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I
have all 20 of my crabs in a unique container that I searched
high and low for and finally chose. It's a 3 foot long by
2 foot wide by 8 inches deep black plastic container with
no lid (yes, that's right - no lid of any kind). Since I live
in Southern California, humidity and heat are not really much
of an issue, but more on that later. This bucket has about
8 gallons of substrate, which is mostly the fine compressed
forest bedding you can find at pet stores (which is actually
made locally here). The crabs seem to enjoy this, but since
I also have E's, and I notice that the crabs do enjoy digging
in sand a tiny bit more than the bedding, I have ultra finely
sifted beach sand from our local beach here in one corner
of the tank all the way to the bottom of the container. In
this way I have simulated the way a wooded area would border
a beach area. I change the tank completely every 2 months.
I used to do this every month when I had all beach sand, but
with the bedding and the large size of the tank in relation
to the relatively small number of crabs, I find I can go much
longer without any sign of the tank even starting to look
wrecked, dangerous, dirty or smelly, and allows the crabs
more molt time if they need it and cuts the crab's stress
in half. With the bedding and the open-air no-lid aspect of
the tank, smell is not really an issue anyway and I've never
smelled anything ever. Also, despite not having a lid, there
has never, not ever, not even close, been an escape from this
tank. In fact, except for one crab who seems to be searching
for something that he can't find in the tank, there are not
even attempts to escape. They simply ignore the edges of the
tank. This makes me feel like they don't know they are even
in captivity. This theory is supported by the fact that they
obviously are scared to death of me, and never get used to
seeing me near the tank. Some of my crabs are 'jumpers'...
you have to be careful if they are way up high on the branches
because they will just jump off if you come close. I use branches
and other climbing toys to expand the vertical space the crabs
can inhabit to over three feet straight up. Lucky for them
the bedding provides a soft landing.
Water
I've
read about the things that crabs like to eat, but there are
a few things that my crabs enjoy that I've never heard mentioned.
Maybe this is because I've fed them just about everything
that is not poisonous to them. Although it is obvious that
the crabs favorite food is something they haven't had in a
while, whatever that may be at the time, there are a few favorites
that they always go crazy for. One is eggshell. I crack open
an egg and pour out the yolk and just pop that into the tank.
That shell will be nibbled down to fragments in a month. You
can always hear them snapping pieces off at night, so I know
they are eating their calcium. It could even be that they
evolved into tree crabs partly because of their search for
eggs as a source of calcium. Of course they enjoy popcorn,
but try putting a piece of Indian corn in there still on the
husk. I once popped a miniature Indian corn husk in the microwave
and had popcorn on the cob, and put that into the tank. Months
later, they still roll that thing around and pick at the un-popped
kernels.
Cork is the other big fascination to them. Mine sit in the
hollow cork all day and eat it. Sure they eat other things,
but cork is a favorite. I've never heard if they actually
derive nutrition from this or not, but I suspect it's like
the egg... it gives them something they need, but not energy.
Perhaps it is eaten for the water, but it's not very moist.
Another thing they enjoy every now and then is a peanut -
still in the shell. They will rip the shell open and feast
on the nut all day if you let them. Also, try giving them
a chicken bone with some marrow. Especially from a KFC chicken
leg. Just snap the leg in half lengthwise so the marrow is
exposed. They like this so much they sometimes will line up
side by side and share it. Even with scared crabs, they will
eat marrow off of a toothpick right from your hand. I've recently
tried feeding live black worms (the tiny worms you can get
in a pet store for fish and African frogs). They seem to enjoy
these as well. One thing I've learned about their food is
to give it to them in a inverted coconut half. I've tried
other shallower dishes, but they will tip the dish over, or
shovel sand/dirt into it. With the coconut, they can pop inside,
get what they want, and even take some out if they are ambitious,
but it doesn't get contaminated, which is easier on me since
I don't have to dump dirt out of their food dish every day.
My crabs are pretty neat though, and only the E's will smuggle
food out to eat it elsewhere. I'd say I have every kind of
commercially available food on the market. My crabs don't
seem to really go nuts for any one brand, although regular
fish flakes seem to disappear quickly when I put them in there.
Also, they always steal the seaweed from the dish left over
from when I make sushi. I keep all the loose random foods
I want to feed my crabs in a multi chambered fishing lure
container. It has about 30 compartments, is low profile, and
has nice snaps on it to keep it closed. It's transparent too
so I can see what's inside.
