Say NO to Painted Seashells for Land Hermit Crabs

To:  Land Hermit Crab suppliers and stores that sell land hermit crabs in painted shells

Please say NO to painted shells for land hermit crabs.

Seashells are not fashion accessories - they are vital to the well being of land hermit crabs. The natural seashells that land hermit crabs use to protect their vulnerable abdomen and store shell water to prevent drying out.

Painting a natural seashell with bright colors and attaching jewels or ears, tails and pats from other animals encourage people to see these precious animals as novelties rather than living creatures. Decorating a seashell to sell a hermit crab with a 'Finding Nemo' theme, or other attention-grabbing popular theme of the time is a marketing ploy that can be harmful to the very animal it is trying to sell.

1) Often the paint cracks or flakes off, tainting the water dish or crabitat
2) Sometimes the paint or lacquer build-up can block the entrance of the shell, trapping the crab within it or causing irritation and stress.
3) Many hermit crab suppliers force the hermit crabs to move into the painted shells, removing the natural seashells and keeping the painted crabs in a separate tank so that they cannot change into an unpainted shell.
4) There have been situations in which a land hermit crab is trapped within a shell that is too small and has become trapped within the shell, unable to come out and walk or eat. There are graphic photographs available which show this sad reality for hermit crabs that are forced into poor fitting shells

Please view the link below if you are not yet convinced that painted shells should be avoided with land hermit crabs, an animal that should be treated with dignity and respect, not dressed up to the nines to make them an impulse buy.

http://crabstreetjournal.com/articles/lhcosociety/paintedshells.htm

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Say NO to Painted Seashells for Land Hermit Crabs Petition to Land Hermit Crab suppliers and stores that sell land hermit crabs in painted shells was created by The Land Hermit Crab Owners Society and written by Vanessa Pike-Russell (landhermitcrabs@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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