LOOKING FOR HELP WITH MY PURPLE VAMPIRE CRAB HABITAT.

[butterflychild]

Hello all i have 1 Purple Vampire Crab with a minimal setup right now but am looking to make a better home for it. I was told that i need this stuff and its way to much stuff i cant afford it all. Heres the list of what i was told i needed.

at least a 40 gal tank, glass lid, tank stand, grapevine branches, feeding tool, terrarium pump, terraruim filter, heat wave forest, thermoneter, hygrometer, light cycle unit, fogger. waterfall, coco husk, pebbles, plantation soil, strofoam aquarium background, tree fern tropical background, monsoon RS400 high-pressure rainfall system, sand (white), calcuim, hut or coconut shell, real plants for land and water,Moss (java,peat, terrarium and stagnum, Silicone, plastic screen, infrared ot ceramic heating bulb, eco earth or organic potting soil and pea gravel.

Im so cunfussed i dont know what to do what i need to get and what i dont need to have. I want the crab to have a habitat thats the same or as close to its natural habitat as i can get. But im on a fixed budget as im on Disability. :1zhelp: mg:

 

[mellowvision]

WEll, first of all, that's quite a list. You don't need everything on the list. ESPECIALLY for one crab.

Vampire crabs live on the tropical forest floor near running streams. They climb, burrow, and hunt. Their primary food is live insects, but they also eat soil, leaf litter, rotting wood, fungus, fallen fruit etc.

What you do need is an environment that has:

Stable humitdity around 75% or higher.
Stable temperature of 72º - 85º F
No escape points
A place to soak in fresh clean water
A place to burrow in moist, clean soil, free of pesticides, fertilizers, or any unnatural additives like vermiculite etc.

I have a 45 gallon enclosure for my crabs, but I started with 8 and have dozens now. You don't need to go as crazy as I did in making your enclosure... Some breeders even keep their crabs in vented tupperware with neoprene floats.

There are several ways to go about giving the crab a good home. For one crab, you can get away with as small as a 5 gallon tank, although it will be much easier to deal with in a 10 or larger. If you plan on getting more crabs, you will need more than 10 gallons of space.

They will benefit from live plants, it's true, especially mosses and smaller plants that they can eat bits of, and collect bacteria and microorganisms off of.

Sounds like the first thing you need, is a temporary enclosure to keep him alive while you build something more interesting. What do you have for tanks with tight lids? A bare bottom tank with a few large stones or driftwood pieces, and 1" of water in the bottom will be enough for him for the short term. Change the water every day or two with dechlorinated water.

Second thing you need right away, is an active fruit fly culture, and the ability to make more cultures. Or pin head crickets. Mine also like super worms. Live insects are important.

 

[butterflychild]

Ok right now hes in a 5 gal tank with a piece of board on top of the tank so he doesent exscape. I have a 3-4 inch plastic bowl in one corner wit a bit od pink fish gravel and some black substract on the top and the same with the rest of the tank aswell i have a small terra cota plant pot in another corner and 2 plastic plants small one near the pot and a bigger one near his water dish( some of the branches i bent to go into the water so he can get in and out). And theres a Beta log aswell but took that out for now to put in my transport cage as i am getting one more crab Saturday( The crab i have now is just sitting around like hes depressed so i was told to get one more crab it would more then likely help him feel better not being alone). So i will have the 2 in a 5 gal for just a month or so. Aswell do you know whats the difference between organic top soil and organic potting soil. As i was told to use organic potting soil for my PVC habitat. But my local hardware store only has Organic top soil. Please help.

 

[butterflychild]

what stuff can i use to dechlorinate my water for the crab.? Can i use Nutrifin Aqua Plus.?

 

[mellowvision]

1. You should not add any more crabs until you have your tank figured out. You are not ready. Your crab isn't depressed, it's probably dying from lack of humidity, chlorine poisoning, and poor conditions.

2. You do not want to use any soil from your hardware store. Ideally, you want to buy a bag of ABG mix from a frog supply place like Josh's Frogs. If you can't do that, you can use coco fiber or plantation soil from the pet shop. ABG is far superior, and you will benefit from it in the long run. ABG = Atlanta Botanic Garden mix. It's a tropical floor mix that is healthy, organic, and drains well.

3. You can't just dump soil in there and expect it to be a long term solution. It doesn't sound like you've done much research, but you need to create a draining floor as in any vivarium. You need either a layer of hydroton with a window screen, then your soil, or to build a false bottom. Google it.

4. A board on top may keep him from escaping, but that's only half the battle. You also need to make sure it is keeping proper humidity in the tank. A proper fitting lid is more appropriate than a board

5. Plastic plants do nothing for a crab, except pose a risk of the crab eating plastic. Remove them.

6. I prefer Seachem Prime to dechlorinate water... but the Aqua plus is probably fine. Never used it.


Please, don't keep buying crabs. Spend a little time and make a decent habitat. These are rare little species that are most often taken from the wild, they deserve a little respect. It's not hard at all to make a suitable habitat. It just takes a little reading, and a few hours of set up.

 

[butterflychild]

Hello all im needing some info about Purple Vampire Crabs before i get any more. As my one died. I was told to use sodium for PVC for when they molt it will help there new skin harden. What kind of sodium do i use?. Aswell as i need calcium to keep them strong would cuttle bones work ok. Is there anything else i need to keep PVC'S healthy and live a long happy life.

 

[mellowvision]

You do not want to add sodium. not sure who told you that, but they are freshwater crabs. For calcium supplementation, I suggest using Repashy Calcium plus, dusted on their fruit flies and crickets. You can also supplement with Hikari Crab Cuisine, ken's veggie/calcium sticks, live micro worms, blood worms.

You need to know what your water parameters are... if you have soft acidic water, you may need to buffer the water up with calcium as well.

Also, while they are purple, they're not really referred to as Purple Vampire crabs. They are Geosesarma crabs, and the purple ones with yellow eyes and backs are called Vampires. I have geosesarma that have purple legs, red shells and claws and white eyes, they are referred to as Red Devils, but they are still Geosesarma. Thought it might help you in your google searches.

It sounds like you're getting a lot of bad info from your pet shop. I'd start researching online a little more before jumping into anything.

 

[KillerVirusB]

I would listen to MellowVision, he knows what he is talking about. Though I am new to geosesarma myself, I have kept hermit crabs for several years and correct husbandry will get you far with both inverts. A good draining soil like coco fiber and plantation soil or ABG mix so the crabs can burrow over a drainage layer is essential, as well as a tight fitting lid. And, if you try to cut corners, just like with hermit crabs, they will NOT LIVE.

You should take a look over at some of the dart frog setups on the web (dendroboard.com is a good place to look). General consensus is that the requirements for both geosesarma and dendrobatidae are almost the same. I've attached a few pictures of my vivarium drainage, soil, and water areas, as well as my crabs. I use ABG mix with added hand crushed leaf litter.


^ A good draining soil over LECA balls, and a isolated water feature.

^ Female "Red Devil" Geosesarma.

^ Male "Red Devil" Geosesarma.
Though both crabs happen to be near the shore in these images, the female tends to stay inland and the male like to stay partially submerged.

 

[jeffreyathompson]

are you able to help me with the lighting for the tank? i have a new tank set up and its perfect the only thing i cant seem to get a strait answer out of is the lighting? i have found sources that say sunlight is harmful to the vampire crab and others saying they should have a uv light, so im not sure if its the UV radiation of sunlight that is bad for them or the acrual light itself, please help!