Long time, No post!

Its been a while crabbie people! My laptops fan took a poo, so I am currently typing on it from atop an old box fan. Ghetto/redneck fix, but it works! Anyways that's why I haven't been on.

I DO have update pics and info though!
My crabs have tripled in size since February when I got them, and I couldn't be happier. They kind of scare me now with how big their claws are. I'm still doing a false bottom enclosure, but with a good 6 inches of sand to dig in, I have come to terms with that my crabs are super diggers and need it. They also are terrible tank re decorators.
I'm still feeding them a mix of fresh fruit and greens, dried red shrimp, crab pellets, millet, and occasional mealies. They are still provided with a bowl each of fresh (bottled spring) water and salt (bottled spring with a measure of hermie salt) water. Their substrate is mainly sand, with a bit of soil mix in the bottom, kept moist at all times with a false rainfall every evening. I scoop their droppings as i see them and change sand about once a month.
I keep a 50watt red bulb on at all times, in a room that's between 76-79 so that their tank temp is approx 86 surface. I DO NOT keep a under tank heater or heat pad, they need a place to escape the heat.
I do not really handle them. They can cause injury to themselves if they pinch, do not let go, and walk away. or in the struggle to get away can damage their legs or eyes. I would like to some day... but I don't see it happening any time soon.

Both of mine have molted at least 5 times now! and I see them out just about every night. (see photos, compared Boo's first and only preserved molt to them now)

Learning tips:
Tip #1- DONT FREAK OUT. Calm the eff down, Its taken me a long time to learn this. However its a great tip when dealing with these, especially ones like mine that are fresh caught youngins. Its imperative you and your crabs that you (excuse my french) keep your shit together. I cant even begin to explain how many times I up and lost it before during and after Boo's death, though her dying did help me to chill a bit. You stressing doesn't help you or your crabs one bit. The more you stress; the more you bother them to make sure they're okay, the more they stress, and the quicker they may die or get sick! Take it from me and leave them be, let them do their thing. Jack is finally starting to get used to me passing by the tank everyday, occasionally he still runs, but something he does stay out and notices I DON'T HURT HIM. I'm not a bird, i'm not going to eat him. Bubbles is still kind of a spaz... but I think thats just her personality.
Tip #2- Provide them with both fresh and salt water no matter what. Though scientific research on the animal shows that they mainly go to sea only to reproduce, they do wander to the sea on occasion. And my crabs seem to enjoy "tasting" the salt water and taking a quick dip in it. I always keep their sand moist with fresh though as thats what they wet their gills with daily. You will not be able to breed your crabs, so it may not seem like you should have salt water, but trust me they like it and it doesnt hurt.
Tip #3- If they havent been seen in a week or so, let them go! Do not dig them out! They are probably preparing to molt. Care sheets and websites on them estimate it may only take a week or so but the process can be so much longer. Recently a crab owner emailed me asking for advice and it reminded me how long its been since I updated and rewrote my learnings. Your crab may only be "pretty" for a week or two at a time and look ugly and ready to molt the rest. Your crab may take 3 weeks to molt. or they could only be ugly for a few days and molt and be done within a week, It varies by crab depending on their care and the crab itself'... it also varies per molt. Bubbles will disappear for weeks and not even molt.
Now if its been more than 4 weeks and you are really worried they dug away and died, DONT DIG THEM OUT just yet, take a thin reed, a chopstick, or something long and thin and not metal, poke it around in the substrate gently. if you hear scuttling, they are fine leave them be! Keep in mind not to handle them after they resurface, sometimes they stay under to harden and other times they dont. Jack molted above ground in plain view before!

Well thats it for now, this got lengthy... PIC TIME!

Jack (Left) and Bubbles (Right) fighting for the best spot to hide during tank day.

Jackie Boy <3 Look at those claws!

Bubbles =] Please ignore the sand on her one eye, she wouldn't let me rinse her well.

