My family’s first pet was Crawly – a pet hermit crab. As Crawly got bigger (which he did since we tried to feed him lots of different food) – he had to move into a bigger shell. Since hermit crabs do not make their own shells – you have to try to provide them with a larger, new one. At one point – we tried to give him a new shell, and he rejected it. Hermit crabs can be choosy about what kind of new shell they want to call home.
Project Shelter is a project which uses DIY 3-D printers and design to create custom shells for hermit crabs. Miles Lightwood initiated the project as an artist-in-residence at MakerBot to see if 3-D printed would be appealing to crabs. The project is currently others to design shells for the project.
The project promotes that the hermit crabs will face a housing shortage as the worldwide shell supply is decreasing and that digital design skills and 3D printing capabilities can give hermit crabs another option: 3D printed shells.
At this point of the project – they are making plastic prototypes – the final shell material has not bee chosen. The goal of the project is go create a printable hermit crab shell for domestic use thus reducing harvesting of natural shells. A crab habitat – called a “crabitat” has been created in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, so that shells that are printed out can be tested.
If you have a 3d printer – or can do digital design – submit your designs the prototype website.
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