In the Name of Science

Ethan is our junior scientist and lately has been most fascinated with biology, mainly insects, reptiles, and things he can put under his microscope. We have a ten gallon aquarium that has been home to tadpoles, snakes, frogs, worms, various insects etc. This week it got a workout. Ethan got a book about snails and slugs on his last trip to the library. It includes great instructions on the care and habitat of the things. Unfortunately, our area is not the greatest to easily find nice big snails or slugs either. We did find a few though and in they went on top of rocks, soil, leaf matter, etc. When you're a 5 year old scientist though it is hard not to handle your critters and the slug soon didn't look so hot.
Friday night while my brother Larry, sister-in-law Deb and nephews Trevor and Ryan were visiting, two largish toads happened across the patio. Ethan scooped them up and they became the next cool pets in the tank. One is and American Toad and the other we haven't identified yet. We spent a couple of days digging up worms and catching crickets and grasshoppers and watching the toads gobble them up whole. It was a fun experiment but I soon wondered how long we would be able to find food for the little eating machines. So, when Ethan asked again about seeing if the pet store had the large land snails his book told about, I said we should set the toads free and go check. Ethan decided a farewell party that included a last meal of captive crickets plus one last turn holding each toad would be a good send-off.
When we reached the pet store we discovered they don't carry the snails but had little hermit crabs. They are only $5 and many have cute painted shells (do they hold the little guys up while painting these or do they paint shells and wait for a crab to adopt it?). What we didn't realize until our child was dancing excitedly around waiting for his crab was that the $5 crab needs two water dishes (very shallow) and salt water conditioner, special soil (ground up coconut shells) to keep his home soft and humid, hermit crab food, cuttle bone, extra shells in case they want to relocate, you get the idea. Also when reading the care sheet at home we learned that they prefer company, 3 or more the recommended number. Well, once you've invested in the habitat what's the big deal right? So today the Morrissey's will be back at PetCo where Lainey will choose a crab whose artwork fits her style and the two can climb around and bathe in their tiny saltwater pool together.