The
tank has quite a few decorations, and since I have six square
feet of surface area to work with, I'm not very limited in
what I can do. Each month I tend to add something to 'Crabopolis'
and make it a little bit higher. I have a few pieces of hollowed
out cork (which the crabs love to eat and spend most of their
time inside - the higher cork tube is nicknamed The Loft since
most of the usual suspects can be found there). I've got lava
rock, driftwood, choya wood, jungle vines, twigs, tumbleweed,
sea fans, coral, coconuts (with and without coconut meat),
a hollow gourd, grapewood, grape vines, bark (never any cedar),
lichen, and moss of all colors and varieties.
Like
some of you, I have hundreds of shells thanks to the local
shell shops here in Southern California. There is a particularly
good one in Ocean Beach, about 15 minutes away from me. However,
despite my searching, I now have not seen a shell type I don't
have for many months. I think I've exhausted all the varieties
there are typically available. I've even bought some rare
shells which the crabs have actually worn (one is still in
a shell that was considered a collector's shell due to the
previously intact perniculum). If anyone knows of a good source
of rare or unique shells, my crabs would greatly appreciate
it. They have tried all the shells they own and are still
very fussy. I've even taken a few turbos to a grinder (no,
the crabs were not in them) to polish them up and make custom
'magpie' shells which the crabs seem to really enjoy for some
reason. One of my wishes is to find a glassblower who could
make a clear glass shell that is actually functional enough
for a crab to occupy. I think it would be fascinating to see
the entire crab while it is in the shell. But *ack* I would
never put painted shells, or shells with anything glued on
there into the tank. Football helmets? No, please.
This
is the most fun part of my hobby, since I enjoy the technology
I can use to keep my crabs happy. First, I have a simple drip
container which continually refreshes the fresh water shell
and creates dew drops on the tank walls. I also have a mister
which I can use for the plants, and a brackish water squirt
bottle for refilling the sea water shell. For humidity, I
have a humidity gauge which is always kept in the 55-60 percent
range. This is managed by a humidity replenishing wand powered
by a pump and a small water reservoir which uses a timer to
come on about 4 hours a day. Also, twice a day, I have an
ultrasonic humidifier on a timer which fogs the tank for 20
minutes. I've modified the humidifier's output nozzle with
a very nicely matching bendable plastic tube (like a large
bendy plastic straw) to direct the fog into the tank so the
entire bottom is covered in a 2-3 inch layer of mist (some
crabs seem to like this and will sit in the fog stream, others
curse me and run as far away as they can get). Even with all
this fogging and humidity, the tank is not soggy, but maintains
a nice, dry but humid atmosphere and a substrate that is dry
in most places and lightly damp in a small area. The crabs
seem to really enjoy digging in the damp area. I also have
an ultraviolet light which is on a timer and comes on for
2 hours a day. There is also a non-light emitting ceramic
heating element mounted in a lamp that maintains the tank
temperature at a constant using a thermostat and several thermometers
and a sensor. The nature of the tank allows for a range of
temperature from the 80 to the 70 in the tank so the crabs
can choose the temperature they like the most. Some get as
close to the heat source as possible, some stay away. The
strangest gizmo I have is the Crab-Cam, which is a night vision
camera that can be aimed into the tank to record their activities
at night. When recorded and played back at high speed, it
is very entertaining. You can see the antics they exhibit
when they think nobody is watching. Also, if you want to check
on your crabs at night and see what they are doing, try using
a red light. I have a red bulb that casts a nice low red glow
over the tank and they seem to think that's just as good as
pitch dark, and will ignore me watching them as long as I
don't move too much. The next step in the gizmos is a random
wind generator (yeah, I'm completely insane) that will puff
some air gently into the tank at random times, but only very
rarely, to simulate wind. Also, I want the heater to drop
a few degrees at night. Lastly, a crab webcam would be nice,
and I've had one set up before, but I want to get a few different
night vision cameras and a day camera so I can have the full
spectrum of crab activity. The night vision cameras are black
and white only.
Ok,
now I own just about every book written on land hermit crabs
for the pet trade, and some agree with me and some do not,
but there is one thing I completely disagree with. Dunking.
I do not believe it needs to be done. Period. My crabs are
perfectly healthy (and I mean perfect - not so much as a short
antennae). They drink when they are thirsty, they have choices
of moist food, they get fogged briefly, they are in a humid
atmosphere. Unless your crab has mites, which I've never seen
here in California, then I don't see why you would do this.
