Zoea *successful captive breeding & rearing of C. variabilis

[aussieJJDude]

Ouch, that would hurt!

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

Ouch, that would hurt!

They are so sharp! They sink into my skin to easy :-/

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

Ok so 19 have changed to bigger shells (easy to count, I took all the little old shells out, 19 of them lol)
& there is 9 that are still in little shells that are up and about right now
so 28 plus is the count

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

they have taken much larger shells as their 2nd homes than I thought they would of, they have not shown any real interest in the middle sized shells in the shop other than one who tried lots of them but still took a bigger one.

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

http://youtu.be/nra24kcBx1E
video clip of one little crab <3 changing into his 2nd home ever
I had to put it on youtube sorry, if you adjust the change quality function to original you can see heaps! a couple of other crabs come along to shop too.

[CrabbyMom33]

Great video! I don't know how you get anything done at home. I would just sit there watching them all the time.

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

Great video! I don't know how you get anything done at home. I would just sit there watching them all the time.

lol you can hear my oldest daughter emptying the dishwasher

[kuza]

lol cute

[Curlz]

*aww* the cuties are growing good and fast! Great!
It seems that they grow faster than violas.

And they took such big shells. Like mine did.

[Careyenz]

I could watch that video over and over. They are adorable! I'm so glad they are doing well! I can't get over that they are in those teeny turbos already. They are precious!!


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[aussieJJDude]

So cute!!!
There so much of them - does your family like them????
And a quick question, why is the sub green???

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

So cute!!!
There so much of them - does your family like them????
And a quick question, why is the sub green???

The girls are kinda over it all but when I say "ooh someone's changed shell they come running"
Good question Ive been waiting for someone to ask............... Drum roll.............. UV Light Its just the top layer in that area right by the light, you can see they have been digging in it, they eat it too! My big crabs love the moss thats grown while they are down molting, they spend hours devouring it.

[aussieJJDude]

Your welcome... It had been bugging me for a while now... Glad to get it off our chests
So the green is due to the moss??? Or is it just the "bacteria"??
Thanks

[Nat_addicted to HC's]

its a bit of both really as the substrate is full of microbes and the uv grows the moss, the trans tat is kept at 30c still (it fluctuates in range from 27 - 32 depending on the weather & temp of my home) so the sub is fuelling the growth too.
I did mix the transition substrate a bit wetter (with salt water - to inhibit mould growth in the sub and crabitat) than I normally would to help with humidity (I had envisioned desiccated megalopa once they hit the sub) and first molt.
The UV light is on the side of the tank in close proximity to that area for 14hrs a day so pretty much like a fish tank in a window (my improvised set up works, though its not elegant)
Thankfully they are grazing on it

[aussieJJDude]

Ahh, thanks! Got ya!