A tribute to Crabby

This long story of a beloved crab (Crabby) begins a few weeks ago. A friend asked about my hermit crab. I went to pull him out of the tank, and noticed that he had receded far into his shell. I immediately thought he was dead. I started to tear up. I couldn't believe Crabby was dead! I have to admit that I also couldn't believe I was crying. This made me realize the extent of the emotional attachment I had formed with this crab.

Upon further investigation of the situation, I realized I was cooking my crab. Apparently the light bulb, although matching my previous bulb was a much higher watt then was appropriate for the tank and the crab. I removed the light and hoped Crabby would recover quickly.

A couple of days ago Crabby crawled out of his shell! I did some reading online to see what I could do to help him, and it just said to keep him moist, provide food and water, and new shells should be available for him to upgrade to. Although there was a new shell available, he did not decide to take up residence in it. He had been very active despite the lack of the shell, and when I would mist him periodically throughout the day he would respond to the stimulus, so I was hopeful. Last night as I drifted off to sleep, I could hear him moving around the tank. Then this morning I went to mist him with water before I left for the day, but he did not respond. I am sorry to announce that he must have died in the middle of the night.

Now there may be some of you that do not know about Crabby. He was the best of pets. I came to know Crabby a couple of years ago (the above picture was taken in August of '06) when he became my preschoolers class pet. As you may have guessed, they were the ones to name him. We got him for free because the pet store deemed him too freakishly large to be sold.

Crabby was so tolerant of the kids playing with him. He didn't get upset when he was dropped repeatedly.

One time he was place on the carpet and decided to grab hold; there he stayed for a couple of hours until he decided to let go.

The kids used to love to put him on the table and sit around him as quietly as they could and wait for him to come out and crawl. I can't tell you how many times a day they could ask if they could play with Crabby.

Occasionally I would bring him home to wash his tank thoroughly. I would arrange the tank in a nice and organized manner, aesthetically pleasing as well. But as soon as I would put crabby in he would start rearranging the "furniture". I would frequently forget to bring him back after the weekend. The kids were always so disappointed and would keep asking me, "Why did you forgot Crabby?!" and "When are you going to bring Crabby back?"

Then there was the time that one of my students was being timid around him and I decided to show her there was nothing to be afraid of. I put Crabby in the palm of my hand and he pinched me in between the index and middle finger. I tried really hard to make it seem like it didn't hurt as much as it did.

During that school year the preschool asked me to step in as assistant director of the school. Crabby stayed behind in the classroom. Sure, I saw him now and then, but it wasn't the same.

When the teacher that replaced me continued to have concerns about the "love" (maybe a little too much) Crabby was getting and the distraction he was becoming in the classroom, it was combined with my missing him. I volunteered to bring him home with me. Cambree and I loved to let him out to crawl around the room and on the couches. We would watch Cambree's dog try to figure out what was going on. He was also great for conversation. As for our roommate at the time, Jenni, well. . .Crabby just creeped her out.

But really he was the best of pets and will be dearly missed.

Cambree and I have plans to visit the pet store soon in order to help cope with the emotional strain of loosing him. Maybe I'll get a frog, or a lizard, or a fish, but then again, perhaps I will just get a freakishly large, but ever faithful hermit crab.