depression??

[jmafnas92]

I posted earlier this week that I was worried about my crabs. I have 4 of them. And I would never see them at night. None of them would come out and I couldn't figure out why. Some suggested that I increase the tank tempature and thought maybe they were just less active because they were cold. I increased the temp and didn't see any change. When I was inspecting their cage, cleaning out the food and water I decided to rearrange some of the plants and what not. I also made a moss pit. Then all of a sudden all the crabs were comi out at night. Some of them didn't even go into their huts at night. They just stayed in the moss pit all day and night. It was a complete 180 from the days before. So my only conclusion is boredom or depression. They were just tired of the same old tank. When I first got them I made lots and lots of changes as time went by. Made improments. Made new climbing things. Almost daily I changed their tank around perfecting it. Making it fun and exciting and apparently my crabs like that. They like having new things to climb on. New things to do. Glad they're all doing better now and happy. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? I'd love to hear other's stories.

[NLindsey921]

My crabs did that. It used to be every night they would disappear down their little holes and I hardly saw any of them. Then I added this climbing plank in the tank and all of a sudden they started staying out all the time.

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[Just Jay]

in the wild they travel sometimes 100's of miles. its very hard to emulate that in a tank. so with the exact same setup they get used to everything and dont have to explore or move really until a basic need makes them.

[GotButterflies]

Have you considered adding a modified hamster wheel? My crabbies love them! I have a total of three wheels. Two in my 100g and one in my 75g. No joke they are used constantly. In my 75g I bought a wheel that I did not modify. I used to have a crab that would constantly try to get out. Highly recommend it. I do think it is possible for them to become bored.


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[LadyJinglyJones]

A lot of animals in captivity need regular stimulation. Really, the only thing that keeps us from extending that expectation to invertibrates is a notion of their simplicity that has its roots in 18th century beliefs concerning the hierarchy of biological life.

Just my random 2 cents.

[jmafnas92]

Thanks for your guys ideas and responses. I'll I'm definitely look into a modified hamster wheel. I do love making them new climbing toys so now that I know they need variety it'll only make it more fun making stuff. They are really enjoying their moss pit and two have buried themselves in it and I've heard crabs sometimes molt in it. So we'll see. They're very interesting creatures and I love having them

[Crabnado]

My family's crabs love having a moss pit. We accidentally discovered this when we were thinking about adding a fresh water fish environment. We put the plastic tub in for the water but before we could get the water in, the crabs filled it with moss and branches. We just recently upgraded their tank size and built the moss pit (with extra coconut fiber and some plastic 'betta grass' to hide under) in deliberately this time with the same happy crab results. They love it. We reasoned it gives them a dryer, less sandy place to hang out without losing the heat and humidity. We have ours positioned directly under a heat lamp. It's like a crab clubhouse.

[kieagcarm]

My family's crabs love having a moss pit. We accidentally discovered this when we were thinking about adding a fresh water fish environment. We put the plastic tub in for the water but before we could get the water in, the crabs filled it with moss and branches. We just recently upgraded their tank size and built the moss pit (with extra coconut fiber and some plastic 'betta grass' to hide under) in deliberately this time with the same happy crab results. They love it. We reasoned it gives them a dryer, less sandy place to hang out without losing the heat and humidity. We have ours positioned directly under a heat lamp. It's like a crab clubhouse.

I believe I've read on here you shouldn't other species of animals, sea life etc in with crabs

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[PinchersAndShells]

I believe I've read on here you shouldn't other species of animals, sea life etc in with crabs

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It really depends on the size of your crabitat and your experience with whatever you're putting in. For example if you have 100-200+ gallons you could probably put a 10 gallon in and start a miniature pool. They just need enough space for all species to coexist, which is hard to do, but not impossible.

[LadyJinglyJones]

There are a good number of small, utterly harmless fish you could put in a tat... though I feel like the worry about flooding, what with crabs sometimes being so very prone to destructive fits & dumping things in their pools, would make it more trouble than its worth.

Also, you'd want to avoid getting too attached to the fish - even with filtration, if the crabs are emptying their poop into the pool, you're going to get ammonia spikes that'd be hard on the fish.

[Hermiearth]

Yeah, I have a shower caddy filled with spagnum moss and my crabs stay in it all day but are out at night.