Jumping Crab

[vretallin]

I watched my crab Roberta scale the glue in the corner above her food dish and proceeded to wander upside down under the lid of her tank. I figured this is normal and when she was ready she would come down. Two hours later she hadn't come down, but I still figured the mighty climber would be alright. After all, I certainly am not the first, and absolutely not the last, crab parent whose crabs have decided to scurry up the tank sealant.

Surprise, 8 hours later, my poor crab was still dangling from the lid. There were two places she could have gotten herself down, but when I was watching her last night, she never stopped in quite the right place or let herself far enough down in those particular spots. She would in other areas, but not there. I really thought she would figure it out.

So I gently took the lid off and placed her on the kitchen counter with some honey to entice

I turned her over and set her down until she decided to climb off. I set down some honey for her as a treat and hopefully get her to destress a little from the shock of hanging all night and then being on the kitchen counter and the subsequent handling I would need to do to get her back in her tank.

She did drink a little of the honey and then I picked her up to get her back in the tank. She decided to walk on my hand a little, which she has done before in the rare times I've had her out. I had my other hand up in case she wandered too far on the hand she was sitting in. I held the hand she was sitting in up close to me with my other hand up and next to it in case she wandered too far in my hand. I was not prepared for this. She literally jumped from the middle of my palm to the floor, sailing over my other hand. Thank goodness it's carpeted, but I'm horrified. I scooped her up and set her in the tank on her favorite area, the second level, she loves to hang out up there and has slept there.

She jumped again. She launched herself over the side to the dirt below then ran into the coconut hideaway. I'm stunned and praying she will be alright. I didn't know crabs would jump like that. I had to google it and found the archived thread where others talked about their crabs jumping. I'd had her in my hand like that before and usually she just wandered around. Poor thing was terrified and probably exhausted from hanging on the tank lid. It doesn't surprise me they can jump, every animal can jump, I just didn't think she would jump from my hand like that. Especially since she hadn't tried to before. But she wasn't exhausted before. I'm just horrified she jumped four feet to the floor. I'm sure in the wild that would be nothing, but on a cement floor, even if covered in carpet, that can't be good for her.

Oh, and yes I will be wrapping the lid in saran wrap now. I hadn't needed to do it for humidity sake. Missouri is plenty humid, even in winter, so I've had an easy time keeping the humidity levels up. The plan has always been to get the glass lid, but that will likely be a Christmas present.

[Crabinski]

I watched my crab Roberta scale the glue in the corner above her food dish and proceeded to wander upside down under the lid of her tank. I figured this is normal and when she was ready she would come down. Two hours later she hadn't come down, but I still figured the mighty climber would be alright. After all, I certainly am not the first, and absolutely not the last, crab parent whose crabs have decided to scurry up the tank sealant.

Surprise, 8 hours later, my poor crab was still dangling from the lid. There were two places she could have gotten herself down, but when I was watching her last night, she never stopped in quite the right place or let herself far enough down in those particular spots. She would in other areas, but not there. I really thought she would figure it out.....

....She literally jumped from the middle of my palm to the floor, sailing over my other hand. Thank goodness it's carpeted, but I'm horrified. I scooped her up and set her in the tank on her favorite area, the second level, she loves to hang out up there and has slept there.

She jumped again. She launched herself over the side to the dirt below then ran into the coconut hideaway. I'm stunned and praying she will be alright. I didn't know crabs would jump like that. I had to google it and found the archived thread where others talked about their crabs jumping. I'd had her in my hand like that before and usually she just wandered around. Poor thing was terrified and probably exhausted from hanging on the tank lid. It doesn't surprise me they can jump, every animal can jump, I just didn't think she would jump from my hand like that. Especially since she hadn't tried to before. But she wasn't exhausted before. I'm just horrified she jumped four feet to the floor. I'm sure in the wild that would be nothing, but on a cement floor, even if covered in carpet, that can't be good for her.

