Straws! Expert advice & opinions wanted

[Guest]

I've seen countless threads on BASIC strawberry care (large tank, deep strong salt water, higher temp/humid, etc)

And I keep hearing about straws not surviving, even in these conditions. I've never even heard of any survivng for more than a couple years.

So, what needs to be done to give straws a long happy life?

Is there any research on straw care?

Straws, like other crabs, can live 30+ years in the wild. What does it take to make this happen in captivity as well?

[Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs]

Well, I have only had my Straws for a few weeks, but they seem to be doing well so far. I am going to make sure they get fruits and veggies that can be found in their native habitat in the Indonesia area; so maybe that will help for a longer life.

[Guest]

Strawberries seem to be a more fragile species that can't handle much stress. I would suggest using the basic strawberry care, but also using lots of carotine(sp?) which is found in colorful foods such as carrots and tomatoes. Lots of calcium, and the other important minerals and supplements. I think that more research is required before we can completely meet all of their needs.


~tess
middle-school-crab-addict

[Hermie Lover]

I have been lucky enough to have my straws for a little over a year now.
I keep them with 4-5 of their kind, and humidity around 90%. Temps are around 85 F.

I have a bowl of fresh and salt water for them. I also have some E's and smaller PP's in there with them, they seem to get along good, I have even seem them sleeping together in a tree or coco hut.

I have noticed that they like different foods though. Mine seem to prefer more fruits, over veggies. Especially honeydew. I usually put a piece od strawberry, honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple in there. The honeydew is gone first, then the pineapple. They like boiled shrimp over other meats I have offered. My straws are golf ball to baseball sized.

They love my second level moss pits, I see them sleeping in them all the time. They also LOVE to make tunnels.

I do think they are a breed that needs more care than the PP or Es. And I have noticed they are much braver (won't fall when you come in the room), and they are very easy going.

I wouldn't take a million for them

[Dawn]

I don't think they like or take to being handled too much either...It's just my opinion but we lost every single one last year after we gave the whole crew a time in the playpen while we deep cleaned the tank. They seemed to handle it okay but when we put them back in the cleaned tank all the straws buried and a month or so later we found every one of them dead during a cleaning. They hadn't been moved or dug up but they were all dead. I had three at the time.