Various crab related questions

tymeacrab · Post by **tymeacrab** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 3:11 am

And I would like to add that I have Cutler bones hanging ( I drilled a small hole through the middle of it, to hang it, without using the metal clamp holder it came in, you can buy at any pet shop that carries aquatic turtle or bird supplies, make sure it is just cutler bone and doesn't have vitamin and minerals added to it.

I have 5 Asian martens near me within a 10 mile radius and only 1 of them don't sell the snails, and they are the cheapest spot I have found coconuts at. Most of the grocery stores if they have them want $4 each, the Asian markets usually want $2 each. I save the shell and use it to add to ropes, bridges, etc. Last time I even left a bit of the meat in it layer it out for them to scrape out, they also appreciate a chicken bone, although my big crabby tries to bury it when I give chichen bones, lol

Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 9:04 am

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Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 9:08 am

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PinchersAndShells · Post by **PinchersAndShells** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:24 pm

Meemo4556 wrote: Yeah, I noticed that when I got the humidity up, they were EVERYWHERE! They climbed, walked, ate all of that good stuff. Guess they were just hibernating lol.
Little dorks climb their palm tree on the water bowl, and realize there is no way down, so they retreat in their shell and plop down.
Do you think its worth it to get some ropes or something in a 10g? Or wait until something better?

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I would personally get things in this order: substrate, freshwater and saltwater bowls that are deep enough to submerge in, and then climbing things.
I enjoy finding things cheap of good quality so I'll give a few suggestions:
- For water bowls that they can submerge in you could use tupperware with something in it to help them get in and out (plastic craft mesh works well, as well as shells that are too small, anything they can use to get in and out really)
- Plain cholla wood (good for climbing) can be found for very cheap, a particular vendor I've been recommended is this one: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheChollaShep ... eader-name
- Fish nets from a craft store are good and can be mounted with suction cups, command hooks, zip ties, etc. you can also make them using natural jute or hemp cord and crochet. If you buy them from a craft store, make sure they get boiled before putting them in the tank to get any debris off, they are often used! As for making them, to clean you'd just have to dunk it in saltwater to help keep mold off of it. The pattern I used to make mine was this: http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet ... sh-stitch/
- You can find fake plants at craft stores (make sure they don't have any styrofoam) or you can (little more expensive option) buy them from the pet store in the reptile/amphibian section or the fish section. Pet stores also sell various woods that are safe, such as mopani and cork. Bamboo works as well, and a lot of crabbers like to use the little ladders you can buy in the bird section. There are some woods you need to stay away from (not sure where the list would be on here, but here's a list of safe and unsafe from another website: http://crabstreetjournal.org/blog/2014/ ... safe-wood/)
- A small business you could buy some stuff for your crabs from would be this one: http://isopodconnection.tictail.com/pro ... ccessories they make stuff out of coconut and maple wood and the products are pretty cute. Some of the stuff can be turned into moss pits or even food dishes.

Overall, you can get along with a 10 gallon tank, if you plan on long term, I'd definitely look into an upgrade.

Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 12:27 pm

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PinchersAndShells · Post by **PinchersAndShells** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:01 pm

Sound like you're a good owner then. We all start somewhere, and it's just a matter of time to get on the right track.

Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:13 pm

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Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:15 pm

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PinchersAndShells · Post by **PinchersAndShells** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 1:18 pm

I'd try and find a tupperware that they can submerge shell and all. A few people recommend the brand Glad as they come in packs of four.
As long as it's marine grade saltwater you should be fine using the same kind of salt, the products marketed for crabs' saltwater are usually just table salt or table sea salt which is a no-no.

kieagcarm · Post by **kieagcarm** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:38 pm

A helpful hint on using Tupperware as water bowls(I do and someone suggested I do this) to make it easier for cleaning purposes, put one bowl into the substrate where you plan to keep the pools, put some rivet rocks, shells whatever inside in a layer. Then put another bowl the exact same size into the bowl with the rocks, it elevates the bowl you will actually use for their fw sw pools, so that when you take it out to clean you don't have to dig another spot out to put it back in! It totally works. I poked a small hole in the water bowls and tied plastic canvas to them so the crabs have a built in ladder. Then I just put a big clam shell in the middle so they can't drown. I have seen Persephone and bellatrix both go for a swim. It's awesome

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Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:42 pm

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kieagcarm · Post by **kieagcarm** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:46 pm

Meemo4556 wrote:
kieagcarm wrote:A helpful hint on using Tupperware as water bowls(I do and someone suggested I do this) to make it easier for cleaning purposes, put one bowl into the substrate where you plan to keep the pools, put some rivet rocks, shells whatever inside in a layer. Then put another bowl the exact same size into the bowl with the rocks, it elevates the bowl you will actually use for their fw sw pools, so that when you take it out to clean you don't have to dig another spot out to put it back in! It totally works. I poked a small hole in the water bowls and tied plastic canvas to them so the crabs have a built in ladder. Then I just put a big clam shell in the middle so they can't drown. I have seen Persephone and bellatrix both go for a swim. It's awesome

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Exotic names! Will try! I guess my crabs names aren't super exotic, I named the smaller one Speedy because the shell looked like a helmet and the bigger one Hulk cuz he was the biggest. lol. Also, do your crabs love to climb EVERYWHERE? Mine both are frequently climbing on the wall. Idk seems normal but I'm wondering if it happens your crabs.
Only thing Im afraid of is them drowning in the tupperware xD.

Actually I think my crababies are afraid of heights, they always stay on the ground lol. I was afraid they would down too, I stood there and watched in case I needed to play lifeguard, but after a few minutes they came out. Thanks on the names, my daughter named her two Athena & Persephone(Aphrodite was killed by Athena), then my other daughter named hers Gary(who is more tiffy as she is a girl) and penny. My two are Dixon(walking dead) and bellatrix(Harry potter)

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Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 4:59 pm

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Post by **aussieJJDude** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 5:11 pm

It was a common practise back in the day.

I still know some crabbers that use ISO's for moulting crabs, and doing so successfully. However in saying that, HCA doesn't reccomend using an iso for moulting purposes as an environmental change can result in them putting off a moult, which is kind of pointless of putting them in the iso in the first place. If you have the necessary substrate depth and not overstocked, crabs are fine to moult in the main tank unless it was attacked or your had to do a deep clean for whatever reason - flooding, mites ect...

Remember in the wild they are not in some small 100g tank... Our house is considered small considering the amount of miles they walk each night. Probably some cannibalism occurs in the wild, but that chance of that is small. Its like finding a pin somewhere 6 to 12 inches down on a beach...

Meemo4556 · Post by **Meemo4556** » Sat Nov 12, 2016 5:13 pm

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HCA: Hermit Crab Association