Whats your Opinion about Painted Shells (for Hermit Crabs)?

I think that they are really cute, but why cant you just take a natural shell and paint a little flower on there?!?! its alot funner and it has a personal touch to it, and painted shells can kill, or so i have heard..and i have found a lot of really colorful natural shells..of course i got these shells from a gift shop a few years ago...(dont worry..i boiled them!!)

Whats your Opinion about Painted Shells (for Hermit Crabs)?
The paint had been found to be toxic. Since a hermit crab will groom his shell by pinching off pieces are scraping it he can mistakingly ingest some of the paint since in the wild and with natrual shells they will ingest it because it is filled with beneficial calcium.. but the paint is toxic.





Hermit crabs are quite sensitive and should never have any chemicals, pesticide or other un-natural thing offered to them or placed on them.





Many of the commerical foods and hermit crab products have been ofund to be filled with chemicals, preservatives and pesticides and in turn end your pet hermit crab's life much too early.





Our eldest crab is 15 years old and that is because and only because we only offer all natural, organic items for food to them and their tanks are decorated naturally with only Hemrit Crab safe items.





Painted shells are tacky... they do not live in them by choice.. they do not care about what their shell looks like ONLY that if it fits and feels good to them... I think it makes them look ridiculous... they are not a regular pet/pet that you should play with and bother too much.. they only thrive when given a natural environment to live in.





We will not even get into how they get the crabs into the shells and how the paint containes lead and is wet many times when first offered to the crab and when they get into the shell they become adhered to it and then it is not only their shell but their coffin.
Reply:well as long as you know the shells won't kill the crab than it will be ok. It will make it cutter and a touch of you. It would look cute. If it will kill it than no because there than was no point on getting a crab if you know if it will die because of the shell.
Reply:It probably wont be a problem to paint a little something. hermit crabs only inhabit shells that were vacated by the deceased original organism. If the original organism (snail) were still in the shell, then painting the shell might be bad for the snail.
Reply:well my friend got a hermit crab with a painted shell and it died on the way home. she got another one later(also with a painted shell) and it died the next day. so unless u like dead crabs, i wouldn't get one with apainted shell.
Reply:i think they r cute!!! but ur right natural ones can b prety 2!!!:) i like the idea of finding a shell on like the beaach on a trip or somthin and using that so its like ur hermit crab is 'wearing' a memorie. :)