Phil, The Hermit Crab

I almost got a hermit crab today. On the way to the pet store I had decided his name would be Phil. But when I asked the kid at the pet store about what kind of environment hermit crabs enjoy, I realized that my plans were not good. The kid told me, after checking with his manager, that hermit crabs prefer hot, dry climates. I was planning on putting Phil in the terrarium with the Anole which is a very humid environment. So I asked the kid if he had any green tree frogs. They did, so I got a frog instead. The frog is not named Phil. I think I'll just call him little guy. When we, the kid at the pet store and I, went over to see the green tree frogs, he said, "It looks like we have just one little guy in the back." Then when the manager came over to show the kid how to get frogs into the proper carrier, she looked at him, the frog, and said "Oh, what a cute a little guy." At the check-out counter, believe it or not, the woman who rang me up looked at the frog and said, "he's just a little guy." So, I'll just call him Little Guy. The Anole has no name.

I almost bought a hermit crab today. I didn't, but I still managed to spend a small fortune at the pet store. I think I got something for all of our animals - even some we don't have yet. King and Queen got a water bowl for outside. We've been throwing tennis balls a lot in our new yard and the dogs get pretty thirsty. Of course that just makes the balls more slobbery, but that's the price one pays for letting dogs play with balls. I also got some cat litter for Jack. Actually, it's really for us. If we didn't have a litter box, with litter, I'm pretty sure Jack would just piss and poop wherever he liked. I got new light bulbs for the terrarium and some crickets for the Anole and Little Guy. Then, I got some gravel for Chick's fish tanks. She hasn't had any fish for some time, but she wanted to set two of them up in the new house. She cleaned the small tanks last night and told me that if I would buy her some gravel she would stop and get some fish on her way home from work. So, I've got that to look forward to.

I almost got another hermit crab today. Well, not in the sense that I already have one. But I used to, when I was much younger. I remember when my first hermit crab died. I'd like to think I was about six or seven at the time, but I was probably twelve. And it freaked me out. I was just going down to my room for the night and I noticed right away that he was dead. He was almost completely out of his shell, sort of humped over and his long, beady black eyes were lying on his big red front claw. I ran upstairs, screaming for my mom. She told me to go back down and get rid of him. I don't know if she was trying to teach me a life lesson or if she just didn't want to deal with a dead hermit crab. Either way, I spent the night upstairs on the couch. The next morning I awoke calmly, went down to my room, wrapped the crab in a couple of paper towels and threw him in the garbage can. To this day, I am not sure of the proper burial rights for a hermit crab.

I almost brought home a hermit crab today. I think he would have enjoyed living in the terrarium with the Anole and Little Guy. We have the tank in the corner of our new living room. It's right next to the new pack-and-play. Mo would have enjoyed watching Phil scamper around. But I am sure she will get a kick out of the Anole and Little Guy. If she enjoys watching them half as much as Jack does then it will all be worth it. I don't think we will ever have to worry about Morgan asking for a pet. When she finally gets to our new home she will have two dogs, one cat, one anole, one frog and a few fish. But no hermit crab.