Moon Crab

[Andrew273]

[Bell]

I'm pretty sure Cindy, Greg's wife, had/has a moon crab. She posted a pic of one once on FB. Maybe one of then could help? His username is figgy4... I'm not sure if she's registered, yet.

Anyway, cool looking crab! Very pretty. Do they have much "personality?"

[Andrew273]

As far as personality goes, I put him in the tank last night. He dug a hole and sat it. I hear a clicking noise which wakes me up at like 5 am. He cut up my fake plant and then tried everything he could to escape. He has also completely redecorated the tank.

[Bell]

Haha, wow! Are his claws pretty sharp?

How big do they get?

[Andrew273]

Probably not more sharp than a hermit crabs. I'd imigine if he grabbed your finger he could cut you open. Honestly I have no idea how big they get. The only times I've seen them for sale have been small, like body size of a quarter or so. I doubt they get much bigger than this and by that I mean I've never seen pictures bigger than him.

[Bell]

How big is he? Can you take a picture w/ something for size reference?

[Selket]

From what I have read, it seems like they are from coastal areas in costa rica. But are mainly found by rivers or streams (fresh water). They only go to the ocean to breed, where the males and females enter the surf and the females release eggs and males release sperm. The young, microscopic crabs are basically plankton for the first stages of their life.

Again, I just read this online, I have never owned one (I would like to though ). All the care sheets I have came across don't mention anything about supplying salt water, and I assume since they live most of their life in the rain forest areas that they don't need the salt water. Also since it sounds like the go to the ocean and do live near coastal areas, I don't think it would hurt.

Anyways keep us updated on how you keep them, and how they are doing. ( also some pics of the full enclosure would be neat)

[Andrew273]

She's about as big as my out stretched hand. I say she now cause I heard a rumor that females have lighter colored legs. I'll post pics of the full enclosure after I redo it. I'm gonna move her to a bigger tank and I've had some problems with mold on the piece of wood I used to hold back the water. For the most part they need something to hide under and enough water to submerge themselves.

[worldsparadox]

old thred but i wanted to butt in lol. ive had a moon crab for almost a year now and its doing great. I keep it in a large storage container with about 6 inches of sand/dirt mix with a few pieces of wood. i feed it bits of carrots and leftover raw veggies and grapes when i have em. i tryed to put in a water bowl for it to soak in but it just dumps it and fills em with sand, its been about a year now with no water to sit in and hes still happy and active...i keep it very humid and wet in the container and ive recently noticed seeing him. went sex months or so without even a glance of the guy now ive got him sitting up on a shelf were nothing obthers him and i see him out whenever i peek up at him =-)