Hello, I have Vampire crabs

I

Intelsuit

AC Members
May 9, 2011
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I just started here looking for information on Vampire Crabs and stumbled across this site. These multicolored crabs are also know as Celebes crabs. There is not much information on the internet but I have found a few things on several good sites such as this one. The pet store that we purchased them from I don't think knew what they had. They had them in a dry tank and were feeding them Hermit crab food. We have tried that but they don't seem to be eating much of it. A few sites suggested that they were omnivores but more leaning towards carnivores.
I found a lot of information on them here http://www.crustaforum.com/board/showthread.php?658-Vampire-crabs-Geosesarma-sp.

Do any of you have them? or have you had them breed? Any information that you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Intelsuit
 
Good information here as well. http://www.forums.repashy.com/freshwater-invertebrates/9570-vampire-crabs.html

I think I am going to start a blog of sorts. To give those who are looking for information about them at least my experiences.

I have a 10 gallon tank with 3 Vampire crabs in it. Structure of my tank is coconut fiber on the bottom with Spagum moss and a few pieces of tree bark. I have added some moss I found growing outside on my patio to give it some color. I have a water dish on one side and a food dish filled with hermit crab food on the other. Not nearly ideal circumstances I know but as the budget improves so will their habitat. I'll post a few pics.
I got these because my son was looking for a pet but didn't want fish. We saw these at the local pet store and waited a few days to think it over before going back to purchase them.
We have 3 crabs. One is primarily yellow with yellow claws, one is yellow with purple claws and the last one is red with red claws. The following website shows several good pictures http://forums.***********.com/Vampire-Crab-t135181.html

So like I said we have had them for about 10 days now. Purple claw seems to be the most agressive and eats the most. I have tried feeding him fish flakes and just tonight I fed him a worm. He dove at the chance and drug it back into the hollowed out log. He seems to be doing the best out of all of them.
Yellow claw is rarely seen I believe that he is mostly nocturnal along with the female red claw. I expected a lot more activity out of them but what they do is pretty cool. Thier pretty colors make up for the lack of activity. I am worried about little red though. She seems to be lethargic and somewhat non-responsive.
I'll keep everyone posted with updates every few days.
 
Your link doesn't work, are you sure you have Vampire crabs, as in the Geosesarma crab? They are usually described as purple with a yellow spot on their shell and orange eyes, but there are a variety of colors representing different species. I have similar crabs, they are Red Devil Geosesarma. Geosesarma crabs, if that's what you have, need to be kept in a land and water type of set up, where they can get in and out of the water easily. They are burrowing crabs, and are fairly nocturnal. They'll take fruit flies tossed in calcium powder, blood worms, crab cuisine, small bits of fruit. They appreciate a soil that is damp, full of springtails, and deep enough in some spots to burrow, but still be above the waterline.

I have 2 of my crabs in a large paludarium right now, and the other 6 in a small holding tub, where they have only a shallow beach with some rocks, wood, and sand, and about 2" of water. They all hide a lot, but they are more exposed in the tub, which makes them easier to observe.

A shallow beach is fine, as long as there is a couple of inches of water, in a decent amount of the floorspace. If you're going to use a terrarium type substrate, you'll probably want to put it on top of a false bottom, or a layer of hydroton, so it doesn't get soaked through by sitting in water. You could also make a sand beach, or stack rocks and fill in between with sand, and top with vivarium soil.

This thread should probably be in Freshwater Inverts or in Vivarium Terrarium Paludarium section... it would get a lot more attention. hopefully a mod will consider moving it.

A lot of good info on junglebox too.
 
I am thinking about changing the setup. thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I am sure that they are Geosesarma sp. I have looked at a ton of Youtube video and have done a lot of research on various sites looking for information on them. I just think that they are so interesting.
 
that first link just isn't working, see, it's got ********* instead of the url. but the second one works. If you have some red ones, and some purple ones, they will fight until you only have one color... they generally can not live together. The eye color and shell color should be pretty much the same.
 
I just saw your insert on your website. One word, Amazing! Can you explain how you created it?
 
Sorry, I noticed tonight that I have white moss or mold growing in my tank. What is it and is it bad for the crabs?
 
it's mold, and it's not awful, but it's probably growing because you have moisture and waste in a humid environment. It's likely it will go away, but you could try combatting it with springtails, which are tiny bugs that eat it, which the crabs eat.

These crabs basically need the same conditions as dart frogs, plus a pond. Basic vivarium principals will apply to a lot of it. You should check out some of the popular vivarium sites, like dendroboard, and the Vivarium section here on AC. There are a lot of simple solutions to creating what you need for your crabs.

Glad you like the insert, it's made from cork bark. The cork is glued onto a plastic background that contains the filtration plumbing and spray bars, and the tank has about 7" of water in it. You can read more about how it was made in the May-August issues of Tropical Fish Hobbyist. :)
 
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