Mom of the Year

The week we spent in NC Tucker worried about his hermit crab. No matter how much I assured him that I had left plenty of food and water and he would be fine, he still worried. The week we got back Tucker had camp for the last three days of the week. Sometime Wednesday I believe, I noticed that the crab had not moved in a day or two. When I picked him up he immediately almost fell out of the shell and didn't look right. Great. The crab survived a week with us gone only to die while Tucker was at camp. I sure hated to be the bad guy but once he got home I let him know that his crab had died. He was devastated. I let him have time alone and didn't really worry about getting rid of the crab, I figured he would let me know when he was ready to part with it. The next day was a busy day and the thought of the crab managed to slip my mind. Either that evening or the next, I honestly don't remember, I was in Tucker's room and looked in the cage and saw that the shell was still in the same place but there was a crab walking around without a shell. Apparently Tucker's crab had not died after all, he was in the process of molting. Poor kid, I'm not sure at what point he will forgive me for putting him through that, but right now he is just thankful his crab is still alive.

Our miracle crab and his former self.