Supercrab's Crabalot

More Crabbies

2008-08-15T08:41:00.005-04:00

Some of my PP's

We are still here August 2008

2008-08-15T08:32:00.005-04:00

We are still here, all 11 of us. 2 Ruggies, 1E, 2 Straws, 6 PP's

Christmas Eve Party

2006-12-26T13:04:00.000-05:00

Here in Crabalot the crabs sure know how to party.

7 crabs congregate on the coconut tree dance floor to enjoy the festive spirit of Christmas.

Then when the it starts getting late and the little ones have had too much to drink they get escorted home by the older more responsable.

Have a Happy Holiday Season!!

New Crab Digs in 46 gallon tank

2006-12-12T20:40:00.000-05:00

So here it is. The new down sized home for my Crabs. The 125 gallon, although nice, was too much work and it was so big I hardly saw my crabs. Now that I have the 46 gallon I have been seeing more of the little fellas. I set everything up close to what it was like in the 125. Have a look and let me know what you think.

They love the mushroom. Nothing like a "crab" pile with Blueberry (E) on top and a Strawberry (Robin) on the bottom. With a purple pincher (Violet) in the middle.

The Friendly Giant (PP) often wonders "why is everyone in my mushroom?"

Crabbie hangs out on a shell while he contemplates the changes that were made. Crabbie is my favorite E.

Clifford checks out the drink on the upper level.

Clifford up close and personal...Yes she is my favorite

A change of heart

2006-12-05T21:34:00.000-05:00

I was toying with the fact of selling my whole set up and some of my crabbies due to lack of time to upkeep the large tank. I have now decided not to sell the contents or crabs but just the tank.
I will downsize to a 46 gallon I found on craigslist. If anyone is interested in my 125 tank let me know ASAP as i will be puting up for sale on Craigslist (one small area has to be resilliconed so it is not water tight) But it does come with that beautiful black cabinet. I will also be selling one of my hoods which can house a ceramic heater and a day and night glo bulb, price negotiable. Look at the tank on the lower half of my blog and write me if you are interested.

Wanting to sell 125 tank, full set up.

2006-12-05T10:45:00.000-05:00

Hi fellow Crab friends,

I am making an offer to all interested. I am looking to sell my 125 gallon tank fully set up as is.
See pictures further back in Blog.
I will include all the stuff, hood and most of the crabs (about 20).
I will only sell to experienced crab keeper on HCA
Asking price $1000 which is less than half of what I paid for it all
You must live in or near MA and you have to pick it all up.

This is a great deal. I would not sell if I had a bit more time to care for tank.

If interested PM me on HCA or leave comments here.

Fast growing crabs or what!!

2006-07-26T22:18:00.000-04:00

Here are some of my crabs that have doubled their sizes between April 2006 - July 2006 ( call it 4 months). All crabs were photographed with their original shell beside them. Has any one else seen such fast growth??

Here is my smallest crab Periwinkle, she has doubled her size.

Here is Pickle my second smallest crab, who has also doubled his size.

Here is Ruggles my second smallest Ruggie.

How to hang your welcome sign without a ladder

2006-07-18T21:04:00.000-04:00

I have some very friendly crabs. With 36 crabbies living in their own little world (125 gallon tank) it is important that everyone is friendly and welcoming. Here you can see Iris hanging the welcome sign over the door of the mushroom hut. She is a hospitable crab and welcomes everyone in to snack on some moss and to hangout and relax from the hectic world outside....and to think she did not even need a ladder.

Clifford has her first successful molt with me Yippee!!!

2006-06-25T09:36:00.000-04:00

I was always worried about my big Straws when it comes to molting because I have heard they can have difficulties. But I am so happy I could watch Clifford molt at the bottom of the tank and now she is up nice a bright. Clifford is my avatar and both Clifford and Big Ben were my first Straws and have a special place in my heart. Big Ben is down for his molt now and I wish him the same success Clifford had.

