Lea Michele's unusual pets

Lea Michele had 20 hermit crabs as pets when she was little.

The 27-year-old star is a vegetarian and a fierce campaigner for animal rights. It seems she's always been a fan of creatures, revealing she revelled in caring for critters when she was growing up.

"Growing up, hermit crabs were my favourite pet. I had about 20," she told Us Weekly magazine.

Lea's interest in animals hasn't abated and she is proud of that. She can't bear to see them mistreated, which is how her furry friend came into her life.

"I have a cat named Sheila that I found with her litter under a bush on the Paramount lot. [Glee co-star] Heather Morris has her brother," she revealed.

The singer-and-actress was happy to divulge some other things fans might not know about her during the chat. She has 14 tattoos, can open Starburst candy in her mouth and boasts an injury from when she was a toddler.

"I have a scar on my head from a boy throwing a tap shoe at my head in preschool," she admitted.

The star is fiercely proud of her family and has previously said she has the "coolest" dad in the world because he makes her feel so secure. She loves telling people the story of her parents Edith and Marc's relationship.

"My parents have been together since they were 13 years old," she gushed.

"I can recite all of Maria's lines in West Side Story in Spanish. That's the only Spanish I know.

My parents are fluent in Spanish, but they made me try to learn French."

It seems Lea always had a hunch she would be part of the celebrity set when she was younger. She recalled confiding one of her hopes to her mom when she was growing up.

"As a child, I told my mom that I would one day marry [basketball star] Michael Jordan," she laughed.