Jack posing all cute

Last one, you can really see his mouth well here. 

I guess thats all for now! Ill try to think of anything new I should post about. FYI I post a lot of Jack and not a lot of Bubbles because shes a spaz and he stays still very well.

Fresh Molts and False Bottoms: How Im trying to get them to bury less and come out more.

  For those of you who have followed my blog, You know my crabs by name. Female, Bubbles: Male, Jack.
For those of you who haven't, there you go! Haha, also for those who have yet to read any of this, I am not an expert. I do not claim to be an expert. What you will read here is what I know from my now 4 or so months experience with these animals and with what research I've done. I also dont claim what I do is right regardless, it just has worked for me. What will be posted here in this post and in others has included my experiments to try different things, my trial and error if you will.

On to this post.
  Jack has molted for a second time, and is BEAUTIFUL. Bubbles still has yet to molt at all. Supposedly they will stop eating a few days to a week before molting, well shes still eating steadily. But she looks so awful! Just wait until you see the photos I will post at the bottom. I would think I am doing something wrong, but Jack looks lovely. I'm still chalking it up to she needs to molt bad.
  I also am starting to devise a plan to get the to come out more, bury less, and hopefully not run ina nd hide the second I come in the room. Id like to actually see them more. and eventually tame them. From what weve deduced, they are wild caught (greeeeaaaat), and will probably take a long time to adjust period.
  What Ive done (shown sort of in photos) is turned over the container I used to try running water previously, and put some large heavy rocks to make a graduating side. The crabs naturally will go down slopes to find water so I would like to keep a gradient of land. The rocks are large and heavy enough that they cannot move them or get under them. 

First Attempt at False Base (as of Sept 2012 or so I put a later of Plexiglass down too)

  

I then put down my soil layer (already shown above), and layered in a sand/soil mixture as my substrate, I think its not as pretty or clean looking as plain sand, but it makes stronger burrows and holds moisture better than just sand. I bury in small terracotta pots for hides and give them a little leeway on sand so they can close themselves in as they molt since there are two of them, and add decoration.

  I make sure to bury the water dishes for ease of access. It makes it harder on me, but easier for them haha. We will see how this works and I will post an update in a few weeks. I generally do a deep clean once a month, but have done it more often recently bc of changing tanks and all those running water problems *sigh*

Now on to the pictures of the crabs!

 Jack, about to take a dip in some fresh water.

Freshly Molted!

So cute.

Bubbles, being defensive.

She just needs to molt already... so little.

Thats all for now. Hope you liked the photos!

Update: No More Running water

 Well, The water didnt work out.
Nutshell: It leaked. I dont know why but it wasnt the container itself. I have switched back to water bowls.
Im also now in a 20 gallon. The boyrfriend wanted his 30 breeder back, and with 2 crabs I didnt need all that room. They seem to like it.
Bubbles will not be shown, shes juuuust about to molt so all i did with her today was pull her out to put in new sand, and put her back in.
Jack is WONDERFUL. Beautiful. Nice dark back with bright white spots, bright red orange underside and legs, gorgeous purple claws. Hes looking super healthy =D Success!!
Now I can only hope Bubbles first molt goes smoothly.

Pictures below- New tank, and Jack!

Running water: Part two

Okay, second time around. This time, caulkless and REMOVABLE!

I previously mentioned that I bought a tupperware shoe box, trimmed the top and lost the lid. I used this as my water section, and had room to set up my saltwater dish on the same side. I also did an inch of plain soil on the bottom of the tank before i laid sand to keep some more moisture, and because Bubble and Jack seemed to like the soil they were in for a week while i gathered sand and set up the 30 gal again.
 What I can say so far is that i like this way better, they liked it, a little too much, they got themselves under the waterfall, and i had to dig them out because it scared me for a sec. in the future ill probably let them be.