Here is a picture of my smallest Ruggie Buttercup who also molted and changed shells.

I also have a newly molted Buggy who came up all dark and mysterious. He is giving Ruggles a run for his money as to who is darker. I have not seen Ruggles for a while...molting again maybe?

The Biggest in Crabalot!

2006-05-13T01:08:00.000-04:00

An adoption from my neighbor. This big purple pincher was given to me after my neighbor saw my tank. He was in a very small plastic critter keeper (maybe 3 gallons) with two other crabs for about a year with no salt water and no water dish to submerge in. Actually I do not think he got much water at all seeing that the dish was bone dry when she brought them over. Fed only on commercial food too. I have one of the other two crabs, unfortunately one died before I got them. This big guy seems quite hardy and has changed shells twice. I have ordered some new shells for him as he is bigger than the shell he is in. He was in a heavy black and white murex shell when I got him and immediately changed to a turbo when I put them in with him. The other crab has also changed shells but is only medium in size. I am happy with the these crabs. The big guy has been up and down the tank and does not seem to be troubling any other crabs...knock on wood. I do not know the sexs of them yet so I am just guessing. Now I am just waiting for the temp and humidity gauge to fall off under his weight :-)

The downsize from 150 to 125gallons.

2006-05-05T13:35:00.000-04:00

Well It has been a while now since I have had the 125 tank up and running. Temp is constant at 80F and Humidity is constant at 80-85%. I have changed the Tiki hut out for a large mushroom ( see last picture) because I am afraid of mold on the coconut with such high humidity over a long period. I will use the Tiki hut to cover molters who have just come up and may need some darkness. Otherwise I keep it out of the tank. So here are the pics.

Right side with the water dishes. The larger shells are here.

Left side with the smaller shells on second level. Tiny shells on the lower level. We used tape to write all the crabs names, my kids helped and they decorated it with little crab drawings etc.

Below taken from the right side straight across the tank.

This is the Mushroom I now use in stead of the Tiki hut.

The size is better for my bigger crabs.

The smallest of them all

2006-04-11T08:18:00.000-04:00

Here is my newest and smallest crab Periwinkle. Just to get an idea how small she is look at the dimples in the paper towel. With a 150 gallon tank you could understand why I have to keep a close eye on this little one...the last time I took up a medium sized shell to wash it she was tucked inside shell and all.

Maybe this will put things in prospective ...I have small hands too.

4 New Crabs

2006-04-07T21:29:00.000-04:00

So I went off to a new Petco to get a smallish Straw which I was looking for since all the small ones at my Petco were sold off when I finally got my bigger tank up and running. I got there and ended up getting a Ruggie, my first Cavipe, the smallish Straw and a bigger Straw.
Got home and bathed them 2 x in diluted salt water, checked for bugs, and after seeing none on them or in the water I then added them to my crabitat by putting them in the salt water bath. Unfortunately I noticed a bug on my Ruggies leg while viewing my pictures. The picture was taken before I gave the second bath, so I am hoping he is bug free. I am not sure though and therefore I am prepared to buy predator bugs if need be. I called the Petco and spoke to the manager he was very nice and understanding and said I might be reimbursed if I were to have a bug breakout. Well enough of that, let us look at the nice part of all this...here are the crabs.

Here is Marigold my first Cavipe. She was in the same cage as the Ruggie with the bug but I have not seen anything on her. All claws crossed.

Here is Shaggy my smallish Straw.
Shaggy got his/her name from my 6 year old daughter.

This is Robin, he is a good size, but still a bit smaller than Clifford or Big Ben.

Here is the Ruggie that had the bug on him ( see my post in emergency forum of the HCA) this picture was taken after the second bath and I see no bug so either it is in his shell or gone...I hope for the latter. Well after a sleepless night and bug research etc. I have decided that no matter the outcome we shall always know him as Buggie. So here is Buggie the Ruggie.

