# Moon Crab



## MilkmanWes (Sep 25, 2004)

Several vendors at a reptile show had these out today and at $8 it was too pretty to pass up. No one selling them knew anything about them though but google prevailed with a caresheet.

Reactions: Like 1


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## mouse (Sep 26, 2004)

that is sooo cool! do they actually look like that? looks like a black jack-o-lantern with vampirefangs (well with legs).
i have never seen those... i see hermit crabs, and i see some in the fishtanks at petshops (i think they are fiddler cabs, but they thell me they are aquatic crabs).
dianne


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## MilkmanWes (Sep 27, 2004)

Actually was told they are sometimes referred to as Halloween Crabs. Never saw them before last weekend and three people had them at a rep show and no one knew anything about them. His colors are so incredibly vivid! The back is a very deep purple to the point of nearly black. The claws are a vibrant lavendar blue and I hope to get some pics of them in another week or so when he settles in and is over the moving stress.

He is rather secretive and has burried under his driftwood into the wet sand. I toss the dead crickets out of my cricket keeper to him and he chows down on them along with some hermit crab food and whatever salad the beardies don't finish in a day. Crabs are scavengers and we have enough scraps from our other animals that he will never be a bother to feed. Also tossing in a bit of tropical fish food to help reinforce the colors, though I don't know if it will have any effect.

Honestly I would love to have another couple to see if they would breed. I could always make gumbo out of the ones I didn't have room for. 

Right now he is in an extra large kritter keeper. He is half the size of the adults that were out on another table, maybe 3 inches across the back of the shell. When he gets bigger I will put him in a larger tank.


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## Wade (Sep 28, 2004)

Pretty much all crabs have a marine stage to their life cycle. To breed, males and females enter the surf and the females release thousands of eggs that the males fertilize. The offspring are very tiny, virtually microscopic. They live the early stages of life as free-swimming plankton.

This tends to make captive breeding a difficult propsition!

Wade


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## Randy (Sep 28, 2004)

its fake isn't it ???


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## Wade (Sep 28, 2004)

Nope, that's what they look like.

Wade


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## MeteoRa (Sep 28, 2004)

any idea of the scientific name and care sheet... kinda cool...


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## MilkmanWes (Sep 28, 2004)

Moon Crab Caresheet 

That is what they really look like! Gorgeous yet secretive critters.


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## MilkmanWes (Sep 28, 2004)

Scientific name is Gecarcinus quadratus btw.

Wade, are they nocturnal or diurnal? Nothing actually specifies this that I see and he has shown signs of activity throughout a 24 hour cycle.


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## Wade (Sep 28, 2004)

Most land crabs are nocturnal, but in captivity they're often active around the clock.

I have not kept moon crabs, but I have kept other large land crabs as well as hermits. The tricky thing about keeping larger land crabs long term is providing a suitable environment for molting. As with hermit crabs, they molt while sealed in burrows. Not to difficult for hermit crabs, but it gets harder for bigger crabs. A deep layer of sand or sand/soil mix as suggested by the care sheet is a good idea, but I'm not sure if the ten gallon tank the sheet recomends is going to be big enough to allow sufficient room for burrow construction. Also, they suggested heat pads, but I think the depth of substrate needed will make them ineffective. Some sort of overhead heat lamp is a better choice, but be careful not to overdo it and dessicate the crabs. Land crabs breath with gills which must be kept moist to function. Heat does seem to be important, however. They are not like tarantulas and scorpions that can be kept at room temperature. Unless "room temperature" for you is the mid 80's!

Wade


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## MilkmanWes (Sep 28, 2004)

Mid 80s can be achieved with a pretty small bulb so no worries there. Never really use heat pads anyhow because if one failed I wouldn't know, but a bulb goes out and it's hard to miss.


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## MeteoRa (Sep 28, 2004)

MilkmanWes said:
			
		

> Scientific name is Gecarcinus quadratus btw.
> 
> Wade, are they nocturnal or diurnal? Nothing actually specifies this that I see and he has shown signs of activity throughout a 24 hour cycle.


thanks for the information...


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## arizona (Oct 1, 2004)

*---> http://www.easyinsects.co.uk/landcrabs/halloween-crabs/


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## Tarangela (Oct 7, 2004)

I had some of these a couple of years ago!  They are BEAUTIFUL, and very colorful!  And fast   Mine really liked to set itself in its water dish, and make bubbles, and it ate a lot of lettuce!  I never could get it to eat crickets though!  I made a mistake and had it housed in a 29 gallon w/ hermit crabs 
One morning, it had pulled a crab out of its shell, and was eating it   

It lived about 3 months!  I wish it would have lasted longer, it was so beautiful   I had about 3 at one time!


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## Chironex (Oct 24, 2004)

Your crab is fantastic! How old is your moon/halloween crab and whats the measurement across the carapase?


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## dtknow (Oct 24, 2004)

I suppose that if you knew a reef aquarist you two could then combine forces and possibly be the first to breed them!


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## MichiganHerp (Oct 25, 2004)

*long live itchy the crab..lol*

i had one of these for about a yr before it died  ... all i know about them are they are funny lilk things  my big ones name was itchy(hence the crab joke lol) i was going to call him STD but my wife said no way lol....but any way they do need a pretty good size water bowl and deep soil or something....mine ate fish  crickets vegis and many other things ....*walking garbage dump* but his fav was peanuts in the shell still    it was kinda funny ....but as mine was huge i think he just died of old age ...but great animal you got there and  they are fun to have and funny to watch 

have fun with your lil STD...oops i meen crab ..lol


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## Professor T (Oct 27, 2004)

I also bought two at the Tampa show, and now I have one. One of mine died today   

I think my Costa Rican Moon Crabs were fighting at night, because one night the one that died had a leg removed. I'm going to try more heat to see if that helps its activity/feeding. Mine have been finicky feeders.


