HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Anyone who have big straw (coenobita perlatus) over 5 years?

Can share experience to us?

We found big straw usually die easily.

I've had 2 large ....wear 1 and half opening shell for 3 years and they just went down to molt,so waiting on new year for them to come up.

I have a large straw that I've had for over four years, just a bit shy of five years. I got her from LHC and she was already a large when I got her. Since then she has grown bit by bit as she's molted. I have another straw who has been with me over three years and she was a medium/large when I got her and is now a large.

Any tips for large Straw?

tonycoenobita wrote:Any tips for large Straw?

I had always heard they was the most difficult crab to maintain in captivity, so after researching care that was recommended, I just made sure I had plenty of sand/EE mixed properly and deep enough and I have really kept an eye on temp/humidity for them. I keep extra heaters in case the ones I have on the tank quit working as I never want a sudden change for them. I believe that if you have straws it just takes more work for their up keep and you have to constantly be on top of the conditions in the tank. I feed a wide variety of foods. My straws seem to get board with the tank more so than other crabs, so I find it helpful to change the large climbing limbs and stuff around for them to be entertained. Straws have to be kept entertained or they seem to rearrange the tank themselves and they do more destruction than my other large land hermit crabs.

tonycoenobita wrote:Any tips for large Straw?

Truthfully, absolutely nothing special. I keep them in a community tank with all my other crabs and they get no special treatment. My substrate is 100% coco fiber and I prefer to feed mainly fresh food, not dried. Day/night temp is usually in the 85/75 range and my humidty generally runs pretty high.

Wooo. My conditions are very similar Sugar. And my medium to large straw that I've had for about a year just came up from molting in the new tank, so I'm glad to know I'm doing something right

I have a jumbo female who has been with me for over three. She came from LHC as well and is a serial molter. She was a teeny when I got her and regularly goes down every three months to molt. Every big straw I have spends a large amount of time in the salt water and definitely spends a good bit of time underground. Deep substrate is a must as well as deep salt water pools. Other than that, mine are in a community tank with no issues. 80 degrees/80% humidity.

I have 3 smalls straws that I haven't even had for a year yet. I can second that they do spend more time in the saltwater than my other crabs. They're also in a community tank as well with PPs and E's. Straws are very docile and stay out of everyone's way. I have EE and sand mix with 85/75 temps and my humidity is usually over 80%

tonycoenobita wrote:Anyone who have big straw (coenobita perlatus) over 5 years?

This is a question I would love to see an answer to. I know I've never had Straws - and I don't plan on ever having any - but I'm curious about what we're "missing". Because we're obviously missing something if it's still so rare for someone to have them live over 5 years.

I agree with Calla on that. Many could say, "Well why would you keep them if you knew they weren't going to last?" But then, how can we discover what they need without studying them in captivity and trying new things? Also, a lot of people will still try to keep them, regardless of care level or experience, and by keeping them and trying to determine what it is that they need, we can help improve their care standards.

Usually around three to four years into captivity, a seemingly healthy straw will have an issue while molting and will often die during either that molt or the next. I don't remember ever seeing anyone that had a straw more than five years, and it was always a molting issue that killed them. Hopefully this newer batch of crabbers will have success for longer, since UVB and vitamin D has become more common and maybe that's all they are missing.

Jumbo crabs in general have trouble adapting to captivity, so it's not just Straws or other exotics. I've yet to have a crab that was purchased at a jumbo size survive. The ones that molted into that size have all been great, but when they're already huge at capture they can't seem to make the transition.

I think crabbers all have different luck. I've probably purchased 5 E's in my crabbing experience (I was less experienced at the time), but every single one either died from molting or from PPS. So I've just had bad luck with them. But one of my oldest crabs is a jumbo, bought from a wire cage in a beach shop, and he's still with me, through several molts. It's just odd. I think I'll try E's again in the future, as my conditions are more favorable.

I lost 2/4 Es. One to PPS and 1 to a bad molt. My first E has molted 2 or 3 times with me fine and my last E molted once.

I'd love to have straws in the future, but I wish there was a better proven method of keeping them alive.

Even going small/teenie they don't seem to make it as well as the PPs. I agree with the above statement, I've found that starting small is less stressful for the crab -- at least with mine, they seem more willing to adapt to captivity and are more willing to 'trust' their caretakers. So once they reach jumbo sized they seem a lot more easy going.

I know it's easier too on me because if Id started with jumbos I would NOT be as comfortable with them not knowing them from smalls.