There is virtually no limit to the ways our crabs can freak us out ! In the wild, they do fall or jump from branches and may not always land on sand or plants but may drop onto rocky surfaces. We tend to stress out when they fall or jump in our care because we're in "protective parent" mode. Felix, the crab that has been with me longest (7+ years), decided to do a bungee drop without the bungee cord shortly after I got him -- that, too, was a good four feet from hand to carpeted cement floor. After being returned to the crabitat, it took Felix about ten minutes to peek out of his shell and then a few more minutes before he started climbing around again -- the experience didn't faze him in the least but scared the #@!% out of me!

Just a suggestion, but you could add something to your tank (a branch, vines, fish net) that makes it easy to climb up to the top and easy to get back down. Two of my crabs, Big Enzo and Mr Pinch, are fond of working their way along the glass lid (either along the midpoint horizontal hinge or where the lid meets the tank lip) and have easy access to the top via fish net and vines. It's a hoot to see one of them venture across from the vine to fish net side or vice versa but they'll often just hang there for hours in no-man's land. I think they fall asleep and loosen their grip as I've heard the distinct "clink-thunk" of a shell hitting the glass, then the substrate, as the crab falls to the surface 12" down. Never any residual after effects from "fall-down crab" other than the startled "how did I get here?" look .

[vretallin]

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing the hand to floor dive. I didn't think about the fact they don't always fall on soft ground. There are plenty of rocks on the sandy beaches. Which is what I've primarily thought about them living on. Of course, they live in the jungles and many other areas.

I tried to wrap the lid, but saran wrap never works so when it didn't want to cling to the lid I gave up and added a plastic canvas wall. So if any of them decide to scale the glue again they have a way back down.

Roberta is out and about and doing well. Climbing as if nothing happened. Whew.

I do have plants coming from Amazon, but they haven't gotten here yet. It will be a few more days yet. Building the tank and the levels is a process. Plus I need plenty to rearrange it for them to give them plenty to explore and find. Don't want them getting bored.

[vretallin]

Here's the wall I added.


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[amart24]

Here's the wall I added.


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How did you secure the mesh to your pools? Right now mines ziptied at the top forming ramps, but they dont seem to be getting the hang ofit.

[vretallin]

How did you secure the mesh to your pools? Right now mines ziptied at the top forming ramps, but they dont seem to be getting the hang ofit.

After I figured out the shape I would need for the pool, I used a hair dryer to get it to permanently form and made it long enough to bury the mesh most of the way down to the bottom of the tank. No zipties or other measures required. The other arch that is over the wood is formed with the hair dryer and inserted in the sand/coco mixed substrate just enough to hold it. Even my biggest crab, 1 1/2" shell opening, can climb on them and not have trouble.

I planned, if I had any difficulty, to use a shell or stone tied to the ends to weigh them down and help keep them in place, but I never needed it. I think the crabs love to climb in and out of the pool just to use the ramp. LOL.

Are your crabs much of a climber?

[amart24]

Great info, thanks!

Yes they love to climb. I have climbing mats on two walls that they are constantly all over.

[vretallin]

Glad it was useful. I thought all my crabs would climb, but I only have 2 who really love it.


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[Crabinski]

Love the hair dryer tip! I'll definitely use it when it's time to replace the current zip-tied ramps. It's funny: all four crabs loooove to climb but only one (Big Enzo) actually uses the ramps in/out of the pools...the others either enter/exit via the fish netting or plants or just throw a leg over the edge of the pool and hoist themselves in/out !

[vretallin]

My biggest crab, Sophie does the leg hoist too. I've seen my new rescue crab try that, but I think she's unsure about that. Lol. I just added a new soap dish & put a twisty mesh bridge between the old & new one. I have a small shower candy I'll add soon. They'll have a nice jungle gym in there to keep them engaged.


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[Ilovehermies74]

What is that plastic stuff u used on the back of the tank and where did u get it

[KellyCrabbieLove]

http://www.michaels.com/darice-plastic- ... as&start=1

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