 I also spent some time handling them before putting them in, i scoop under them and try not to put my hand over them unless im doing an actual transfer, this helps them feel less threatened. They seemed to calm down a bit and chill after a few minutes. Ill definitely have to do that now and again and see just how handleable i can get them!

 Pictures Ahoy!

Whole 30 gallon Breeder

Hide side (many hides buried for them to choose from)

Water side, Running fresh water with filter and salt water dish

Running water, filter, stones to quiet the flow and move it across the length, there are stones behind it keeping it upright and stacked to keep the crabs from getting stuck in there, also some fake plant stacks to try and make it look nicer haha.

A Death in the Family

  I am saddened to say, my midsize female has passed. We left her in a separate container as noted in the previous post and treated her as live, but she began to stink horrible and bloat to the point of *gag* explosion. I think she died that day when I moved her, when she stopped clicking. I still feel like it was my fault, I shouldn't have moved her. But she also may have been eaten or still died in her fragile state regardless. Im taking this as a learning experience, and hope when Bubbles molts (because Jack did already underground and completely ate his shell) that she stays underground too and doesnt surface and scare the crap out of me.
  As far as the 1/4 tank goes, it was a flop (also noted in previous post). The crabs at the moment are in a 10 gallon with natural plant food free topsoil. Due to some transportation and time errors, and a walmart employee being an idiot, I could not get the natural play sand I like. Soil will have to do and I think I like it, but am still gonna stick with sand (or mostly sand) when I get the 30 gal breeder up and running again.
  The 30 gallon got freshly scrubbed, sanitized, and detoxed today. As did everything that usually resides within, all is prepared to be set up when I can get out to Home Depot for sand. This time, I am still doing running water but in the safe and kinda redneck way... Let me explain.
 I went to walmart, and got a 97 cent tupperware shoe box. It holds 6 quarts, and fits perfectly in the tank i have with room on the end for my salt water dish. I cut the top off, making it 3 inches deep, and smoothed the edges with a lighter. Hopefully when it all comes together it looks okay, if not oh well ill live. Im planning on hooking up the filter as i did before, just now its in a REMOVABLE and CAULKLESS section that will be easier to drain and clean... not to mention completely nontoxic!

 ] I will take this time to mention yet again, that this is my first time owning these crabs, I have had them since February and am learning as I go. I decided to do this blog because of the lack of good info out there, and post how I work with my crabs and what I think may work best. They are known in pet trade to die quickly and be tricky, so you get to learn along with me. I AM IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM SAYING WHAT I KNOW IS BEST. As you can see in this post and last post, I screwed up. I am not perfect and am not a pro. This is just my adventure with an animal that I think makes a pretty neat pet. [

 Until next time readers... I hope this is helping people.

^ Jack, My big strong boy ^

Trouble in Paradise

Okay, so this gets a little complicated down the line. But I feel the need to write this as it happened last night.
-For reference, Jack is my male, the biggest. Boo is my medium female, missing two back legs. Bubbles is my small female. All are generally the same size but I can tell the difference.-
 The water side was a flop, about 24+ hours after the water was put in, there was an inch drop in waterline and it went into the sand. I had to do what I could to drain it and lay stone so they could walk around.

