Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Non puffer freshwater discussion. Don't tell your puffers, they'll be jealous!
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Well they are gone, and I felt really badly about giving them up. And on top of that, my friend just expected me to give them to him, but I had told him before that I would like to do a trade (he works at a fish store) -- so I had to remind him that I wanted some shrimp for the crabs. He was at work when I took the crabs to him, so he gave me some "diamond shrimp" -- real cute little black and white shrimp.
I had to go down far into the tunnels to get the big crab out, and luckily he was not in the middle of molting as I feared he might be.

When we got back home, I tore the tank apart and started converting it into a tank for my 2 puffers. They are already in the tank now and all seems well. I wish I had been able to keep the crabs, but at least they are still alive and didn't die or anything, so that's a consolation I suppose.

It's been really nice having these chats with you ste123 and I will miss them to be honest. So I hope you are very happy with yours and let me know from time to time how things are going, I would love to be kept informed.

Kind Regards,
Suzanne
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autophotos
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by autophotos »

so was it you on acurist classifieds? id seen some posts there
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Yes, that was me, I use that all the time, I've got my Abei for sale on there right now, but not getting any bites on that.
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ste123
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by ste123 »

Yeh its been cool. I'll definitely post anything that is significant on here for you to read.
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Thanks .... I actually miss them alot, but I keep telling myself at least they didn't die, so that makes me feel better. I wish I could have kept them though. The tank they were in now has my two Cutcutia puffers in it, and it seems odd to see so much water in there instead of dirt. I had a heck of a time cleaning that tank out, all that sand and rocks. Now I've got a big plastic container full of sand and rocks outside. Not sure what to do with that.

But thanks ste123, I would love to continue to hear how yours are doing. :D
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by ste123 »

Hi there!!
Just thought I'd give a quick update as i've just come back home for easter so will get alot of time to tend to my crabs. They have been doing fine, ive been cumin bak regularly so ive been able to check on them. They dont stop digging though, new holes appear every day!!! they cover the old ones too which i think is cool.

If you remember i put 5 guppies in, theres only 2 left lol. Also, my sisters redclaw crabs had some trauma. One of them ripped the others legs and claws off. So it was just a body. So she had to kill it. Then she didnt want the other crab so we put it in my tank so if it survived, then fair enough but if not, o well.

It lasted a few days, even molted aswell. But didnt live. not sure how it died.

I've decided i dont really like the look of my tank anymore, coz i neva get to see my crabs. But i know thats how they like it best, so i'm not sure what im going to do. Ive got 2 spare tanks tho, my old one and my sisters one. So im thinking maybe i could set up a new tank and put one of the crabs in there. Not sure if i will though.
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by zombiefetus »

I'm so jealous D: My friend and I spent MONTHS trying to find interesting crabs and ended up with a few red claw crabs and fiddler crabs :/

Image lol
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Hey Ste, glad to hear that your land crabs are still doing well, that's great! You know, I had 2 red crabs that had been living together for many months, and then one day the bigger one did the exact same thing as what happened to your sister's crab -- pulled all the legs and claws off. I ended up feeding it to my Mbu puffer (who loved it!). :D

zombiefetus -- I've been wanting fiddler crabs and just can't find them. Your tank looks nice, but can I just make a suggestion? You should give them more land. Fiddler's are not aquatic crabs. They hang out on the banks of rivers and creeks. I used to catch them when I was a kid living in Maryland (where I was born). It was alot of fun, good memories now. :)

I find crabs very interesting. I've got a Panther crab in my community tank and he's grown huge. Should be interesting because I'm taking down that tank, and I can't wait until it comes time for me to take him out. Then I will truly be able to see his size. :lol:
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ste123
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by ste123 »

yeh that tank looks really nice. I wudnt mind making something similar.

