Oliver The Coconut Crab

[Scolopendra55]

@Kada

I’ve certainly considered building an enclosure. There’s no doubt it would be significantly cheaper, and easily tailored to accommodate Oliver’s needs.

My only real qualm is that in order to save money, it’d have to be made of wood. A wooden enclosure of this size, as one would imagine, is ridiculously heavy.

I kept reticulated pythons for years in very large, custom built enclosures made from 1” melamine coated plywood. The enclosures themselves were great, and suited the needs of the snakes perfectly. The issue came when it was time to move. I hadn’t given any forethought to moving the enclosures when I was drawing them up. Disassembling the enclosures was out of the question, as all seams had been completely sealed together with epoxy resin for waterproofing. It was a nightmare.

Today, all of my larger reptiles have been converted from wooden enclosures to PVC. It makes moving and rearranging a breeze. I’ve got an 8’x3’x2’ PVC enclosure that probably weights in around 100 pounds when empty. Easy enough to move around by myself, and virtually effortless with two people. A wooden enclosure of the same dimensions would likely weigh 3 times that. No fun!

All in all, I’m not opposed to building an enclosure, and you’re absolutely right, it would undoubtedly be cheaper. The lessons I’ve learned over the years would certainly pay off when designing a new build. I’ll just have to wait till the day of upgrading draws nearer to see what makes the most sense.

 

[Scolopendra55]

@Ultum4Spiderz

Coconut crabs aren’t for those short of space or resources!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

@Ultum4Spiderz

Coconut crabs aren’t for those short of space or resources!

Nope world’s largest land crab ! ! Expert pet .

 

[Kada]

@Kada

I’ve certainly considered building an enclosure. There’s no doubt it would be significantly cheaper, and easily tailored to accommodate Oliver’s needs.

My only real qualm is that in order to save money, it’d have to be made of wood. A wooden enclosure of this size, as one would imagine, is ridiculously heavy.

I kept reticulated pythons for years in very large, custom built enclosures made from 1” melamine coated plywood. The enclosures themselves were great, and suited the needs of the snakes perfectly. The issue came when it was time to move. I hadn’t given any forethought to moving the enclosures when I was drawing them up. Disassembling the enclosures was out of the question, as all seams had been completely sealed together with epoxy resin for waterproofing. It was a nightmare.

Today, all of my larger reptiles have been converted from wooden enclosures to PVC. It makes moving and rearranging a breeze. I’ve got an 8’x3’x2’ PVC enclosure that probably weights in around 100 pounds when empty. Easy enough to move around by myself, and virtually effortless with two people. A wooden enclosure of the same dimensions would likely weigh 3 times that. No fun!

All in all, I’m not opposed to building an enclosure, and you’re absolutely right, it would undoubtedly be cheaper. The lessons I’ve learned over the years would certainly pay off when designing a new build. I’ll just have to wait till the day of upgrading draws nearer to see what makes the most sense.

Indeed, plywood is pretty heavy. I would HATE to have to disassemble and move house haha.

However..hehe he...if I may. The big difference wih proper plastic laminate (think counter top style, knife proof) is its completely water tight. I used plywood with glass and punched stainless for most of my large reptiles and amphibian enclosures inbthe last. Even paludariums. The laminate is far thicker than melamine, which scratches easy and I wouldn't trust. Laminate I can make aquariums with. All I have ever used was a healthy dose of silicone in the exposed edges. As the laminate is very very scratch resistant, when I didn't have to move house and take apart the enclosures, I only have to use a razor to scrape out the silicone. Unscrew. Move, screw. Re silicone. Worked a treat!

Granted more work, design etc. Everyone has their ways. But just putting it out here, the key is proper counter top style laminate, not thin melamine. it comes in hundreds o colors and designs. rock, textured, wood grain etc. Enclosures lasted 20+ years before taking a break from the hobby. They probably still live on with the people I gave them all away to.

Just spitballing some ideas

 

[Scolopendra55]

I like the idea of a thicker laminate as a building material. It’d certainly be better/more durable than laminated plywood. I’ll definitely be looking into that as an option!

I should have several years with the current enclosure, but it’s never too early to start thinking about his next upgrade.

 

[Kada]

Do keep pics coming. I can't say I've even seen someone online keeping them as a pet before, quite interesting!

 

[Scolopendra55]

Hey everyone!

Here’s a bit of a late update on Oliver. I removed him on the 28th of September to get his new weight and take some photos. With this molt he grew to 42 grams, which equates to a 68% increase. I was expecting a reasonable amount of growth, but I wasn’t expecting it to be so substantial!

