South East Arachnid Show 2014

January and the new year saw another landmark for the store, the first time selling at an expo. Having been at every previous SEAS I knew that this would be a fantastic place to test the waters and was proven right, of the small selection we took 

nearly everything sold and the garlands sold out in less than half an hour of the doors opening!

This was also a brilliant opportunity to meet customers, the recognition of the store and positive feedback is a huge boost and catching up on how individual colonies are doing made for a refreshing break. A lot of new keepers approached for advice on keeping the crabs they had just bought, between the care slips we made available and conversations I feel confident everyone I spoke to has a good chance of getting their new friends into the proper setups they deserve.

The aim for next year is a whole table for the store, possibly with a small information display and species specific caresheets, but either way I will definitely be there and look forward to seeing you all again!

A Seaside Scene

Things have been going well with the crabs. Most of the violas are down to moult, as are three of the ruggies and Tara. The littlest ruggie, Kili, has got a good gel limb forming and will hopefully regain her missing leg over the next two moults.

Since the Ruggie tank is being brought more towards a beach theme I decided it needed a seaside classic, so we now have a mini bucket and spade set forming a new climbing area and moss den. They seem to really love it and Fili spends a lot of time asleep on top the spade.

Picture taken before adding moss, the spades shovel part is roughly the size of a tablespoon:

Crabby Cookies and Greater Shell Selection

Our latest product at Crabby Cravings is some delicious Crabby Cookies, a tasty treat homemade with my own recipe using only 100% natural ingredients. No flour is used and everything is not only crab safe but crab healthy.

We also have some more shells in, including moon shells and various sizes of babylonia and turbo types. The "mosaic" turbos are particularly beautiful. All are available at crabbycravingsstore.co.uk

Practical Reptile Keeping Magazine Article

This month the magazine Practical Reptile Keeping has published an article written by myself on land hermit crabs. It focuses mostly on care and the hope is that it will make their real needs more known here in the UK so that they can have longer, healthier lives.

The website for PRK is available at http://www.practicalreptilekeeping.co.uk/ and back issues will be available through http://www.kelseyshop.co.uk/practical-reptile-keeping-magazine-back-issues

Facebook Picture Competition Results

The facebook competition has been closed and our winners have been chosen!

The public vote winner is Johnson, an adorable Coenobita clypeatus in an unusual long screw shell belonging to Christian B and Megan T. There were a lot of amazing pictures entered but our chosen winner is Ginger, a stunning Coenobita variabilis belonging to Sue Brown. Congratulations to you!

Pictures are property of the respective owners and not to be reproduced or reused. 

100 Likes Offer

Last night we officially hit 100 "likes" on our facebook page so to celebrate I am running a new offer at our store! Until midnight on the 17th June every order will receive a free bag of our previously unreleased "Mineral Mashup". Packed full of plenty of seaweed and other tasty goodies, it won't be released for sale until the end of the month! 

New In: Natural Dried Bladderwrack and Other Beach Foods

A slightly belated new release for the store, we now have some ethically hand gathered products from Kentish beaches to tempt and delight even the fussiest of crabs. Each item provides a more natural "feel of home", as well as being a new food item and in some cases a source of enrichment and entertainment. We now have individually listed dried finger sponges, whelk egg case clusters and natural dried bladderwrack (great to provide iron and colour boosting goodness!). More large scallop shells will also be appearing, and we have a limited number of cockle shells. As always with any shells we stock each is listed shell by shell so you can choose the exact one you want.

Available at Crabby Cravings