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.

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!