how to ship brackish crabs that need land

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allaboutfish

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Jul 12, 2011
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johnathon dunn
ok so shipping crabs such as fiddlers, red claws, etc. is a little harder then shipping fish or shrimp. first off you need a container. i use a small ziploc cointainer with a lid. second the water has to be brackish. i fix a bucket with a salinity of 1.010 and then just scoop however much water i need out of it into the container. it might not be ideal, but it'll work for 1-3 days. then you also have to have land. this can be as simple as a piece of styrafoam or a rock. furthermore the crabs need air. i just punch a few holes out of the top of the container. try to minimize the crabs to 1-2 crabs per container and only 1 if there's a male. finally the box needs to be packed full of newspapers so that the containers dont move around. (this is how i will be shipping my crabs. if you see any problems plz tell me. this is to help anyone else that needs to sell or export brackish/ land seeking crabs.)
 

jetajockey

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Apr 9, 2010
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Why not just use a regular shipping bag and ship them like fish? If you poke holes in the lid then you will have leakage if the mailman doesn't keep the package upright (even when marked, they never do)

If I had to ship crabs I'd just use a fish bag with 1/4 water, and maybe a handful of moss or some other plant for them to hang on to/climb out with. I've heard that they are ok with just damp conditions, like wet newspaper, but I've never really studied it because I've not had to ship any.
 

user_name

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May 23, 2010
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Cam
ok. hopefully i have enough petsmart and petco bags lieing around. :rofl:
really? Buy the proper bags for shipping fish or inverts, there's tons of good shops online. If I was the buyer I would be pissed right now...
 
Oct 31, 2009
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Sho
whats wrong with those bags? ims supposed to ship monday.
I think it's because the bags are used and who knows what can happen during shipment. It is always best to ship with new bags. Poly bags cost like $5 shipped for 50. I'm just wondering why you didn't plan this out before planning to ship on Monday.
 

Arakkis

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Apr 7, 2008
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SJ Cali
Nix having a whole lot of water, a teaspoon or two is fine. 2 mm bag and a few pieces of styro peanuts inside for him or her to hold on to. fill with o2 and tie it up. Works fine for me and that how they are shipped to me too

Oh yeah, square off the ends of the bag with tape to remove edges.

Breather bags are a little delicate for crabs.
 
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