My red clawed crabs (Parasesarma sp.)

Dennis Nedry

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Oct 21, 2017
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672
Have had these two for about a week. Rarely come out of the water or from under the driftwood chunk and when they do condensation (yes they’re fine with the humidity) on the side of the tanks usually blocks my view but these are really entertaining crabs. My biggest problem with them is their skittish nature and fantastic eyesight, as soon as I move they dart for cover but apparently they get used to people. I’ll probably eventually set them up in a better display enclosure some day.

There’s also another species that lives not so far from me that is way more colourful called Parasesarma erythrodactyla which has a stunning turquoise carapace.

Checking out some banana, later ate some but I don’t have a photo of it 3D0E98F2-F3CB-4F5F-A3E2-978ABA5ECC4D.jpeg
Refusing to eat a roach for the camera
176D96DD-D35C-4AD5-8D18-0221AB2C83E3.jpeg
Should probably add that these guys will eat anything. Both live and dead crickets and roaches, mango, banana, detritus in their substrate, fish food, a black house spider that was unlucky enough to be hiding in their driftwood, etc. They’ll also actively chase their prey
 

schmiggle

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Nov 3, 2013
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Should probably add that these guys will eat anything. Both live and dead crickets and roaches, mango, banana, detritus in their substrate, fish food, a black house spider that was unlucky enough to be hiding in their driftwood, etc. They’ll also actively chase their prey
Yep, sounds like a crab
 

pannaking22

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Nov 25, 2011
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That's super cool! I'm wanting to keep some sort of crab in the future, but I know I need to do some reading first before I try.
 

Dennis Nedry

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Oct 21, 2017
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That's super cool! I'm wanting to keep some sort of crab in the future, but I know I need to do some reading first before I try.
They’re generally very easy, especially if you can get a completely terrestrial species
 

pannaking22

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They’re generally very easy, especially if you can get a completely terrestrial species
That's good to know, definitely helps narrow my search! I figured I wouldn't be able to keep anything too fancy at this point (I'm thinking saltwater), but if there are easy ones then I'm all for them.
 

Dennis Nedry

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Oct 21, 2017
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672
That's good to know, definitely helps narrow my search! I figured I wouldn't be able to keep anything too fancy at this point (I'm thinking saltwater), but if there are easy ones then I'm all for them.
Well these Parasesarma are semi aquatic brackish water crabs and they’re nearly as easy as fresh water. If you can find land crabs though they’re not much harder than a tarantula
 

beetleman

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Jan 5, 2005
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That's good to know, definitely helps narrow my search! I figured I wouldn't be able to keep anything too fancy at this point (I'm thinking saltwater), but if there are easy ones then I'm all for them.
you could always try the ever infamous halloween land crabs,big colorful and very easy to keep.
 

dragonfire1577

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
697
Awesome crabs, I love the dark colors with the red claw tips! Also for anyone looking to crabs I highly recommend Geosesarma sp as provided they have high ventilation, a place to submerge and have sufficient area to hide they are pretty bulletproof for care in my experience. Geosesarma tolerate really bad water quality, spend most of their time on land and eat a pretty simple diet of insects, fish food, and processed fish. The only thing is the imports tend to die really easily so always look for captive bred crabs with this genus as they are actually pretty easy to breed. I've been keeping a captive bred male for almost a year and he has been doing great and I just picked up a female for him this month.
 
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