Clifford changes shells

2006-04-05T19:12:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick pic of Clifford sporting his (really a her) new attire

The new 150 gallon tank

2006-04-04T12:59:00.000-04:00

Well the big move is over and the tank is all done. Below are some pictures. Please ignore the gauges in the tank as the pictures were taken right after set-up and the conditions had not yet returned to set point. Although I must admit that in a tank this big there will be slight differences in temp and humidity depending were a crab is. If the crab is basking under the bulbs the humidity will be less than if the crab was under the second levels. But all in all the average is at set point and they do not seem to care because I have seen them hanging out in every corner. I also am introducing two new crabs, another ruggie named Buttercup and my first Indo named Indigo (a big fella). I am currently up to 26 crabs. When I first put them in this tank they were all very active and scooting around. 3 of my 4 freshly molted crabs dug down again right away. Now almost everyone is in hiding, I guess in the weeks to come the tank will get more active again.

Pic #1 Front view. There are also hiding spots under the levels close to the far corners which you might not see. I have several gauges in the tank and one sensor with digital read on top of the tank. The white PVC houses all the bubbler tubes and the temp. sensors.
P1c #2 View from right side 2nd level I hung netting across the front of these levels so they will not just fall off the edge.
Pic #3 View from front right
I have left some shells of various sizes on the lower levels. I currently have one UTH under a small area of sand. I have one on the side of the tank by the EE. The sand and EE gets cooler as they dig down except in these spots.
Pic #4 Close-up of left side with 2nd level "used shell lot" (smaller shells) & 3rd level basking area. The basking area is the warmest currently at 85F with only 75% humidity. The lower levels currently are 81F with 81% humidity. I am going to up humidity soon by adding another DIY humidifier directly in the tank, until then I just mist regularly. I will raise the temp about 2- 3F but if the 3rd level gets too hot I might be forced to move it.
Pic #5 Close up of middle with Bathing pools and beach area. I bought small paint trays at Walmart and siliconed small stones all over so all crabs have easy access. Both pools have bubbles with airstones and are deep enough for all the crabs to fully submerge.
Pic #6 Close up of right side with 2nd level "Crabbies bar and grill" with larger shells. Under this are several hiding spots.

Pic #7 Indigo, my first Indo taking a bath in the saltwater. He is in the shallow end now but after this shot he went for the deep. He ate food and then dug down to destress. He seems a bit shy but we will see how he is when he comes up. I have heard that Indos can be a bit aggressive so I will be keeping a close eye on him.
Pic #8 Buttercup my 3rd Ruggie stuffing his face after his first bath. He has since dug down to destress.

I always bath my newcomers in dichlorinated water and then place them in the food dish in the crabatat. I iso only if I do not trust sellers crabatat.

New Molt!!

2006-03-29T14:46:00.000-05:00

Here is Whitie, he just came up from his first successful molt with me.
I have been a crab mom for little over a month. I was worried because I read that molts in the first 60 days have a higher death rate. Now that Whitie is up eating and moving around the crabatat I have noticed that my assumtion that he was an E may be wrong. Now I think he is a Ruggie, but I am not sure. He is still very shy so I have not had a good look yet. The nice thing is he was missing a leg when he went down and now he is up with all his legs and 4 very sharp toes. Here are some pics of him stuffing his face this morning. I think he has a strange colour but who know what his diet was before I got him.

New Crabs

2006-03-26T12:56:00.000-05:00

Some Pictures of my six new crabs that I got this past Wednesday.

I am really happy they had so many different colors. All the 5 E's seem to stick together. Violet (my PP from the mall) seemed a bit grumpy when Brownie wondered by. I think she actaully broke off one of Brownies toes when she swatted him away with her claw. Violet has been hanging out in the same hut with Luvie another PP and they seem very protective of their privacy. No E's allowed!!

Anyone viewing this, I would love confirmation that all first 5 are E's

Here is Blueberry ( who has since disappeared, maybe dug down?)

