I don't know what to do anymore.
A week or two ago, I got two hermit crabs from PetSmart. Before getting them, I asked one of the workers what enclosure I should get, and they pointed me towards one of the smaller hermit crab kits. At the time, I honestly didn’t know hermit crabs needed that much care, and I thought the setup would be fine.
After bringing them home, I started researching more and realized hermit crabs actually need much bigger enclosures, deeper substrate, humidity, enrichment, and a lot more than what PetSmart recommended. Since then, I’ve tried getting some better supplies, but I still don’t have everything yet.
The biggest issue is that I want to upgrade their enclosure, but every time I bring it up to my parents, they brush it off and tell me I “don’t know anything about hermit crabs” and that they’ve had hermit crabs before, so the small enclosure is fine. And it's so frustrating, I tried bringing it up to my dad since he's slightly more understanding, but it ended up feeling like I was talking to a wall. But I’ve gotten really attached to these little guys already, and I genuinely don’t want them to die or spend their lives stressed in a tiny space (Because of this, I take them out from time to time to roam around, and they seem so much more lively when I do).
I’ve noticed they seem frustrated in the enclosure and don’t have much room to crawl around or do anything. I’m trying my best to improve their care, but I’m limited because of my parents.
Also, for more context, my parents were COMPLETELY fine with me getting a bigger tank and extra things for them, but now they get horribly mad whenever I try to bring these things up.
Does anyone have advice for me? Should I get a container (like that's used for clothes?) Or are there any affordable upgrade suggestions I could start with first? I just really don't want them to die. They bring me comfort since I can't have dogs, cats, or any other sorts of furry animals.
UPDATE
- My parents are sending me to my grandparents for the week, so I ended up calling them. And they said we could get the needed items for my hermies!