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It's amazing how much they feel for a crab. Now she has 2 healthy ones and they are ALL doing just fine.

Thank you so much Ruthie. Everyone is fine now. Thank goodness.

I never knew what grief was from losing a pet because my fish and turtles NEVER DIED!!! I learned later in life that whenever one of them died, my mom ran to the pet store and replaced them. Now...as I state in my little "about me" area...whenever one of my beloved animals die, a little part of me dies with them permanently. I don't know how a child grieves..I just know that when my daughter bought 2 crickets and cage for her son...what good was going to come out of it? I think that they finally let them go free. Maybe feeling some grief is healthier...I just don't know...I see that your grand child that has already learned to empathize...Someone did something right!

Sheila, thank you.........SO good to see you back!!

Thank you so much..........

It's been a few days and she's doing so much better. Good to see you back! Thank you for your thoughtful comment.

Exactly....she blamed herself.

Thank you. She's better and is realizing that it wasn't her fault. Thank you so much for your concern, truly appreciated.

The Rainbow Bridge certainly makes us ALL feel better, doesn't it? Thank you.

I cry every time I read it!!

I find it comforting.

I'm sorry, I didn't state that very well. I meant, I cry for my loss but yes, I also happily anticipate the future reunion. Tears of sorrow & tears of anticipated happiness.

Thank you. It was taumatic, but Mddie's on the mend. These kind words help.

Thank you so much. She's on her way.

Thank you. We're in the Planning stages.

I had a small idea this morning that I wanted to share.
She might like to have the start of an adult sized charm bracelet. You could start her off with one charm for the baby she just lost and add more charms as she adds pets (living hopefully). That way she will have something from you and them that will last a lifetime

I am going to tell her that you said that. That will put a BIG smile on her face...thank you so much. Children need positive reinforcement...

Thanks Betty. She seems to be heading in the right direction.....

Thank you SO much............it's appreciated.

Thank you...prayers and good thoughts are always very welcome.

Thanks..............my daughter and Maddie went back to the store where the clerk confirmed it. If you scroll down a bit I wrote about just how wonderful the clerk was. Maddie is doing much better, but yesterday at this time, we had our hands full. I felt SO helpless.

I just finished reading all the replies and see where this was already mentioned. I'm just so glad things are looking brighter.

Thanks Beth. It's one of life's lessons that's really rough on a child.

Thank you SO much for your kind words.

Devon, the journal mentions that DeeDee and Maddie went on Zootoo to ask a question about hermit crabs. In other words, Maddie goes on Zootoo. How will your "pearl of wisdom" make a 10-year-old little girl feel better? This was the wrong place to make your "point" about fish and crabs. I'm sure you regret your comment. It's a good lesson for us all; as Andie says, we really need to think before we speak and type.

This journal is about DeeDee's grandchild and the loss that she feels after losing her new hermit crab. It's NOT about whether they should live in a tank or on the beach. DeeDee and her granddaughter researched every avenue that they could find, on the care of Hermit Crabs, and I'm sure Powder Puff had the VERY best care.
If you have a problem with Hermit Crabs being domesticated, you should write your own journal entry about that. When you are responding to this one, or any other journal entry, where someone has lost a beloved family member, you should show respect, as DeeDee has so many times, to others.

Did you mean to be as insensitive as this reply sounds? You may have strong feelings about hermit crabs, but I would think from the journal entry and Deedee's postings that you would realize these little crabs were well cared for. Not to mention that Deedee didn't need to deal with this kind of reply when she was busy trying to console her granddaughter. We really need to think before we speak and type.

How about a little sensitivity and tact?? Dee Dee's grandchild was traumatized over the loss. Dee Dee has been nothing but supportive and consoling when other Zootooers have expressed their grief/sadness and deserves nothing but the same in return!!

Dee Dee, I'm sorry to hear about your grandchild's trauma over the loss of the hermit crab. That must be stressful on you, too, since you need to find a way to help comfort your grandchild and surely feel sad because there are limited ways of doing so. I think just being there is comforting--you undoubtedly make a wonderful grandmother.

Michele, thank you for understanding.

This journal is about a child, MY GRANDCHILD lossing her first "living being", not whether or not a hermit crab should be kept in a tank. If it upsets you so much, write it in your own journal.

Wonderful reply Dee. My hermit crab lived for a long time before he perished. And he was well taken care of.

deedee,I just want to tell you how sorry I was to see Maddie having to deal with her first loss at her very own pet.I think Maddie and her Mom were very lucky to meet up with a pet store employee who actually had a bit of knowledge and sympathy.
As a last point,I would like to say that because Hermit Crabs are caught in the wild,and don't reproduce in captivity,they seem to be much more vulnerable to stress and ill health.
Tell Maddie to not give up though,for I've owned Hermies for many years.If you do the research and you provide them with all the things that they need,they can be with you for a long time.Maddie may not forget Powderpuff,but her new buddy sure will help.

