bully crab...

[CrabDad]

We have three crabs in a 30 gal tall tank... Sub is deep, sand and EE, temp good and humidity is high. lots to crawl on and two levels. There is one big crab Carl, and a medium crab Shadow, and a small to med crab named Mufasa (has a lion on his shell)... Mufasa has been around since almost the beginning (about a year) shadow was added about 3-4 months ago after the loss of tiger. Mufasa just came up from a molt and Carl attacked him pretty good. I could here the scratching from across the room and also chirping as I got close. I pulled Carl off and separated the two and later he was rt back at it. I separated them again and placed Carl in a place that it would take him a while to get out of but then I found Shadow also attacking mufasa...separated these two as well... about 630 this morning I saw Carl in his nightly bed down spot but Mufasa was down in a tunnel and shadow was heading in as well.. they buried together. Shadow usually beds down close to Carl, like the same spot. Carl used to attack shadow when I first had them in together as well. Carl and Mufasa USED to get along pretty well too... Do you think the attacks are just a way for carl to establish dominance again?? You think they are really trying to kill each other? "Can't they all just get along" ? should I be worried that shadow is eating mufasa in the tunnel?? Largest shell opening is under 1 inch Carl, Shadow is about 3/4 of an inch and Mufasa is slightly smaller. They all need to move up a size and I am ordering new ones today... Thoughts on how to get the attacks to stop or is this just something they have to work out?

[jonathon1989]

I would isolate Mufasa from the other crabs for at least a week and then reintroduce him to the tank on a trial basis. Also, try dunking all of them into saltwater so they smell the same.


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[crabbycasey]

I had a situation where a few of my crabs kept going after my smaller guy and I got the advice to redunk all of them in the same pool...and it worked! They have not fought once since that moment. Good luck, hope the same for Mufasa!


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[CrabDad]

So after breaking them up several time last night... at 6:30 this morning I went to get coffee and the kids breakfast going and I decided to check them again... I found Carl on top of Mufasa holding him under water in the salt water pool. like he was trying to drown him or something. You cannot make this up. carl is just a jerk I guess. BTW we got these for the kids last Christmas and guess who is having to do all the work... I enjoy watching them but I don't want to see any animal get hurt needlessly. I might try a trick and isolate CARL within the tank itself and see if it calms him down a bit... they should all "smell" the same considering Mufasa has been in there for months underground molting. I don't know...

[crabbycasey]

Mine had also been in the tank together for a while...but the redunk still worked . Could he have a different smell since he molted? Just thoughts...


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[CrabDad]

yeah its all possible - I'm certainly no expert. I ended up pulling all the crabs out and redoing all the structures and different levels I had built up (needed doing anyway). Last night they were all out exploring and running all over everything and climbing. Only one time did Carl jump on Mufasa.... They seemed happy and active. Maybe they were just bored and decided picking on the "new" guy was just something to do. time will tell...

[crabbycasey]

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