Another addict in the making!

I think I’ve created a monster! My 10 year old niece was here this weekend. She said she would like to have some hermit crabs. Monday she spent the day at my house so we cleaned the 150 gallon crab tank. She did nearly all of it, she even squeegeed the glass. Then I let her totally redecorate it and fix their food. She had the best time. We spent at least an hour with this. Then she wanted to take them out to look at them. So I let her get one out at a time. She decided to make sure they got enough exercise. So she set a goal of 70 steps. Then placed them at the starting point and counted how many steps it took them to get to the finish line. She had a piece of paper where she recorded their name, the number of steps and yes or no if they reached the goal. LOL We did this for a LONG time. I finally told her we had to go and make dinner. She is facinated by the hermit crabs. We talked about what they need to survive and why. I taught her about the hygrometer and about the lights and heat. I taught her how to make ocean water and fresh water. I showed her how to give your crab a bath if you need to. I told her that I’d give her some more information and when I see her in again in August we’ll talk about getting her some crabs. She even figured out on her own that she should set her tank up FIRST and make sure the temp and humidity was right BEFORE buying crabs! I was shocked! She has matured a lot since the last time I saw her. She loves all animals, even insects which are probably her favorite. Her grandpa taught her how to use a piece of string and a box and some dog food to trap a wild bird. Then he puts the bird in a cage for her. She spends a little bit of time looking at it up close and then she lets it go. She does this with bugs too. Grandpa teaches her to catch and release without harming basically.