Australian Crab Owner

[Nethers]

Mine are definitely not strawberries. This isn't the best photo, but it display's Molly's colour the best (though still not true to life. In real life, it's less brown )

eloise, that my dear, is a very pretty shell and crab!

[eloise13]

Thanks!

[vanessajoy]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the responses

Yesterday I went and brought 60 kilos of play sand and some more coco fibre to get my substrate up to the right level for my Jumbo While I was working on adding the sand I took all my crabs out as they were all under the caves and not buried which was good... so that I wouldnt cover them in sand by mistake... and I thought it would be a good time to take some photos of them all together and sand-less to show the variety in their colouration! There is only a couple of mm of fresh dechlorinated water in the tub I put them in and there was a big bowl with no water in it that they could climb into but I quickly took it out just before re-releasing them into the main tank for photos sake...

Also I just realised I accidentally left one of my crabs out in my original post... I knew I had 16, not 15... but I couldn't remember who I'd forgotten! Anyway it was Bert, who is a medium soft orange crab... poor Bert I went to get some more shells yesterday as well and saw that the wholesale shop had gotten some new large crabs in! So I got two of them... I've called them Aztec and Harry... they are both really unusual... especially Aztec... who is a golden yellow colour... Ive never seen a crab this colour and he was the only one like it in the whole store... also Harry is a really green olive colour... the photos I will post dont seem to do him justice...

Im also posting pics of my tank... but bare in mind its no where finished yet so is rather ugly right now... I got some nice vines yesterday as well but havnt put them in yet cause I need to make a 2nd level to hang them... also i have a giant clock in there because its got a temp and hygro gauge that is actually accurate... the tank sized guage i brought originally was way out... so until I buy a more expensive and accurate one Ill have to stick with the ugly clock

This is a pic I took before I got the new sand and my flash accidentally went off... but it shows my biggest crab (Blu) with my smallest (Goliath)



This is Aztec - one of my newest and most unusual crabs!



This is Harry, my other new crab... the pic doesnt seem to do his olive green colour any justice He's very active!



This is all 18 of my crabs... Ive labelled them with their names and colour which you can see on most, but some are hiding!



A close up of some of my unusual colours.. I have also never seen another crab quite like Luna... being that blue...



Close up comparing yellow green and blue crabs...



This is sebastian... hes almost highlighter orange... and the brightness doesnt really show but he still looks cute



Close up of Sebastian's bright claw...



Hoodey... you can see his dark hood on the top of his head



Novo clinging onto beasts shell... you can see how they can be so white to quite a dark colour...



Close up of some of my crabs



Trying to get a close up of Novo compared to Beast... but I couldn't get him to let go... once he was back in the tank he walked away happily...



This is my pink crab pinkey... shes very shy and was hiding for most of the time so it was hard to get a good photo of her... but you can see in this pic that she has light pink legs and darker claw with a bit of purple... Ive never seen one like this either...





This is runaways claw... they can come in quite chocolatey browns as well... beast is similar but hes got a lot more burgundy than runaway... i called him runaway cause Merv Cooper put him in a box and he climbed out without anyone noticing and then nipped somebody on the toe as they came into the shop because he'd made his way onto the floor and was trying to escape... lol


My tank after more sand was added... its not the best looking yet but all the parameters are good



Hope everyone enjoys the pics!

[eloise13]

Oh my! You're so lucky! Those colours are so rare! They are better then thought they'd be.

[Nethers]

WOW, they're all so pretttttttty!! Orange, white, brown, tan, pink blue, shades of red!! I love them.

[wodesorel]

They are stunning! I don't think any other species comes close to having such a wide color variety. (Really, for us to have that we'd need Es, PPs, and Ruggies to experience that rainbow!)

And for the first time I found a way to tell apart Aussies from Ecuadorians! E crabs looks very similar to Aussies in photos - the only way I know for sure what someone has is to look at where they live. But with the top-down shots you took I noticed that their stance and the way they hold their legs out to the side are completely different than Es! Thank you!

[dinky]

Beautiful crabs....awesome pics. Thanks, just love seeing different species.

[eloise13]

I feel so stupid. I've been calling Friday molly!

I don't know why, they are both very different! God, Talk about a stupid moment.

[SoulLonely]

wowowowowow! thanks for sharing! stunning to see all the different colors!

[mouse]

Man, all those colors are beautiful! I also love how you just threw a whole clock in there. hahaha

[NeviNuNu]

Wow I'm amazed by all those colors!!!! I really wish we could have some in the US!! They are truly beautiful, having that many colors would also help me tell my crabs apart!! Lol I love some of their shells too, they seem to be alot different then what the crabs around here wear!!! Welcome to the HCA and please feel free to share pics with us frequently!!!! Please!!!!

[cheekycockerel]

Hi. Great to hear from another fellow West Australian. I'm new to hermit crab... what brand of coco fibre do you use? I saw RichGro Coco Peat (the block wrapping said it contains no fertilisers) but I'm not sure whether they are save to use.

[JediMasterThrash]

(+1)
I'm extremely glad for us to get some new first hand information about Merv, Crazies, and the salt water debate.

[purpleperson]

i love aztec! all of them are really amazing colors and i wish i could have some with such beautiful colors!

[troppo]

Hi Nethers and welcome
It's been a while since I've owned so many crabs in that variety of colours, but yours are beautiful.