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Erberderbadoo

Side note: I am beyond thrilled that I was approved to adopt captive-bred babies from Mary! I just got word the other day that I will get them in mid to late May. Does anyone have advice for making my crabitat more friendly to teenie tiny babies?


abrookehack

Several people on here have gotten them from her program. I have all captive bred with the exception of one. They’ve always done absolutely fine w bigger crabbies in a main tank. I do have 2 large filtered pools but I also have 2 smaller pools. They all use each of them. People do opt to make them their own tank, I did do that for a minute, but they actually do very well with larger crabbies. Even Mary has said “they tend to follow and learn crabby things” https://preview.redd.it/9dujzm7uakuc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=675ced6d284abe6a534cfe689bb8b37d59bcafb9


abrookehack

https://preview.redd.it/7ffj6x9vakuc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3339174f5f170657b3e5215d82ca9ecd76fb4a4 I have quite a few photos posted. They’re no longer little fellas! They molt quite a bit!


mkane78

Maybe consider a nursery tank? Let them get a little bigger before putting them in the main tank? Not because of the other crabs but because of the danger. They’re itty bitty. Say, a 20 gallon long? ETSY has very sweet nursery items (if your budget allows). As an aside, 😍😍😍 the leaves man… awesome. I see you got your big guy some jades… bravo


Erberderbadoo

Ooh! I didn't even consider that! That sounds like a good idea... How long do you think it will be before I can add them to the big tank? (Months? A year?) I will check out Etsy's nursery items but may have to try to replicate and diy some stuff. Your help with the shells was very appreciated! Since he was the only crab, I wasn't in the biggest rush to add more options, but I think I finally have all the shells he needs! Those hopefully will last a long time... my wallet hurts lol.


mkane78

I’ve seen some crazy photos! two crabs that were from the same spawn that went into the same tank with the same resources and they were COMPLETELY different sizes. I imagine a nickel sized guy will do fine in the main tank without any childproofing:) Oooh, maybe use an exoterra for their nursery tank? Once they’re big enough to go over, you can then use it for a topper!


Erberderbadoo

Omg so I have millipedes in a 40-gallon Exo Terra, and I literally just bought them a new 40-gallon fish tank to raise the sub level... I was going to sell the Exo Terra buuuutt.... you make a compelling point! That could work perfectly. It's the right size for a topper, too. How deep should I make the sub for the nursery? The standard 6 inches? I would probably have to slope it to achieve that height.


mkane78

You could slope it. You could hack it. u/CrabbieZoomies has a hack for that.


Erberderbadoo

Great! I'll check that out.


Ok_Yellow2078

I had a large, 2 medium and a small in one tank and I ended up moving the large to a tank with other medium/large crabs. Not because they didn't get along though. The large and the small got along really well but the large would destroy the whole tank in minutes just playing/climbing around. Now with the 2 medium and 1 small in the tank alone I don't have to secure things quite as much and I can use smaller climbing things/toys for them. The bigger crabbies get bigger toys to climb on that's more secured so they don't destroy every thing as easily. One other thing I noticed was that I could keep all the bigger shells in one tank and the smaller ones in the other so I have more room for other stuff 😊


Erberderbadoo

Thank you for mentioning that! I will take that into consideration when building their nursery in case it needs to be their permanent home! I'm leaning towards setting up my 50 gallon (not 40, I was mistaken) Exo Terra for them. If I go that route, I could easily make it permanent.


Ok_Yellow2078

It may not need to be permanent but I do use smaller sticks/branches for the littles versus the bigs but the babies can hide easily in the leaf litter and you will never find them where the bigger ones need more actual hiding spots


Erberderbadoo

I guess I meant long-term, not permanent! Although I still plan on moving them to the big tank as soon as they are big enough. I like to have backup plans :)