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!