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| Mango the crab! |
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| Mango the crab! |
Our family pet is neither furry nor feathered, and is a direct result of our misspent years on the water.
My youngest was only two when we moved aboard the boat. All the animals she knew lived in the wild - howler monkeys in the trees, dolphins in the water, parrots overhead. And anywhere the land met the sea: crabs. They scuttled along the rocks, hid behind concrete pilings and burrowed in the sand. And a patient child with table scraps could occasionally tempt a crab closer to see these little beauties up close.
My daughter was in love.
Years later, our feet firmly back on the ground, Youngest Child wanted a pet. Not a dog, not a cat. Not a bird or a lizard or even a fish to remind her of “home”. She did her research, presented her proposal and asked if she could please, please, pretty please finally have a crab to call her own.
And so, on her birthday this year, Mango joined our family. He is a Hallowe’en Moon Crab. Aside from engaging in crabby-type activities like dancing through his fresh and salt water dishes, digging tunnels and discretely eating grasshoppers and cucumber behind his log, he is quite happy to crawl onto a hand for a little attention. I never expected my heart to melt for a small purple and orange crustacean, but here we are. Mango is a delight, and my daughter couldn’t be happier with her friend.
16 comments:
I'm almost sure this cutie belongs to Amy Schaeffer i.e. her daughter.
Purple and orange crustacean? Boy, I wanna see Mango up close.
Mango the crab is SO COOL! I've never seen a crab that looked like that before!
I've had hermit crabs as pets, but I didn't know enough about animal behavior and the study thereof at the time to delve into their behaviors.
Yes, Mango is our pet. And he is truly delightful. It was all I could do not to bombard Janet with a thousand photos of him at different angles. We are finding as time goes by he is less interested in his crickets and grasshoppers, and has taken a shine to our human food. Homemade chicken curry has become a surprise favourite.
I must say, the kitties on the blog this week have made me miss having a cat. What a group of furry, cuddly beauties!
(As a postscript, when I happily read through the post this morning until I hit "discretely", at which point the needle scratched across my internal record player. That should have been "discreetly", of course, and I apologize to all whose eyes were similarly burned by the homophone error.)
Oh!! So Cool!! What an awesome pet to have. I too had Hermit Crabs but this, this is just...cool! And now, I have all sorts of questions about how hard they are to keep, what about their salt water; is it a special mix or can you just mix it yourself? Do they shed? How big will he get? Is it a he or she?
This is just cool. :)
This is the coolest. I had no idea you could keep a crab as a pet! Kudos, Amy's daughter!
I think I may have been reading too many of these posts just before bed. Last night I dreamt about a little black and white stray dog with big butterfly ears who wanted me to adopt her. (It was very obvious she wanted this because, it being a dream, she could talk.) There were some mean dognappers after her. Can't remember the ending. It definitely involved canine memory loss at some point. Should I stop reading these in the middle of the night?
Amy, that is an awesome pet. I love it. A group of writer friends who allow me to hang with them invite me to a retreat now and again. A couple of years we rented one of those huge houses in Myrtle Beach. My first time near ocean water. What an experience. I even got my feet wet!
I adored watching the little sea creatures.
We had a pet crayfish when I was young. I think a crab like Mango looks like a lot more fun--and definitely cuter! It's been very entertaining to see people's pets. I'm eagerly looking forward to more.
Wow! Mango the chicken curry-loving crab is totally cool. Amy: I love that your daughter picked this awesome pet!
So awesome!! Love how she researched and then presented you with everything she'd learned. Great parenting! :)
When i first read it, I thought Amy had retired from world traveling and retired to Florida. We have Rhesus Macaques in the trees, instead of howler monkeys, but the day is young.
Yes, I was one of those weird kids that tried to make pets out of way too many creatures. Mom made me keep my door closed.
Mango is a lovely little beast and seemed happier to be handled than the hermit and fiddler crabs I once had.
If you need fresh mango, papaya or guava for it, and can't find any in you local Piggly-Wiggly, let me know. I'll send you some.Glass or brine shrimp from a pet store might also add some variety to its diet. cfenner13 at the gmail thing
I didn't realize a crab could be so cute. Hello, Mango!
What a dapper little fella. Sounds like he has quite the little personality, too. What a cool creature!
Wonderful story and fabulous critter!
Thanks for the introduction to the less fuzzy side of pet ownership.
Everybody stop, THIS IS THE BEST ONE! :D
I love, love, love this little crabbikins! Too cute, Amy! The name Mango is perfect, and how in the world did y'all "discover" Mango likes. . . curried chicken???
I've never seen a Halloween crab before, but how cool! And beautiful too. Love the name Mango.
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