Hermit crabs out of their shells

Osborne Park-based Crazy Crabs holds a unique position among businesses that deal in Australian crustaceans.

While edible shellfish, such as lobster, are a commodity in the fiercely competitive sector, Crazy Crabs prospers as the sole player in a specialist niche of the pet business, having dominated the somewhat exclusive hermit crab market for more than a quarter of a century.

Crazy Crabs director Merv Cooper may be coy about the details of his thriving private enterprise, but Fisheries WA’s 2004-05 annual report shows that 120,500 hermit crabs were caught in that period through a licensed collection process.

All were destined to become one of Mr Cooper’s Crazy Crabs, which sells the trademarked crustaceans throughout Australia.

Mr Cooper initiated the idea of selling land hermit crabs as pets for kids in the late 1970s, and today supplies more than 500 pet shops throughout Australia.

“When I was up north collecting seashells, and camped at One Arm Point, I woke up in the middle of the night with hermit crabs crawling all over me,” Mr Cooper said.

“This is when I had the idea to commercialise them as pets. No-one would believe in my idea but I took 50 home to study them, and started Crazy Crabs the following year.”

The creation of a range of Crazy Crabs accessories soon followed, with Mr Cooper, a printer, designing the image and the packaging of his product.

Crazy Crabs chow, Crazy Crabs climbing sponges, tank deodorant, salt bath crystals, tanks, survival kits, painted spare shells were put on the shelves in Crazy Crab pink packaging, alongside the little critters.

The price of a Crazy Crab ranges from $5 to $10 depending on the size. Throw in a survival kit ($12), a tank ($9.50), a can of Crazy Crab chow ($5) and a couple of spare shells ($1.50 each) and your investment in a Crazy Crab can quickly jump up to $30.

The success of the Crazy Crabs over the years has created a very successful niche brand. There’s a community of Crazy Crabs fans, especially online, to exchange tips about the crustaceans, or to sell the latest painted shell fashion.

Land hermit crabs are usually collected at night by hand along beaches and around mangrove swamps on Western Australia’s northern coast.

Easily tamed and fun to take care of, they initially measure between three and five centimetres.

The crabs live on land but need a saltwater bath every week, are omnivorous and change shells when they grow.

Crazy Crabs sells its principal product as a no-nonsense plaything that doubles as a pet and a great topic of conversation.

Crazy Crabs enjoyed initial success on the east coast, although this easterly push was more the result of a failure to attract local interest.

“Because no-one would buy the Crazy Crabs in Perth at the beginning, I went on the east coast and John Thorn (former owner of what is now the Pets Paradise network) ordered 100 hermit crabs for each of his 120 pet shops. WA followed promptly,” Mr Cooper said.

“You know that you’ve got a successful business when you have a stall at the Perth Royal Show and you can’t see the end of the crowd standing around you handing notes to buy your product.”

At one stage the Crazy Crabs were so successful  that butchers, newsagents and delicatessens started stocking them, as there weren’t as many pet shops in Perth as there are today, Mr Cooper said.