, in order to get all the right bits. Certainly a diversion for our household. And I'm still feeling like a new mum, worried that we're going to kill them off in the first week. I'm also wondering how long the "I'll get them some new water." spirit will prevail? We're supposed to bath them in salt water once a week and probably clean their flooring once a month. We'll see how good we are at hermitat housekeeping.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh, yes! It would have to be Spikey. Spikey's owner was going around naming random things "Spikey" last time I saw him, I think.

It looks like fun. :)