Vampire Crabs Babies

[toysnake]

Just sharing photos of some of my little babies of vampire crabs...
the mother just gave birth to some of them

any one else keeping them too?

[sgbikee80]

Just sharing photos of some of my little babies of vampire crabs...
the mother just gave birth to some of them

any one else keeping them too?

that is so cool.
how you manage to get them to breed?
i got 1 male 2 female, has been trying to get them to breed. any pointer to share?

[toysnake]

i am not expert myself..
I just make sure they have enough space to hide... and i just leave them alone....

then suddenly i saw one of those tiny babies crawling around..

[sgbikee80]

i am not expert myself..
I just make sure they have enough space to hide... and i just leave them alone....

then suddenly i saw one of those tiny babies crawling around..

do you change water very often?
what is your water perimeter?
can take a picture of your tank?

hopefully mine work out.

[Shaihulud]

Congrats! I am keeping a pair right now so I hope they breed, I can't even see them most of the time

[toysnake]

i didn't check my water at all...
once a week i will change all the water...
i tends to change the layout of my tank once awhile...
maybe i will try to take some photos.

[fisherw]

I had a pair but both died on me. The female right after a molt. Very interested to know what you are doing right. Can you share info on your setup, what you feed and how often? And other relevant stuff.

Mine was hiding all the time. Didn't seem to eat. Food that I left out got moldy or dried up. Didn't care for crab cuisine. My niece enjoyed terrorizing them though; getting them to move around using a satay stick. Maybe they died of fright.

[toysnake]

I tried to feed agle wafers, but they dun like it...
So i usually feed blood worm.

The mama still giving birth, today just 10 more little babies...

[dkk08]

any updates on the babies?

[fishy_dude]

yea.. would be interesting if can maintain a healthy population.. any one who can manage them kindly share! thx..

[toysnake]

sad to say... none of the babies make it...
I am still looking for the reason...

[Shaihulud]

I read that the parents will snack on the babies.

[stormhawk]

From an online link, the San Diego Zoo has a colony of these crabs where the young ones are growing up in the same tank with adults. I figure predation occurs when the adults are lacking in food.

Toysnake, maybe too much water? They seem to be more terrestrial, and I think the baby crabs need a particular specialised diet when they are still small perhaps.

[BEASTIEPENDENT]

Hi there,

in a little tank the adults feed on the younglings. Of course it depends on the size of the tank but for example in a 60 cm tank You won't get much baby crabs to the adult age. It is better to separate the minis.

[toysnake]

was thinking maybe its the diet..
I did took out the babies with only the mother.
After half of the babies died, I removed the mother..
But still no use, all the babies died... total of 40 babies

[stormhawk]

BEASTIE,

If you can, share how you and the other German crab hobbyists are raising the baby crabs up to adulthood successfully. It is understandable that in cramped conditions, the parents may predate on the babies. But if there is sufficient food and space, I don't think it should occur.

toysnake,

Next time you have them, maybe try feeding with algae pellets, or some other meaty food like frozen bloodworm. I think when they are small, they are unable to cut up food to eat, so maybe a paste-type food might be good.

[toysnake]

thats the only 2 things i fed my crabs...

[stormhawk]

Then it must be something else. Let's see if beastie will share the experiences of the German hobbyists here. I cannot find anything via Google on raising the baby crabs.

[BEASTIEPENDENT]

Hi there

If you can, share how you and the other German crab hobbyists are raising the baby crabs up to adulthood successfully.

Oh, sorry, of course I do – just wasn't here some days.

If we want to raise as much baby crabs as possible we separate them from the keeping tank and put 'em in a plastic box (maybe something like tupperware). That is filled with humus and a dish of water where the little ones should be able to climb in. They are raised here for some months until they reach some millimeters in carapace breadth or maturity.

One can raise the babys in the keeping tank together with the adults but in the cases where we have done this You just get a very little quota of animals that reach adult size. At least in 60 cm tanks. Of course if You would have a 1,50 meter Aqua-Terrarium cannibalism wouldn't be such a problem, but in the "normal" tanks it is.

As much more space You have and as much You feed You may prohibit cannibalism partionally – but only partionally.

For comparison: If raised together with the adults we got some 2 to 5 mini crabs to adult size, if separated in boxes some 20 grown crabs were possible. Loosing something about the half of the complete brood is still normal separated in boxes because of molting problems but this is quite normal, just like in nature.

Hope I could share some of our knowledge

Ollie/BEASTIE


EDIT: Oh, nutrition, yes. We feed the minis principally the same as the adult ones, but of course for the very young some powderized or flake food is better than an big piece of meat, literally spoken. The powder is best to suspense food to all baby crabs since You can dispense it best. /EDIT

[stormhawk]

Thank you for the information Ollie. Another question though. Is lighting essential for the well-being of the baby crabs? Do they hunt pinheads (baby crickets) ?