Besides the expected increase in his leg-span, I was pretty surprised by how much his carapace and left (crusher) claw have bulked out. It makes me really excited to see what kind of size increase he obtains with his next molt.

Speaking of which…

Ollie is down for his second molt! I last observed him on the night of November 6th, and I just noticed he’s created another molting chamber at the bottom of his enclosure. However, this time it’s in a much more centralized spot which will make taking pictures much easier. So, expect some photos of his chamber and molting!

Here are a few pictures I snapped when I took him out for his weigh-in on September 28th. He’s remarkably defensive, and very quick to throw up a threat posture. It was quite a challenge to coax him into the acrylic container for pictures using a chopstick, which he quickly grabbed onto several times and refused to let go of for about 15 minutes each time. He excels at making simple tasks difficult. All said and done the whole process took the better part of an hour. Never a dull moment with a coconut crab I suppose!

 

[Scolopendra55]

Forgot to attach the pics!

 

[Kada]

Amazing! How big til he can start turning your thermometer into oragami?

 

[LucN]

Wow ! This is the first time I see these being kept in captivity. Major props to you for doing the research and designing the right enclosure to cater to all its needs. I am seriously mind blown by this ! Will definitely follow your updates on Oliver. Best of luck in keeping him happy and healthy

 

[Ramen]

That boi is getting big fast!

 

[Scolopendra55]

Amazing! How big til he can start turning your thermometer into oragami?

I think, if he were so inclined, he could probably do that at his current size. His strength is remarkable, even being so small. I’ll be mounting his thermo/hygrometer to the side of the enclosure to try and keep it out of reach! Though, regardless, I’m sure I’ll be going through several in the coming years…

 

[Scolopendra55]

Wow ! This is the first time I see these being kept in captivity. Major props to you for doing the research and designing the right enclosure to cater to all its needs. I am seriously mind blown by this ! Will definitely follow your updates on Oliver. Best of luck in keeping him happy and healthy

Thank you for the kind words! I’ve spent many years scouring the web for tidbits of information that I could extrapolate to a coconut crabs captive care. This has been a long time coming for me. As I mentioned at the beginning of the thread, there’s only one “care sheet” pertaining to Birgus. It’s pretty much just a large scale trial and error experiment; constantly learning as I go, and adapting his environment based on what he seems to favor and engage with, versus what he tends to shy away from. The name of the game is note taking. Notes, notes and more notes!

 

[Scolopendra55]

That boi is getting big fast!

He’s definitely growing at a fast rate! I had originally anticipated him molting 4-5 times a year when I received him, though that guess is completely arbitrary and not based on any empirical evidence (again, due to a near complete absence of captive data). However, if he continues on this trajectory, it seems like the hypothesis may end up being accurate.

 

[FullMcGoatse]

I used to work at a reptile shop and we had 2 Coconut crabs. One was roughly the size of Oliver, the other a little smaller than a basketball. Humidity is very important, as well as deep substrate (enough to bury themselves in apparently).

the larger one caught a guys finger, almost took it off, and he had to get stitches. Apparently they require a huge enclosure when they get larger, so big that the only buyers were out of state aquariums. I would guess you’re best bet would be to get a custom made enclosure, pricey but worth the investment.

 

[Charliemum]

I need to know how his moult went , just found this thread and need to know what happens next .
Has Oliver moulted yet? Is he OK? How much size did he gain?
I have never seen someone keep these as a pet before, I find it all extremely interesting. I know absolutely nothing about them so excuse the newbie questions but can I ask how do you know Oliver is a male ? And will you find him a Mrs Oliver eventually or can these not be kept together? And how long do they take to be full size?
Just curious

 

[Scolopendra55]

I used to work at a reptile shop and we had 2 Coconut crabs. One was roughly the size of Oliver, the other a little smaller than a basketball. Humidity is very important, as well as deep substrate (enough to bury themselves in apparently).

the larger one caught a guys finger, almost took it off, and he had to get stitches. Apparently they require a huge enclosure when they get larger, so big that the only buyers were out of state aquariums. I would guess you’re best bet would be to get a custom made enclosure, pricey but worth the investment.

You’re absolutely correct. Humidity and deep substrate are absolutely paramount to ensure proper health and molting success. I strive to maintain 85-90% humidity at all times with a temperature between 85-87 degrees.