Then there is Chocolate Chip (who shell is way too small)

And here comes Brownie (the brave, now short one toe)

And Cutie ( who loves to watch everything from a distance)

And the smallest one Pickle (the one I could not leave behind)

Last but not least Violet (who I almost bought as an empty shell)
Not the best pic but he is camera shy.

Here Blueberry and Brownie in debate about their new home and the weather

Ruggles the Rug I bought Yesterday has also disappeared hummm lots of crabs down, I hope there are no underground traffic jams.

I found one I found one!!!!

2006-03-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I just got back from my quest to find two Ruggies!! Went to Petco and found one. At least I hope he's a Ruggie ( assuming he is a he). He is missing one or two last segments to his legs. I hope he survives the PPS (post purchase stress). I am looking for opinions as to his species.

I will continue my search until I can find him a mate of same species. While I have 20 other crabs, this will be the first Ruggie and I don't want him to be self conscious. Plus, who wants an odd number of crabs anyway. :-)

PS: I bathed him and put him in the food dish and he started stuffing his face instantly and when he caught site of a bigger crab, proceeded to leave the dish with a large stash of food in his claws. This is the first time that I have seen this. It was quite funny.

Got 6 new hermies

2006-03-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

Just got 6 new hermies on Wednesday.

I picked 3 empty shells from the crab man's kiosk at the mall. They were in with the crabs. I inspected a couple more empty shells that he had. I picked out all the shells I wanted and switched them for my painted shells. I was just about to leave when the guy said "there's a crab in that shell" I looked in and waaaaayyyyy down in the shell was a purple pincher. I think he is in a shell that is too big for him. I took this as a sign of fate, and bought the little PP. (Violet) Just to think, I almost got him for free. Good thing I found him, since I always boil my new shells.

Well that put my hermit crab count to 15. Since I can't have an odd number of hermies, I headed off to a local pet store to pick up an E. I had both kids with me. Everyone wanted a different one. They were all so cute and I ended up taking home 3. (Blueberry, Chocolate Chip & Brownie)

There was this little one we left behind and all I could think of was how he was looking at me when I put him back. Well my conscience got the better of me and we headed back to the pet store to rescue him. (Pickle)

At the pet store my daughter insisted on getting a different one and I was set on rescuing the one I saw before. After a bit of debate and thinking if I rescued one, then I would have an odd number of crabs again, so we got both. (Pickle & Cutie)

6 crabs later (and only in a few hours) we have a total count of 20. Thank God they are all small to tiny.

I still want a Ruggie but am having difficulty finding (or identifying) one.

Here is a pick of Brownie hanging off the bamboo plant (which is REAL).

Staring into the abyss

2006-03-21T21:44:00.000-05:00

Here is a recent pic of climber

Current Census

2006-03-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

Current Census:
(Molts estimated from March to date, but then again they could have molted without me knowing)

Straws:
Clifford (large) Molted 2
Pepper (med) Molted 3
Tabasco (med) Molted 2
Robin (large) Molted 2

E's:
Crabbie (med) Molted 3
Whitie (med) Molted 2
T-Bone (small) Molted 1
Blueberry (small) Molted 2
Cutie (small) Molted 1
Pickle (small) Molted 2

PP's:
Lilac (med) Molted 1
Superman (small) Molted 1
Batman (small) Molted 2
Luvie (small) Molted 1
Butterfly (small) Molted 2
Violet (small) Molted 1
Iris (med) Molted 1
Pumpkin (small) Molted 1
Periwinkle (tiny) Molted 2
The Friendly Giant (Jumbo) Still waiting on first molt
Blossom (tiny) Molted 1

Ruggie:
Ruggles (small) Molted 2
Whitie (med) Molted 2
Buttercup (small) Molted 1
Buggie (Medium) Molted 2

Updated Dec 12th 2006

Welcome to Crabalot

2006-03-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

Just set up this Blog so I can communicate and post pictures more effectively than putting up a full web page on my own. Feel free to look around and leave comments