Happy Birthday to Me! (Ghost the Baby Bonsai Giant)

GhostInTheShell

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My name is Ghost. The video above features one clip or photo from all 365 days I have been imprisoned. Watch me grow!

I was once a small crustacean larva living in the Yucatán Caribbean Sea. I found a tiny beautiful shell, but the next thing I know I was out of the sea. Looking around, I witnessed two huge, sunburnt aliens. They didn’t see me at first because I was hiding and scared. Soon, while admiring MY shell, they noticed my tiny eyes and were horrified that they had accidentally crab-napped me from my home. Feeling a sense of duty and fearing that returning me to the ocean would result in my death, they decided instead to learn how to care for a marine hermit crab.

Little did they know, I am not a mere regular baby crab. I have revealed to them through my 11 molts that I am, in fact, a baby Giant Marine Hermit Crab. They were eventually able to identify my species once they learned that my red and white banded antennae are unique to my species. My captors realized my true growth potential and became determined to keep me as small as possible to maximize my quality of life. In this way, I have become a bonsai crab, if you will. I am scientifically significant.

To minimize my growth, they diligently ration both my food intake and the size of the shells in the tank.
To keep my crab brain enriched, they give me small shells to play with and custom-built me an acrylic crab-safe bridge that I climb, interact with, and destroy at my leisure. I spend all day patrolling/investigating my shells and messing around on my bridge.
To keep me safe, they only allow crab-safe animals in the tank with me. I murdered my first two tank mates (Cerith Snails) and wore their shells to signify my victories. My new tank-mates (four Bumble Bee Snails) are faster and can usually escape my claws….especially when my captors use skewers to meddle with my murders.
To keep me healthy, they test my water religiously and document my behavior daily. They are careful to keep my nano-tank prison under-stocked and clean. I prefer day light to blue light, so my owners are constantly fighting algae, but I actually like the algae and so do my many pod pals.

One year into my imprisonment, I occupy a conch shell about 1inch long. I strongly prefer conch shells to any other kind of shell. I like to climb, pounce, fight bamboo skewers, and dig in the sand. I have been on an airplane. I have had parties thrown for me. I am, perhaps, the most loved crab in the world.

I have attached a chart that compares my activity (subjectively measured on a 1-10 scale by my attentive captors) with my molts. Some cool trends.

If anyone has any questions for me (the crab) or advice for my caregivers, please reach out.
Stay salty.

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