At his current size, the ~10” substrate depth seems to be adequate, though as he grows, the substrate will definitely need to be adjusted to accommodate his larger size. With his next upgrade (see pics on page 1), I’ll likely be looking at a 20-24” depth, and his “forever” enclosure will probably be closer to 36”. There doesn’t seem to be any real way around it with this species. The larger they get, the deeper the substrate has to be in order to facilitate healthy molting.

 

[Scolopendra55]

I need to know how his moult went , just found this thread and need to know what happens next .
Has Oliver moulted yet? Is he OK? How much size did he gain?
I have never seen someone keep these as a pet before, I find it all extremely interesting. I know absolutely nothing about them so excuse the newbie questions but can I ask how do you know Oliver is a male ? And will you find him a Mrs Oliver eventually or can these not be kept together? And how long do they take to be full size?
Just curious

Lots to unpack here! I’ll just answer your questions in the order they were asked.

1: Yes! Oliver has successfully molted for a second time. He molted on December 9th. I will be posting an update once he emerges, and I’m able to take some new photos.

2: No real way to tell how he fared until he emerges in a few more weeks. I’m hopeful all went well. He is currently eating his old molt as I type this. It took about 14 days for him to consume his last molt.

3: I’ll collect all of his size/weight data once he emerges from his molting chamber and has had a few weeks to eat, drink, and recover. The molting process is a very taxing one, and these animals are easily stressed!

4: I am able to determine Oliver is a male by the absence of both gonopores and pleopods.

5: I have no plans for acquiring a female. They’re not communal like typical, terrestrial hermit crabs. So, I would need to set up another massive enclosure to house them separately. The only real reason to get a female would be for breeding. Though that would be a monumental undertaking. The scale of such an operation is difficult to convey. Most public zoos and aquariums simply wouldn’t be up to that task, if that gives you a reference level.

6: The jury is out on that one! The general consensus is that is takes between 7-12 years for them to become sexually mature (it seems that environmental factors play a large role). However, they are sexually mature much before they reach “full size”. Likely, and again, this is mere hypothesis, they grow fairly rapidly (if you can consider 7-12 years rapid) to sexual maturity. Then, like most ectotherms, the linear growth slows down dramatically as they dedicate more resources towards gonadal development. There’s no literature to back this up for the species, but I feel the reasoning is sound. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’ll probably be ~30 years until Oliver reaches “full size”. But, being a crustacean, he’ll never truly stop growing. He will simply molt far less frequently, and the size increase each molt will taper off.

 

[Charliemum]

Lots to unpack here! I’ll just answer your questions in the order they were asked.

1: Yes! Oliver has successfully molted for a second time. He molted on December 9th. I will be posting an update once he emerges, and I’m able to take some new photos.

2: No real way to tell how he fared until he emerges in a few more weeks. I’m hopeful all went well. He is currently eating his old molt as I type this. It took about 14 days for him to consume his last molt.

3: I’ll collect all of his size/weight data once he emerges from his molting chamber and has had a few weeks to eat, drink, and recover. The molting process is a very taxing one, and these animals are easily stressed!

4: I am able to determine Oliver is a male by the absence of both gonopores and pleopods.

5: I have no plans for acquiring a female. They’re not communal like typical, terrestrial hermit crabs. So, I would need to set up another massive enclosure to house them separately. The only real reason to get a female would be for breeding. Though that would be a monumental undertaking. The scale of such an operation is difficult to convey. Most public zoos and aquariums simply wouldn’t be up to that task, if that gives you a reference level.

6: The jury is out on that one! The general consensus is that is takes between 7-12 years for them to become sexually mature (it seems that environmental factors play a large role). However, they are sexually mature much before they reach “full size”. Likely, and again, this is mere hypothesis, they grow fairly rapidly (if you can consider 7-12 years rapid) to sexual maturity. Then, like most ectotherms, the linear growth slows down dramatically as they dedicate more resources towards gonadal development. There’s no literature to back this up for the species, but I feel the reasoning is sound. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’ll probably be ~30 years until Oliver reaches “full size”. But, being a crustacean, he’ll never truly stop growing. He will simply molt far less frequently, and the size increase each molt will taper off.

Wow so much info, thank you for answering ! I am so glad Oliver is doing well and has moulted again .
They really take up that much space to breed...that is quite amazing, I just assumed with him being a crab it would be easy, who knew lol. Thank you not only for sharing but for the info too, it's alot to go and read up on (my favourite thing todo ) , I look forward to learning more of Olivers journey . Thank you again