Description
The long-awaited children’s book from LHCOS and CSJ founder, Vanessa Pike Russell!
Rocky and Crusty are two land hermit crabs from Broome, Western Australia who are kidnapped from the beach at sunset by a hermit crab supplier who puts them into a box and sends them via courier to a Sydney pet store. They are very scared and huddle together, not knowing what will happen next.
The pet store owner opens the box and takes out Rocky and Crusty and places them in the glass tank. They dig down as deep as they can and hide. They are huddled together. After a while, they look around their new home. It is so small and overcrowded and there is nowhere to hide. They are cold-blooded animals and if they are not kept warm they will become inactive to conserve body warmth and eventually die from the stress of the cold.
They meet Ruff’n’Tumble who comes from the Northern Territory and has a much darker exoskeleton – outer skin – than Rocky and Crusty. He loves to show off and climb up the driftwood tree and sometimes makes a ‘PLONK’ noise when he falls. He just gets up again and climbs once more.
There’s Dennis the Menace, always into trouble! They also meet Barry who is deep red and comes from Northern Queensland. He looks like he has sunburn – he is so red! A few days later a family appears at the hermit crab tank and buys all five hermit crabs.
“Sean loves hermit crabs but they keep dying on him,” says mum Megan. “Hopefully these hermit crabs last longer.”
They are taken home to Sean’s home and the very small plastic tank is their new home. They can’t breathe properly because there isn’t enough humidity for them. It gets cold at night and they snuggle up together to get warm. Brr!
One morning Megan looks into the hermit crab tank and finds Barry the hermit crab has left his seashell. After some research and learns that they require more care and expense than what the pet store advised. She visits the Crabstreet Journal Magazine and finds a home for Sean’s hermit crabs using the Land Hermit Crab Owners Society Adoption Centre.
At Sharon’s, they are taken to the 6ft crabitat. The first thing they notice is that the sand is twenty-five centimetres high! Plenty to dig down in! There are plastic plants, coconut huts and half logs to hide in. The air is lovely and humid and they can breathe properly. It is nice and warm and they are reminded of their homes.
Read more about their adventures in the book.