Thank you Sharon.........you're very kind.

I have to agree with you, Deedee. When I read this response I thought those things could have been left off given the situation. Obviously your granddaughter cherished this little creature and did a lot of research to come up with the best habitat for them.

Thank you Andie. This wasn't an "impulse" buy by any stretch of the imagination.

I think that depends on the size of the tank and how much preparation is put into it.......I don't agree wth anybody adopting ANY animal without alot of knowledge is a very bad idea.

I spoke to my daughter a little while ago and she believes that it was the "suddeness" of this. Poor kid just got PowderPuff last week. Apparently alot of thought and care has gone into the habitat. She'll land on her feet in a few days.

I'm sure it is so disappointing for her. If you have ever seen one, they are so cute too.

It just upset me SO much to see the pain in her eyes.......she hurts, I hurt. She's a very dear girl. She's was better by this afternoon. Thanks for your kind words and providing Jen with the Rainbow Bridge..

Gonna be rough for awhile! You guys will pull thru.

Those are great ideas. It might be a fun project to do with Maddie so she could talk about Puff...or even draw about Puff. It sounds like Maddie is doing much better now but still, it might be a comforting project for her.

You are a fountain of ideas....thank you.

When she's better, I'm going share all of these kind words with her. It's rough on any child.......Thank you Debby.

Thank you so much. Prayers are always welcome......

Sheila I hadn't thought about Duncan welcoming Powder Puff, and CoCo too.....thank you SO much. I'm going to call Brooke right now.

Brooke told me to thank you.

Oh, I am just glad to hear that everyone is feeling a bit better today...

Maddie will certainly get a kick out of a Flip lick!!! Thank you!

I will..thank you SO much. You're all making me feel better......Maddie's better this afternoon from what her Mom said.

Thank you for the website, already passed that on.......and for your story. My daughter took Maddie back to the store this morning and "Puff" had passed away. The store employee really seemed to know her stuff and picked up on Maddie's grief. She explained that they don't really know the age of the crustaceans when they're brought in. It could have been older than expected. The good news is that she had Maddie choose another. So Maddie, being Maddie, choose one with a broken shell as she thought nobody else would want it. I think that was a good sign. It's still not "Puff", but she's headed in the right direction. I've been told that the new one has already climbed out of the broken shell and headed for a really nice one that Maddie already had in the habitat. From what I've heard, the habitat s a mini-mansion!! Thank you again.

deedee I am so glad your Grandaughter had Puff checked out and was able to take on a new friend. She sound like a wise little girl and having animal loving family has developed a good sense in wanting to care for them properly. When I was in the pet shop business we had to deal with tender hearts of all ages but the young are especially fragile. Some took hours o console and even came in for many visits to talk of their pets and was it their fault and if/when the got another they wanted to know all about how to make sure they were doing eveything right.

We dealt with a lot of Jewish clientel and sometimes they lost pet birds due to the Jewish holidays where were not able to feet grains. We made up special diets for these occasions and always made sure to let them know. Because the birds failed so fast on the many diets they offered that weren't good for them at these times. We can not always know who is Jewish or maybe they never were to us before their loss. It was especially hard because we had to point out the reason these birds failed and that's hard for them because they blaim themselves and we have to get them over that and give them a healthy understanding that it really wasn't their fault and they had made to learn that sometimes animals do suffer for our mistakes. But the fact they cared and were willing to learn they would be able to help others and now know the proper care their birds need during their holidays. So many over the years had expressed their appreciation through letters and cards thanking us for our help and concern. Even after graduating and moving else where they would come in just to say hello and talk of those times and how they were helped over a very difficault time in their lives.
I am so glad to hear Maddie is doing better.
hugs
B-J

THANK YOU...............how patient and kind you are..........We do believe that Maddie blae herself until the clerk had a talk with her. It's amazing to me how far a few kind words go, especially to a child. And yes, they are very fragile. I guess I should have been better prepared.

It's difficult to prepare for the tragedies in life deedee. You seem to be handling it very well. It is the suddeness of Puff's crossing that was difficult for sure.

Great news that she has a new pet as well as some support from the pet store employee. I'm sure glad to hear that the hermit crab hadn't been injured and could move on to a better shell. I hope Maddie is feeling better now and you too. It's so painful to watch someone you love suffer and not be able to make things all better.