Ive put the big crab in a tank on his own, and re-arranged the bigger tank for the 2 other crabs so that i might see them a bit more wen they're out.

was fun trying to move them, especially as one of them just got burried in the sand and i had to route everywhere to find him haha. dont know how long i'll keep it like this, will have to see how it goes
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by zombiefetus »

pufferpuggirl wrote:zombiefetus -- I've been wanting fiddler crabs and just can't find them. Your tank looks nice, but can I just make a suggestion? You should give them more land. Fiddler's are not aquatic crabs. They hang out on the banks of rivers and creeks. I used to catch them when I was a kid living in Maryland (where I was born). It was alot of fun, good memories now. :)
The water level was usually much lower, and he had no problem climbing on the rocks, plants, and that piece of fake driftwood. That tank got taken down about 8-ish months ago when the crab escaped, wandered into the hall and my friend's mom, thinking it was a giant spider stomped on him ;___;
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by dinglefuzz »

hi i just bought what i think are rainbow ccrabs i got them from the pet shop they are kind of dark colored by one of their legs they have a speck of blue so im guessing they just molted onw of my crabs stands in the same place doesnt move much the other one ate and walks around i was wondering why its not moving? i have about 4 inches of water and land for them to get on i bought them dried kril lto eat and a cuttle bone for crabs i want them to be happy because the pet shop i got them from malinformed me and told me that they could live completely underwater.
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pufferpuggirl
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Hi dinglefuzz .... Rainbow land crabs are delightful to own. I had 3 for quite a while and loved every minute of it. I only rehomed them when I needed the tank they were in for my puffers (puffers come first).

Do you realise that they need very high humidity? Maybe it's not warm enough for them, and that could be why yours isn't moving much. I kept a small heater in the water when I had mine, that way it heated the water to a nice temperature and it also kept the air heated as well. You want to make sure you've got a nice fitting top so the humidity stays in also.

Try feeding them more food as well. Mine enjoyed vegetables and pieces of apple & banana. They would normally be found on land, not in or under water. I think it's a shame because most of the LFS's that I see these crabs at, they are completely submerged in water without any land at all.

I made mine a tank with mostly sand, which they loved and made tunnels all over. That would be their normal behaviour, although most people don't give them what they want, unfortunately.

Anyway, I hope that you're able to give them what they need to be happy and they liven up for you. Keep us informed. :D
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ste123
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by ste123 »

Read the whole of this thread!! between me and puffergirl, we discovered all the best ways to look after these crabs. They're great, i think i will own them for the rest of my life,
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by ste123 »

yo!
Got a really cool update/story about my crabss!

I got a text about a week ago from my mum sayin she thinks something has happened to one of them, as she could see a claw on the floor. So i assumed that there had been a fight and one crab had its claw pulled of. But then she said she could see a crab in the cave that didnt look healthy. but she didnt dare life the cave.

so i had to wait till this weekend to come home. The first thing i did, obviously, was lift up the cave. All i found was two claws on the floor, and no sign of a crab. So i took the ornaments out of the tank and put them on some news paper and searched. I found 2 crabs, billy and rainbow in their holes in the sand. i put them in the water, but cudnt find any of them. Billy has another leg missing, so i assume that billy and sky had a fight. I searched for sky, by taking all of the sand out....but no sign of a live or dead crab!!

did my two little nice crabs really decide to kill the mean one and eat all but his claws!!!!!???

i was on the phone to my girlfriend telling her about it, when i heard a noise. A noise that was very familiar. Like a scratching.
then i looked at the cave which was on my bedroom floor, and there was sky, just about to make an escape!!!!! he managed to hide in the corner of it so i didnt see him wen i picked it up!

anyway, i now have living proof that crabs grow their legs back. Sky used to have two legs missing, now hes got all eight, and hes alot bigger and cleaner. So he moulted successfully and ive seen him running around and grabbing any bit of food i put in there.

crabs...are....ace
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pufferpuggirl
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Location (country): Yorkshire, GB
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Re: Rainbow Land Crabs (Cardisoma armatum)

Post by pufferpuggirl »

Yes, they will grow their limbs back. I recently rescued a red crab that only had 2 claws and one leg, but recently it's molted and now it's got all it's limbs back and is back to normal! They are VERY cool!

Glad to hear everything turned out well for you and your trio. :grats:
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