A Nebraska housewife rose to internet fame thanks to her pet rainbow crab Howie, who she says can smile and use sign language.
“I think people love the way I love it,” owner Laura Porter said. the world herald of omaha this week from your crustacean friend. Between TikTok and Instagram, Howie has around 600,000 followers. Videos of him reach viewing figures in the millions.
Porter told the newspaper that editing Howie’s videos is now a full-time job. She said the first video she made with Howie, which showed her cleaning his shell of bacteria with a toothbrush, got six million views.
The crafty influencer also donned a series of hats on Howie in an attempt to humanize her, with many arachnophobes saying the clawed sea creature looked too much like a giant spider for their liking.
In a December Q&A with fans on TikTok, Porter said she bought Howie at an aquatic pet store in 2016 and that it was her daughter who named the crustacean after America’s Got Talent judge Howie Mandel, to even though Clawed Howie was female.
The family brought Howie, part of a species known as cardisoma armatum typically found in the wild in West Africa, into the family after their daughter’s fish died. The family even bought Howie a 55-gallon aquarium to live in.
Laura Porter bought her pet crab Howie for her daughter in 2016, now the crustacean is a social media star
Howie’s first video featuring Porter cleaning his shell with a toothbrush, racked up six million views.
Porter said this week that “the world went crazy” when he started putting Howie in a hamster ball and letting him roll around the house.
Porter described how he taught Howie how to high-five, saying that the crab began to do it voluntarily while having its claws stroked.
Many of Howie’s thousands of followers refer to Porter’s cat, Siren, as his ‘frenemy’. Porter even told the World-Herald that one of the crab’s favorite pastimes is to pinch the cat.
Porter also said his beloved pet’s favorite snacks are peanut butter and cheese sandwiches, and that he feeds Howie plenty of calories so he can achieve “maximum health.”
When asked by a fan what foods Howie can’t eat, Porter said, “I avoid chocolate, fruit pits, acidic foods, hot peppers and onions.”
In his interview with the World-Herald, Porter explained that Howie also likes meatloaf. He went on to say that “the world went crazy” when he started putting Howie in a hamster ball and letting him roll around the house.
‘I’ve lost count of how long it’s moved. Howie actually reached the maximum size of its species for its genus,” Porter told Howie supporters in December.
Howie goes for a walk in his Omaha neighborhood with his owner
Porter described how he taught Howie how to high-five, saying that the crab began to do it voluntarily while having its claws stroked.
Porter said that when Howie is afraid, the crab runs to his owner and that he enjoys watching television.
When asked by a fan what foods Howie can’t eat, Porter said, “I avoid chocolate, fruit pits, acidic foods, hot peppers and onions.”
Molting is the process in which crabs shed their shells and begin to grow new ones. Howie sheds twice a year. Crabs like Howie are prone to shell rot and most live more than five years in captivity.
‘They can die from molting. Molting is a very, extremely delicate process where it regrows its jaws, intestines, and stomach lining, and if it is not properly separated from the moult, it will die. The last moult was very successful and I’m very happy,” added Porter.
Although Porter joked that “right before she moves in, she gets really cranky.”
Porter told the World-Herald that he taught Howie how to touch his mouth when he is hungry and that they are working on more sign language and that the crab “tolerates” hats that are attached to his shell with medical tape.
He said that when Howie is scared, the crab runs to its owner and that she likes TV.
‘I can pick her up and snuggle her. I can put it in my head. She doesn’t trust anyone else… I’m just doing my best to make her as happy and healthy as possible, that’s the right thing to do,” Porter added.