  On to the point of this post... Last night I am on my way to bed, and i hear a loud strange clicking. Now these crabs make noises, you hear their legs walking on hard things, you hear them digging and scraping or snapping their claws, but they also click. This was not a normal click. So I looked in and saw Jack laying awkwardly on the sand. legs in normal curved matter, but tilted flat. Mouth and front laying flat. He was the one clicking so strange.
Now I was worried, then I turn on the light and theres little to no orange color to him. I immediately think of the caulk, did some of the chemicals seep into the water that got into his sand?! They wet their gills with puddled water in the sand sometimes. Oh no!! I gently scooted him onto a piece of paper, and transferred him to a lidded container with a hide. I sprayed him with water to moisten the container and him and watched him go more and more limp, and heard the clicking slow and then stop. Did I kill him!? I had to get the others out (if the sand was poisoned they soon would be too!)
 So I start digging and find... a bright red orange crab.. Jack? Jacks the only one with red orange. Bubbles is the only other one with all legs... but this ones so big and shiny and with a soft shell, Bubbles must have molted! Transferred the REAL Jack to a separate container, rocks, dish of water, hide, misted. Hes fine.
 So I dig for my third... and find a tiny crab. Bubbles?! Boo was never that teeny. Oh my word I am a bad crab mommy who cant tell her crabs apart. In truth and reality it was BOO who was dying next to me... with all her legs? She must have molted... Sure enough after all crabs were in their containers, i found her entire old shell. =( What have I done?
  -You are not to handle a crab after molting. Molting is stressful to the animal and commonly makes them extremely lethargic until their insides expand and their shell hardens. Handling during molting may cause death-  and I handled her... and I moved her!
  Currently. They are all still in separate containers, not ideal size or substrate. Not ideal at all. But I have no more sand and am not moving Boo. Boo is still appearing dead. her eyes are mostly sunken in, still not moving. I feel terrible. Like a horrible person, I should never have touched them but I still fear the sand may be toxic and dont want to risk that. I dont dare touch Boo for a couple days to a week, to be sure she is dead or to be sure she is alive and regaining strength. It can take them time to strengthen. Until then I wont bother her. just look in through the side. This is what the molt looks like:

1/4 Tank: Accomplished.

Can I just let out a big YAYYY!!!!
Tonight we successfully assembled my homemade (kinda ghetto) 1/4 tank.
 Basically, we dug the crabs out, and stuck them each in a separate lidded container with moist paper towel and a hide for the next 24 hours. Tossed all the sand (BAD IDEA, but Good Idea), and cleaned my 30 breeder out. We cut a rectangle of 3 inch high plexiglass to fit as a waterproof barrier, and sealed with caulk... white ... caulk.
Ideal? not so much. Does it work and was it free? Absolutely. We set that in place, sealed it and waited. And then just tonight set it all up! It was a good idea to toss all the sand bc it was stankkyyy.
Bad idea because... Im low on sand! As of right now they dont have quite enough, but theres enough to cover the hides and bottom so it will do. I made sure to use multi sized stones in the water, with places to climb out. the filter is turned into a bit of a waterfall.
Here it is!:

Update: The caulk is crap and is peeling. but the water isnt leaking or anything... yet. I plan to get more sand, get my hands on some better and CLEAR caulking. and re do it when i can!

Update: My Tank

No real pictures to this post but I thought I would mention I purchased a filter system today, and have plans to set up a 1/4 water section to my 30 breeder. I got the Marina i25, Pics and more info after it gets set up in a week or two!

Is your Crab a Halloweener? Common Mistaken Identities

This post is based on research of description, and probably photographic matches of 4 commonly confused crabs. One of which is an actual Halloween Moon Crab, the other three are of different species and even genus. These were chosen based on my opinion of which were confused the most in name, photo, description and locations.



Rainbow Crab (Cardisoma armatum)
This crab (and just recently I realized other species of Cardisoma) I see photographically confused with Halloween crabs most often. This crab is from the same family (Grecarcinidae) but a different Genus, Cardisoma.
This crab goes by Patriot crab, and Moon crab (confusionnn).
Far from Halloween crabs, these babies are from the coast of Western Africa. They can reach 7 inches wide on the carapace (back).
Color difference is that these crabs bodies are more blue/violet. The have whitish claws and underbody, red orange legs, and most notable other than the body; they have light eyes.



Purple Land Crab (Grecarcinus ruricola)
I include this crab because its in the same family as the two listed below (includes Halloween Crabs), and because the name has gotten mixed with Halloween Crab photos often.
Also goes by the name Zombie Crab and Black Land Crab.
This one is found in the Caribbean, Western Cuba, all the way to Eastern Barbados as well as other places here and there.
G. ruricola can reach around 5 inches wide on the carapace (back). They have multiple color morphs: Black, yellow, red, and green. As you can see in the photo they are very different from those two below, they are dark all over and do not have the large sections of bright colors. Rather, they are darker, with bright accents.


