Crabs trash their tank - is that normal?

[Hello123]

Hello, Just wondering if anybody else has little purple pinchers that will trash the tank after a deep cleaning and after arranging things in the tank, even if it's the exact same way was before ?

They literally somehow drain all of the water from the bowls into the sand, and fill the bowls halfway with sand- dig holes under every item so that everything's falling into tunnels,, pull down all of the gages that are velcro'd and completely bury their food bowl with sand. lol All overnight. Like a tornado went through.

Any suggestions on how to at least preserve the water bowls? I replaced them with heavier bowls last year.... Was thinking about trying even larger lizard lizard tank type bowls made of actual stone to see if that will help keep them in place.

[Hermiecrab]

It is totally normal for crabs to trash the tank Crabs are meeeesssy lil creatures! I went to go add sand to the eco earth sub and found at least three shells under at the very bottom of the tank. As for the bowls I would make sure there are no cracks or leaks in them. Where are they in the tank? On a shelf? In the sub?

[Hermiecrab]

Also, they might not have enough stuff to climb on if they are OVER trashing it, could you post a pic through tapatalk?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=87783

[wodesorel]

Sand will wick water from one place to another, so it's not them tipping or spilling the dishes, but filling them up with sand which is causing the water to be pulled out. Be cautious of floods! This can add too much water into the substrate.

[crabocado]

A while back I switched from a small "crab" style water dish to a "massive lizard style" dish that's maybe 10 inches across. The other thing I did along with this was add a flat rock under the dish so it is well supported above the surrounding substrate. This totally eliminated any issues with either tipping/spilling and wicking (both of which used to happen frequently) and also, the dish can go unattended for many weeks at a time (= no more worries when traveling).

It did however, necessitate upgrading to a 20g tank to make room.

ps - I was referring to the fresh water dish. I also have a smaller salt water dish, but it seems crabs can do without salt water for short periods (and based on my experience, longer periods as well) so making it available 100% of the time is less of a concern.

[hermit_crab_mommy]

My crabs love to destroy their tank. I added some sea urchins and curiosity cubes and small things they can push around and they stopped destroying things they needed as much. As far as food and shells though, they just love to make a mess!

[Hello123]

A while back I switched from a small "crab" style water dish to a "massive lizard style" dish that's maybe 10 inches across. The other thing I did along with this was add a flat rock under the dish so it is well supported above the surrounding substrate. This totally eliminated any issues with either tipping/spilling and wicking (both of which used to happen frequently) and also, the dish can go unattended for many weeks at a time (= no more worries when traveling).

It did however, necessitate upgrading to a 20g tank to make room.

ps - I was referring to the fresh water dish. I also have a smaller salt water dish, but it seems crabs can do without salt water for short periods (and based on my experience, longer periods as well) so making it available 100% of the time is less of a concern.

I did the exact same thing and I have a very large lizard style dish in the corner, however they don't seem to use it often so I kept a smaller deeper one that is made of stone, and then 1 that is even smaller than that for the salt water ( Since just like you said, I noticed they don't you utilize it as much as the fresh water)

That's a good idea about the flat piece, I will have to look into finding something that will work! Thank you

[Hello123]

Also, they might not have enough stuff to climb on if they are OVER trashing it, could you post a pic through tapatalk?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=87783

Also, they might not have enough stuff to climb on if they are OVER trashing it, could you post a pic through tapatalk?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=87783

A while back I switched from a small "crab" style water dish to a "massive lizard style" dish that's maybe 10 inches across. The other thing I did along with this was add a flat rock under the dish so it is well supported above the surrounding substrate. This totally eliminated any issues with either tipping/spilling and wicking (both of which used to happen frequently) and also, the dish can go unattended for many weeks at a time (= no more worries when traveling).

It did however, necessitate upgrading to a 20g tank to make room.

ps - I was referring to the fresh water dish. I also have a smaller salt water dish, but it seems crabs can do without salt water for short periods (and based on my experience, longer periods as well) so making it available 100% of the time is less of a concern.

I did the exact same thing and I have a very large lizard style dish in the corner, however they don't seem to use it often so I kept a smaller deeper one that is made of stone, and then 1 that is even smaller than that for the salt water ( Since just like you said, I noticed they don't you utilize it as much as the fresh water)

That's a good idea about the flat piece, I will have to look into finding something that will work! Thank you

[Hello123]

Also, they might not have enough stuff to climb on if they are OVER trashing it, could you post a pic through tapatalk?

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=87783

The Bowls are on top of the sub, Sorry I can't figure out how to post a picture. I have been working on that for months. If anybody has an idea of how to explain that easily, I am all ears. I tried the imgur thing and apparently didn't work.

[smolmuffin]

Mine do have a habit of throwing sand into their water dishes and then sitting in them like they've done nothing wrong. So I would say its normal just like the others said ensure that they have plenty to climb on and possibly change the type of bowl used to help reduce it.