Eeeekk Ive Got Crabs!

[Stagger-Lee]

hey does anyoen know anythign about these guys it was called a pumpkin crab but i suspect him to be some sort of ghost crab or moon crab.
i really need to know what i can feed him other than feeder fish, does his water need to be treated, what temps they can handle, is a peatmoss/fine sand mixture ok i do know they liek to live in burrows allong river banks somewhere and are relunctant to pinch (or least this one is)

 

[Navaros]

Check out this thread Mike.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=32968

 

[Stagger-Lee]

thanx a bunch. man this guy is really too cool and only $10

 

[MilkmanWes]

Welcome to the crab club. Let me guess... a bunch of people had them at a show in a tub and knew nothing about them, but it was so cheap and cool looking that you bought one and took it home.

Mine has constructed an intricate burrow under his sand and I rarely see it anymore. I can hear it clatter against the glass as it gets back in it's hide as I come around the corner. If it wasn't for fresh dirt excavated every day I would think it was dead.

He is extremely skittish so I have not even tried to find out if he pinches at all.

 

[Navaros]

No problem. Yeah, they are pretty cool. I've been tempted tog et one or 2 a few times. Very pretty.

 

[Stagger-Lee]

Welcome to the crab club. Let me guess... a bunch of people had them at a show in a tub and knew nothing about them, but it was so cheap and cool looking that you bought one and took it home.

nope i went down to my local herp/pet shop to sell them some more desert hairy scorpions saw them and fell in love, ive allways wanted to try crabs and had a bunch o credit so went through the bunch lookign for what i was thinkign an immature male woudl look like so i coudl try getting em to molt. luckly my wife also fell in love with em so i didnt have to sleep in the rain but she took him away from me and calls him hers :wall:

Mine has constructed an intricate burrow under his sand and I rarely see it anymore. I can hear it clatter against the glass as it gets back in it's hide as I come around the corner. If it wasn't for fresh dirt excavated every day I would think it was dead..

i guess we are lucky so far ours has spent a decient ammount of time out during the day, he does have a small burrrow going under the water dish he uses to sleep. i think im gonna have to invest in some sand n mud soon.
oh man that clatter drove me nuts hte first couple days finally had to move him out of the bedroom and down to the liveign room so i could sleep!

He is extremely skittish so I have not even tried to find out if he pinches at all.

i havent been allowign ours to be skittish he gets handled least once a day usually more, ive been watchign for signs of stress but he seems to be adapting well. after readign that other thread and care we fixed him a couple dishes of food, salad mix, sliced grapes and some canned goverment beef he went immidatly for the lettuce ( whats up with that is there any nutritional value in it for them?) then i opened the tank and he started to move away so i grabbed a grape and offered it to him by touching it to his claw and he opened his mouth took the grape and ate it

 

[MilkmanWes]

Been feeding mine a mix of hermit crab food, tropical fish flakes (which he loves and I hope help his color), leftover salad from my bearded dragons, and crickets that die before making it to the Ts. He picks and chooses it and eats a bit of everything without any clear favorites. I'll put a grape in tonight and see how that goes.

 

[D4RK-3L3M3NT]

Wow, what a beauty! I've wanted a horseshoe crab myself, but don't know whether those can actually be kept as pets. You sure do have a great looking crab there, though.

 

[Navaros]

Yes, you can keep them. Supposed to be easy to care for as well. They just get really big.

 

[MilkmanWes]

Horseshoes start out small, don't they take many years to grow up?

Used to find their shells along the brackish and salt water estuaries in Fla when I was a kid. They get as big as a grown mans head.

 

[Navaros]

Yeah they don't gro very fast, you can catch a quarter size baby and keep it for a long time, I'm sure someone sells them too. Up here I've found them much bigger than a humans head. They get massive.

 

[Wade]

he went immidatly for the lettuce ( whats up with that is there any nutritional value in it for them?)

It depends on what kind of lettuce. Iceburg has almost no food value, but others are better. Romaine, for example, is very good, high in calcium (important for crustaceans) among other things.

When I visited Manuel Antonio (I think that was the name) National Park in Costa Rica, the land crabs had pretty much completely cleared the forest floor of detritus in some areas.

Wade