New to here and Gecarcinus quadratus

[Rockinkitty]

AKA Halloween Crabs!

I've read through a few threads here, and it seems as though some other posters have Halloween crabs too! This makes me happy! We just got ours last week and are having trouble finding other owners. Finding books on them is not possible, and internet info is sketchy and confused. Other websites I've been to talk mostly about Armatum garcarrcims, or Rainbow crabs from Africa. From the pics I've seen, I'd say ours are Halloweens.

I'm most interested, I guess, in tank set up. We have a 15gal. with sand and a smallish log. We're going to change the water setup we have. The pet store said to just put water in the tank and build a sand shore. We have a submersible filter, but it just doesn't seem to be the best way to go about things. The sand is always wet and the boys seem unwilling to dig very deep. We're going to nix the filter and opt for a deep water dish instead. We're going to set up a heater, too.

We've had them less than a week so far, but man I wish the sales person would have given us some better advice!

PS...how do I post photos of my boys here? Granted, they are fuzzy, but they give an idea!

 

[Wade]

My advice is general land crab advice. Much of what applies to caring for hermit crabs applies here, only you want to enlarge everything because they are larger. Most pet store employees don't know how to properly care for hermit either, but there's a couple of decent hermit crab books (one from Barron's, and one from Advanced Vivarium Systems) that discuss other land crabs so you can get the general idea.

The dish is the better way to go, it's very difficult to keep the water clean the other way. You still want the sand to be moist, but it needn't be soaked. It should be deep enough for them to form burrows. This is critical, as they will need the underground burrow to molt successfully. Partially burried cork bark, drift wood, etc will help in burrow construction.

Temps in the 80's are usually sufficient to keep them feeding. I usually opt for a red-tinted light bulb when heating crabs, but don't over do it because the crabs must keep their gills moist or they will die. Red bulbs are available in low wattages, but some experimenting may be required to get it right.

To attach pictures, look for the button that says "manage attachments" when you post. From there, you should be able to upload your pictures. There is a size limit, so you may have to reduce them.

Good luck!

Wade

 

[Rockinkitty]

Hi Wade!

It just so happens that we bought the Barron book you suggested when we got the crabs. I'll take a more serious look at it.

We changed the set up last night. Today Ralph has a 2-entranced burrow dug, and Sam is working on his own on the other side of the tank. We like this setup much better, too. I still think we need more sand in there, but I don't want to mess too much with their home when they've already had a couple of really stressful week!

Thanks for your reply-it's helped a lot!

 

[Rockinkitty]

Try this.....

This is a link to some phots of Sam and Ralph. They are blurry, as my digital isn't great and my hands aren't steady, but it's a start!

http://photobucket.com/albums/v514/Rockinkitty/