The crab does not get dunked in the 'wild'. More importantly,
the water in the crab's shell is not just pure water, it is
a Ph and ionically balanced mixture. Dunking them throws off
that balance. I'd say it could cause more harm than good for
a healthy crab. I don't even mist my crabs. I really think
all that activity you see after you dunk or mist is the terror
of drowning motivating the crabs to run and hide. I rely on
my crab to choose what it needs and what it does not. It knows
that far better than I do. The one book I own that I believe
nails this exactly is written by Philippe de Vosjoli called
'The Care of Land Hermit Crabs'. Basically, he says that daily
dipping is not necessary in a well designed setup for a healthy
crab. I think I have proven this by the fact that my crabs
are healthy and happy without dipping or misting them directly.
Now, I certainly don't want to encourage anyone to stop dipping
their crabs, since that may be necessary if you keep them
the way you see the crabs on display in pet stores. But in
that case the real problem is the way you're keeping them.
Almost
all of the crabs I have ever bought are still with me. I've
had very, very few deaths, and those that have died were due
to the fact that I brought home some sick and/or injured specimens
from local shops that have no clue how to treat crabs. I actually
have brought a few back to life, which is why I have 20 crabs
now. One had no limbs left except a small claw, so I had to
mount its shell on small all-terrain wheels so it could just
pop out of its shell and eat, and also move. One I had to
hand feed a special mix of homemade fine watery mush off of
a toothpick until it could molt and regenerate. I've had to
perform micro surgery on an otherwise healthy crab that had
a very bizarre and unsuccessful molt and was trapped in his
own exoskeleton (I had to use magnifying goggles and precision
instruments). But one refugee from a pet store was just too
far gone and he couldn't make it, so he gave up. I have a
isolation tank for this purpose with many of the things I
have in the large tank. If I have a rescued crab, I typically
keep it under 24 hour Crab-Cam surveillance to make sure it
is active. I've asked around at shelters to see if they have
any sick crabs, but they've told me that by the time they
get them, they are long gone.
My
personal (and admittedly different) philosophy is that you
should handle your crabs as little as possible, since I don't
think they like being handled. Sure, they will get used to
it, but my goal is to make my crabs think they are free, not
pets. I've simulated their natural environment as closely
as I can, and I've let them do their own thing. I see no aggression,
no fighting, just remarkably peaceful natural behavior. Even
with two different species mixed. I have no death, no disease,
no missing limbs. Of course, if you want pets/toys, then handle
them, but that's not my goal. One thing I have learned is
that when you are changing the tank with 20 crabs in it, you
need to segregate them while they are removed. I have another
shallow clear plastic tackle box that has 30 compartments
(that you can expand by removing dividers to give the larger
crabs some more room). Each compartment has an air hole drilled
into the top. The compartments are roomy enough to let the
crabs move freely, but won't let them interact. My main reason
for isolating the crabs is that since they are going from
a roughly 10 cubic foot space to whatever I put them in, they
may get stressed, aggressive, or try to rob someone else's
shell, pinch a limb off another crab, escape, or endanger
someone who had freshly molted and has not finished hiding
and hardening. I pop a small piece of popcorn in each compartment
to keep them busy while I change the tank, and so far it has
been fantastic. It is also easier than watching them constantly
for escape attempts because they can't cooperate to get out
(I used to use the isolation tank for temporary tank change
housing, but one almost got out by making a 6+ crab pyramid
- but it was clearly not premeditated).
Everything
I have read indicates that breeding in captivity is not possible,
especially since they release their spawn into the sea. However,
I believe that I could construct a large habitat (10 foot
by 10 foot or so) with one end being a sea water tank with
gentle waves being generated, and a gradual stair-step slope
into an artificial beach, and then progressing into a forest
bedding area. The sea water tank could be populated with thousands
of the ultra-tiny shells readily obtainable from the sea shell
stores. Without predators, if even one (ok, two) crabs are
tricked into breeding and releasing the eggs, even a small
percentage of surviving young would number in the dozens if
not hundreds.
Ok, well that's about all I have to say, so feel free to
comment on this loooong posting... I'd love to hear different
ideas on how to improve my crab care. Thanks for reading this
far from me, and my 20 crabs: Spot, Spike, Barney, Crusty,
Buster, Mr. Peeps, Micro, Atom, Slam (short for 'Stop Looking
At Me'), Mr. Green Jeans, Reptar, Nakie (refused to wear a
shell at the pet store, so they gave him to me and he took
a new shell on the ride home), Rusty, Dusty, Chip, Tangy,
Cap'n Hook, LC (Lucky Crab - since he was virtually resurrected
from beyond the grave), Prince, and last (and also least since
he is the smallest) Newtron.