Blackback Land Crab (Grecarcinus lateralis)
This is the most commonly confused I have seen in person. Twice now in pet stores near me I have seen these advertised as Halloween Crabs.
These also go by the name Bermuda land Crab, and get confused with the Christmas Island red land crab. Also from the family Gecarcinidae, this crab is along the Atlantic coast from South Padre Island, Texas; to Venezuela. Also found in the Florida Keys and Caribbean. They stay mainly along the dry sands, 25 feet above high tide.
These crabs reach up to 4 and a half inches wide along the carapace (back). They're are mostly reddish, orange, or lighter all over, aside from the large black spot on their back. This spot varies in size and shape.




THIS IS A HALLOWEEN MOON CRAB (Grecarcinus quadratus)
This is the crab I have. Part of the family Gecarcinidae, along with G. ruricola and G. lateralis.
Also goes by the names halloween crab, moon crab, white spot crab.

This crab comes from the pacific coast from Mexico all the way to Peru, Mainly known as from Costa Rica. They live in mangroves, Rain forests, and along sand dunes.
Said to get to 2 inches wide along the body, but have heard up to 4.
Has a dark purple/black carapace (body), mostly purple claws, orange legs and lower body (leaning more towards red or yellow depending on male or female it is assumed)
Distinguishing accents are noted as BLACK eyes, with two red, orange, yellow, white, or even maroonish spots, one by each eye; as well as commonly a yellow or orange "mouth spot" or "mustache". and two white or yellowish spots on the lower back.

My Crabs

Yay! My Babies!

Jack the first day I got him.

Boo the first day I got her.

Bubbles the first day I got her.

Boo Now. (Nearly 2 months later)

Jack Now, (Nearly 2 months later)

Bubbles Now. (Nearly 2 months later)

Greetings, From Crab Land. And my version of a care sheet

For starters, I do not claim to be an expert or even know for sure that what I am doing with my Halloween Moon Crabs is correct or right. I do not post anything as proven fact. What you will read in this blog is purely from my experience and what has worked for me.

So heres some background:
I got my Halloween Moon Crabs (Gecarcinus quadratus) February 25th of this year at the Northwestern Berks Reptile Show (aka the Hamburg show). I dont recall who the vendor was as it was VERY busy and hectic. I got 3 1 inch crabs, to my eye 2 females and a male. (It is said that females have yellow orange legs, males red orange)
I researched a TON before getting them and found all the info very conflicting. Which is why I decided to do this! I see a lot of people saying they are difficult or dont last long, the care sheets are incorrect/conflicting/totally strange... Can a girl get some solid info?!

First off, This is about HALLOWEEN MOON CRABS. Not Rainbow crabs, or halloween HERMITS... Rainbows are different though their care may be similar. The crab itself is different.
Halloween Moon Crabs come from Costa Rica and are LAND CRABS, have black and dark purple bodies, lavender to bright purple claws, and orange legs. They have yellow to orange "eye spots", and two white spots on their backs (photos will be shown in another post). They have BLACK eyes. Even though they are LAND CRABS they do have gills and DO need to be able to submerge into water.
They are crafty and can climb, please remember to have a tightly fitting lid!


Next, The three biggest things I saw that conflicted and were confusing were Temperature, Substrate (land), and Water.

Temperature: I have seen everything from mid 60's to high 80's, and people complaining about every single one. These crabs come from Costa Rica, so after seeing some really strange info I just looked up what Costa Ricas average temps were. They are in that range, but stay in between 70 and 80. As far as MY crabs care is concerned. I've kept their temp never below 70, and no higher than 88. Yes. Costa Rica does get hotter and cooler than that, but In my eyes keeping it in the mid-range is most likely the best bet for survival.
I use a 75 watt red light 24/7 at the moment, but may take that off when it hits summer and my room is warm on its own. They are in a window to give them a day and night cycle.

