Crab Status 2-19-08

Today, Andrea and one of my new Ecuadorians moved into the main tank. Andrea is in a hole. at the moment, and the E is up at the tippy top of a plastic vine. He (or she) sure likes to climb! Brandon was just running around like a crazy crab, and trying to climb the walls. Now he's under a pile of moss.

Crabby Mash Recipe #1

Ok. Here's the mash I served tonight.
Microwave 1T oats and 1T rice with a bit of dechlorinated water to cover. Stir in 1 cube frozen banana, 1T puffed rice cereal, and 1T cooked lentils. Sprinkle with dehydrated shrimp.

Crab Status 2-15-08

So, Brandon came out today, and changed shells. I put him right in the main tank. He was quite energetic, and his little claw has regenerated. The whole arm was totally missing before he dug under, but now there is a little arm there.

Donna took a spin in the crab ball tonight, and I found her sitting on her new multi-level food bowl enjoying all the deliciousness. I found this little shell thing at a dollar store in Portland.



I caught sight of Andrea and David Jr. recently, and they're alive, and dug under. I also got two Ecuadorian crabs, which are quite lovely. More on them later.

Crab Status 2-6-08

I think everyone is sick of banana. No one touched it last night. So, tonight, I thought a treat would be in order. I put a small shell of honey down, and Donna is currently sitting next to it and eating away. Brenda dug a gully under the little hut, and has been sitting in that all day. In the ISO tank, Andrea is scratching about, and I think she may come up soon. It's been about a week since I've seen her, I believe.
Dinner tonight: honey, last night's kibble and cod liver oil leftovers

Crabby Kibble Recipe #1

2T rolled oats
2T puffed rice cereal
1T pumpkin seeds (raw), a.k.a. pepitas
1T spirulina powder

Combine 1st three ingredients in a coffee grinder until powdered. Stir in spirulina.
Note: Make sure to read all the ingredients' labels. Make sure there's no chemicals.

Crab Status 2-5-08

So, Kelly came up a few days ago. She got some food and water and checked out the broccoli and chia sprouts. And then she disappeared again. I can't even see where she went down.

Donna has been mighty adventurous lately. She's been spending less time hiding under the moss pit. I've seen her all over the tank, including in the 2nd floor moss pit and the 2nd floor sunflower sprout garden. She even tried on a shell in the moss pit, but decided to go back to the one she has been wearing.

Crab Status 1-30-08

Dinner tonight: leftovers from last night, plus crumbled eggshells

So today, the temperature controller came in the mail. I only have the 40W night bulb plugged into it, though. I think I want the side tank heaters to remain on. I have been alternating between the 40W night bulb, and the 50W infrared heat bulb. The infrared is much brighter in the room, but they seem to be equally heating the tank. I will write a review of all these bulbs and controller, once I figure out how they work for me.

Kelly has buried herself, but I think she'll probably come back up. I believe she had molted recently when I got her, as she was small, pink, and in a huge shell.

I had to get up (somewhat) early for work, and I caught Andrea roaming about the ISO. She's back under now, but the next time I see her out, she's going in the main tank. She's too big to really bury herself in the ISO, and I think she'd be more at home in the big tank. After all, she's a big crab!

The crabs also got a newly seeded field of chia and broccoli. These seeds are growing nicely in the tank, and I wanted to expand the operation. They should sprout within the week.

One question, I wonder how to get my crabs to be more active. It seems like they're still shell-shocked (pun intended). Brenda and Donna roam about late at night, but stay huddled up against the side heaters during the day. It's at least 74* in there!