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## Rockinkitty (Nov 25, 2004)

We just got 2 boys, too!  They are gorgeous, and they seem much happier now that we've changed the setup we have.  

How is yours doing now?


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## CSP_Joe (Nov 25, 2004)

I've got a large Moon Crab (Geacarcinus quadratus) display enclosure at the front of my shop, I've been keeping crustaceans for about 6 years now, and these guys really are fairly simple animals, once you know what your doing, and start with healthy animals. 

The enclosure is 36" long by 18" deep and 18" tall, it has 10" of sand, with a sloped water access point thats about 3-4" deep and measures about 8"x18". The specimens are provided with cylindrical pieces of cork bark buried into the sand to provide the crabs with a 'start' for their burrowing. I also scatter loose fallen broadleaves (oak, hickory, dogwood, elm etc.) on the surface of the sand. 

I use a large heat pad under the sand section to provide radiant heat through the burrows. I add only a SMALL amount of marine salt to adjust salinity (not even enough to register on a hydrometer). With the PH resting at 7.4. Filtration is provided by a Whisper Microfilter encased in rock to keep the crabs from disturbing or tearing apart the filter assembly. 

I feed them every evening, and remove uneaten food in the morning. They eagerly consume commercial hermit crab food or shrimp pellets (snking pellets for bottom feeding fish), as well as pre-killed insects, spirulina flakes, fruits (apple, peach, pear, berries, bannana). They will also take pieces of fresh fish and other seafoods. I keep a piece of cuttlebone in the enclosure at all times for the crabs to scrape off of whenever they need a little calcium in their diet. 

This enclosure houses one male and two female crabs with no problems or skirmishes. They have been established for about 18 monthes now and are great display animals, with some nice exstensive burrows. 

~Joe

Reactions: Like 1


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## bevans dad (May 8, 2008)

hey all,
I'm a touch concerned, i'm had a moon crab for about 3 months now, and he's a funny little bugger, loves climbing about. We had a minor earthquake a couple of months ago in England, scared the life out of him so he started hiding more (is this normal?).

But my main concern is that I returned from a trip home and have just noticed he is missing the bottom part of one of his legs, I'm guessing this isn't normal. What should I do? Advice please!!!


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## MrCrackerpants (May 2, 2012)

I know this thread is old. Sorry. Has anyone had any luck breeding these? I would like to buy some captive breed individuals and see if I can get them to breed. One post above (CSP_Joe) said he had 2 females and one male together for 18 months but did not mention offspring. I am only interested in them if I can get captive breed animals and get them to breed in captivity. Any breeders out there? Do you see them at shows now? If so, do you know if they are all pulled out of their local habitat and shipped to the U. S.? Thanks.


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## spydrhunter1 (May 2, 2012)

MilkmanWes said:


> Mid 80s can be achieved with a pretty small bulb so no worries there. Never really use heat pads anyhow because if one failed I wouldn't know, but a bulb goes out and it's hard to miss.


If you use a bulb, keep a very close eye on your humidity. Most land crabs need 70-80%, to keep their modified gills moist.


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## Ungoliant (May 2, 2012)

That's the coolest-looking crab I've ever seen.


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## Malhavoc's (May 2, 2012)

MrCrackerpants said:


> I know this thread is old. Sorry. Has anyone had any luck breeding these? I would like to buy some captive breed individuals and see if I can get them to breed. One post above (CSP_Joe) said he had 2 females and one male together for 18 months but did not mention offspring. I am only interested in them if I can get captive breed animals and get them to breed in captivity. Any breeders out there? Do you see them at shows now? If so, do you know if they are all pulled out of their local habitat and shipped to the U. S.? Thanks.


as far as I know, no  no one has bred them due to the fact that they need tidal events to spawn, however. there is a smaller species of land cra that is vibrantly coloured and has been bred in capitivity.


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## MrCrackerpants (May 3, 2012)

Malhavoc's said:


> as far as I know, no  no one has bred them due to the fact that they need tidal events to spawn, however. there is a smaller species of land cra that is vibrantly coloured and has been bred in capitivity.


Thanks. Do you know the species name?


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## Malhavoc's (May 3, 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_crab


And the one that is completetly independant of tha sea and can be bred in tanks is the "vampire crab" or Geosesarma sp.  IT comes in a wide array of coours, is smaller, and loves to attack crickets 
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2544


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## MrCrackerpants (May 3, 2012)

Malhavoc's said:


> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_crab
> 
> 
> And the one that is completetly independant of tha sea and can be bred in tanks is the "vampire crab" or Geosesarma sp.  IT comes in a wide array of coours, is smaller, and loves to attack crickets
> http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=2544


Thanks again.


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## cantthinkofone (May 6, 2012)

i have a baby one of these i got at a show. the breeder said these are surprisingly easy to breed and he showed me the parent crabs tank setup and it was so simple. my rep. room is about 80 degrees and my baby crab i bought loves it. i will post photos of his setup soon.


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## lizardminion (May 6, 2012)

cantthinkofone said:


> i have a baby one of these i got at a show. the breeder said these are surprisingly easy to breed and he showed me the parent crabs tank setup and it was so simple. my rep. room is about 80 degrees and my baby crab i bought loves it. i will post photos of his setup soon.


Your talking about the vampire crabs, correct?


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## cantthinkofone (May 8, 2012)

lizardminion said:


> Your talking about the vampire crabs, correct?


no im talking about a halloween crab.


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