UPDATE 11/26/2012- my room stays at a 76-79 range, and I now use a 50watt red bulb on my 20gal tank, it keeps the crabs around 82-86 and they LOVE that temp

Substrate:
Or land. In the informational (not care sheet info) articles I have read about these crabs, the say that they live along river banks in mud and sand, stay mostly by the river, but will travel back and forth to the ocean as well. They also LOVE to burrow and dig. I know this from personal experience. The information on them says that in the wild they will make burrows up to 5 feet deep into the ground!
I have my 3 small crabs in a 30 gallon breeder tank with just play sand as their land. the left side has up to 10 inches and the right has about 2 inches. It is a nice slope and has about 9-12 man made hides. Your crabs will need plenty of places to hide and dig. I used Terra Cotta pots buried with the opening out (photos later) but also left places for them to dig. The sand MUST be kept moist at ALL times. This is so they can make burrows that stand up. if it caves in thats a problem.
Dont be shocked if they redecorate.... they do that.
I also have fake plants to help hide their holes, and pebbles and rocks for them to move around.
You may use peat moss as well, but packed moist sand is better for digging solid tunnels.
The land SHOULD be sloped, with water at the low end, as it would in the wild on the bank of a river. Running water is best, and may coax them to go in, but I havent gotten a filter yet for that.

WATER:
This is such a back and forth issue I see on all care sheets. The fact of the matter is no one seems to be sure whether or not these crabs NEED salt water to survive. They do need de-chlorinated fresh water AT ALL TIMES. Enough to submerge and wet their gills. Halloween Moon crabs are known to flit back and forth between ocean and river, so I personally keep 2 dishes of water in the tank, changed often to keep bacteria from growing. One of spring water, one of salt (I use a hermit crab salt water kit to make it). I have NEVER seen them go into them in all the time i have had them. But to be sure they wet their gills every time I have changed their tanks and dug them out i have put them into the water for a bit.
They must have an easy way in and out of the water, as they CAN drown.

UPDATE 11/26/2012- Crabs have shown MUCH interest in the salt water now.


Other than those three items, we have Food, Size, Age, and Sex issues to discuss.
These crabs are scavengers. In the wild they eat fruit, leaf litter, and sometimes fish and animal matter.
So in my home, I feed my crabs mango, papaya, apples (and plain unsweetened applesauce), Bananas, Lettuce of all kinds, well rinsed grass, Hermit Crab Food (moistened, is a great staple diet), and for a treat I sometimes give them dried red shrimp (sold as turtle food).
You can also give them crickets, feeder fish, raw plain fish pieces, boiled unseasoned chicken, and other fruits and veggies. You will also need to provide cuttlebone chunks for calcium.

Halloween Moon Crabs in the wild can live to 15 or so years old, and can get to about 4 inches in width (across the body). They give a nasty pinch so be careful when handling. They are also VERY fast. From my experience, they may take a month or more to start to come out at night and dig around. Mine were burrowed for over 3 weeks!

Also to mention, two males should NEVER be housed together. They may fight to the death (or so I have heard.)


Molting:
Other care sheets say about the same thing... I still dont know much about it. They will most likely eat their shed exoskeleton. How often they do it I do not know. Just be patient and dont bug them. Dont dig them out of their burrows unless absolutely necessary.
They may lose a leg or two in a bald molt, but as long as they dont lose one or both claws, or have damage to their eyes, they should be fine. I have one who had 2 legs missing and grew them back in his recent molt, and my female lost two in her molt. They get around just fine. =]



Lastly, and once again. I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW ANYTHING. I could be very wrong.

Thats all I can think of for now. Next post will be photos!