Ack, I've got crabs!!

[Flyte]

New little crabs in my aquarium! Get your minds out of the gutter!
The top one is Harold and the bottom one is Timmy..they are very busy eating all of my Java moss.
I named Timmy after the "special" child from south park because he's missing an arm/claw and appears to have only one working eye. The other one just looked like a Harold to me.
When I pointed out Timmy's missing parts the girl fishing them out was like oh I'll get you one that isn't broken. I told her it was alright, I'd take the 'broken' one because he had more character.
The tank is right next to Tyler's cage, he was very interested in the new arrivals and stood watching them for awhile. Madison wasn't that interested in the crabs, she wanted to try and catch the fish through the tank

 

[Kais2ndmomma]

The limbs will grow back I worked at a pet store for a long time and would take all the "broken" crabs home (mostly fiddler crabs without the big claw) and within a couple months, they had a nice new claw

 

[Flyte]

The store said these were red clawed crabs but they don't appear to be since there is no red on them anywhere. I don't think they are fiddler crabs either since they have small claws. Unless they are both female just females. Any idea of what kind they are? They sure are interesting to watch

 

[birdcrazy]

make sure you have it where they can get out of the water they HAVE to be able to get out of the water to breathe well I know some pet stores sell them completly submerged it's so sad. I had one name crusty when I was little.

 

[Flyte]

Yepp, they've got a nice piece of driftwood to climb to the top of and then they can run along the sides on the inside of the tank, it's just a small 5 gallon hexagon. I'm going to add something else tomorrow for them that floats on the top. They are great.. really cleaning the place up for me in there!
I really like the little crabs and shrimp.. I have a bunch of ghost shrimp in this tank and they are doing really well.
Can't see them then you drop in a tiny bit of food and they come out from the plants to feast.. So much fun to watch them! The claws look like hairs with split ends!

 

[Kais2ndmomma]

They look like female fiddler crabs. Red thai crabs are REALLY red (and kind of mean... they always pinch me.) I have my red thai crabs living on my red mangrove propagules (that I stole from mosquito bay in Puerto Rico. Surprised they got through customs)

 

[Flyte]

I'm calling the authorities..

 

[Redballoon]

Most women with tattoo's usually end up with crabs at some stage of their life.
Congratulations on lasting this long without reverting to stereotype.


note to self; Insert smiley face here so she doesn't come to your door and hit you.
Note back to self; Smiley faces are the last resort of the ignorant, so I refuse to do it. I'm sure she will get the joke and not get all sensitive and girlee about it.

 

[Keupi]

Redballoon, there are 5 questions/areas you just 'shouldn't go' with women:

1) What's your age?
2) Are they real?
3) When is your baby due?
4) Is that your real hair?
5) Is it that time of the month?

We can (and will) whack you upside with a wing...

but...

that being said (and opposed to violence), aren't Harold and Timmy cute? I agree with Flyte that Harold looks like a Harold and Timmy definitely has personality.

All that said...they are cute Flyte! These two are definitely crabs you want to have!!

and Red......

(nice cover though)

 

[Tracy842]

Ha Ha Ha Sarah I got crabs too, but mine are land hernit crabs. I'll try to get a picture of them.

 

[nain]

they r adorable
arnt hermits and fiddlers marine crabs???

 

[Flyte]

First of all, Redballoon.. I JUST got home from my vacation, come on here to relax, read your comment and BOOM I almost choke to death on my tea I'm laughing so hard. Thanks for waking me up

My tattoos were just for show, I wanted to look tough. Worked great in the bar. Grrr.. I've got tattoos.. who cares if I'm only 5'2 and a hundred pounds.. you better watch yourself.

You'd be surprised by how many people saw the dragon around my wrist and said "Is that a tattoo?" To which I would always respond with either "No, It's a birthmark" or "Get out, your too dumb to drink here"

I don't think the crabs need a saltwater environment but I think they do need some salt in the tank. I should be smacked for buying something without researching it.

 

[Flyte]

Carol, you were right, they ARE fiddler crabs. I didn't see Timmy for awhile and assumed he had died and was eaten by my 'piranha' ghost shrimp. He appeared a week or so ago, one arm had grown into a huge claw and his other arm grew back!
So now I have a male and a female. Don't think they've been bred in captivity yet because the females are picky about the males so I won't hold my breath.
I have some research to do though, I think they are supposed to be brackish. Not sure if my algae eaters and ghost shrimp can handle brackish so they may be going into the Oscar tank. not sure if I can handle brackish either, never had to deal with salt in a tank before other than to treat fish illness and make my food taste better.. :/