Red Claw crab care?

[Fledgling]

So, as I've mentioned in a few other posts, I'm currently working as a Pet Care Specialist at my local PetSmart. Since I've been researching hermit crabs I've been able to improve their environment as much as possible and reduce our mortality rate.

But now I'm faced with another moral issue in this job (one of many): the mortality rate of our Red Claw crabs. We just lost ANOTHER group of three crabs and it breaks my heart. Obviously we're doing something wrong, and I know enough about our care guides to not trust them.

Could somebody experienced in caring for these little guys walk me through the proper set up and feeding? I don't want to have to bag dead crabbies anymore...

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[platypuskid2]

I've been researching red claw crabs as a new suitable candidate to live in my vivarium and I've read that they are not freshwater crabs but they are brackish water. Ironically I was planning on getting some from petsmart but I can't make my bettas tank into a brackish water tank. I'm not sure what is already in the tanks at petsmart but I hope my advice helps


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[soilentgringa]

I've been researching red claw crabs as a new suitable candidate to live in my vivarium and I've read that they are not freshwater crabs but they are brackish water. Ironically I was planning on getting some from petsmart but I can't make my bettas tank into a brackish water tank. I'm not sure what is already in the tanks at petsmart but I hope my advice helps


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IMO you don't need to get any more crabs until you can pinpoint why the ones you have keep dying.

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[wodesorel]

According to Bob and Neale, the brackish gurus, they are indeed coastal and mangrove which means brackish water same as fiddlers. I don't think that is anything that can be corrected while at PetSmart since the tanks are all interconnected.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brackishsubw ... abfaqs.htm

[Fledgling]

Actually at my store the water in the crab tank is too shallow to connect to the rest of the system! We're still waiting to hear back from Pet Support (the corporate office that tells us what we can and can't do...they tend to have a stick up their butt about things though...) so I can't add marine salt yet, but I put in a little aquarium salt for the time being. I know it's not the proper kind of salt to use, but I figure something is better than nothing...

Thanks for your responses!

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[Orin]

Red claws die at a very high rate without saltwater. There aren't any marine tanks to steal some water from?

[Fledgling]

No, the store only carries freshwater fish. But I did get fed up with Pet Support's lack of response (it's been nearly 2 weeks with no response!) and just pulled some IO off the shelf. I didn't have access to a hydrometer, so i had to ballpark it based on the approximate amount of water in the tank and the specific gravity achieved when mixing my hermit crabs marine salt. Since I was guesstimating I erred on the side of caution, so it's likely that the specific gravity is still too low...but something is better than nothing I suppose.

Unfortunately we have had at least one casualty, possibly two (I'm giving the other one a day or two to make sure he's not just molting...)...but they were all a lot more active and willing to come out into the open than the other crab's we've had in the past! Amazing what difference adding a bunch of hiding places will do! The one I know is still with us looks like he's getting ready to molt; he is now a deep tan color but still responsive. Is that normal for a premolt red claw?

It's still a work in progress and I am expecting some opposition at some point, but all the advice has been very helpful. This community is fantastic! Thank you all!

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[Orin]

Yes it is normal for a true crab to move similarly in premolt even shortly before a molt.

[Fledgling]

So is the drastic change in color a sign of premolt as well?

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