Throw new tinies in with the big guys?

[hprmom]

There's a chance we'll be bringing home 2-3 itty bitty crabs tonight or tomorrow (not sure on the sizing, a pic is below). Since I still have my 10g set up, I was thinking to put them there through their first molt. However, we're going out of town in two weeks, and it would be easier on our pet sitter to only look after one tank. Would it be okay to put these little guys straight in to our 65g tank with the rest of the clan? The others are small up to around golf ball size, with one maybe slightly bigger. The pools in that tank are 2.5" deep at the water line but I think there are good climb outs.


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[MsWorld]

There's a chance we'll be bringing home 2-3 itty bitty crabs tonight or tomorrow (not sure on the sizing, a pic is below). Since I still have my 10g set up, I was thinking to put them there through their first molt. However, we're going out of town in two weeks, and it would be easier on our pet sitter to only look after one tank. Would it be okay to put these little guys straight in to our 65g tank with the rest of the clan? The others are small up to around golf ball size, with one maybe slightly bigger. The pools in that tank are 2.5" deep at the water line but I think there are good climb outs.

I had the exact same situation you are in. I put 4 tiny/micro in with my old clan and they are about the same size as yours. The little ones climbed all over the big ones. It was funny. The first few days & nights we watched everyone just in case something would happen. The littlest one stands up tall to the bigger guys like she has NO FEAR! It is hilarious. I did dip my newbies in a salt water bath to get any old smells out before I put them in the 65g. One thing I read was that it's good to have different size crabs that way they won't fight over shells. Only thing is now we have about 40 shells and 3 shell shops. This was my experience but maybe other people can tell you how they did it.


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[soilentgringa]

I have crabs from shooter marble size and up in the same tanks. No issues.

[hprmom]

Thank you both! We did bring home three little guys tonight, but due to a huge parent fail (human, not crab) they're spending the night in the 10g after all. We'll move them to the 65g tomorrow.

[hprmom]

Aaaaaaaaand they're still in the 10g. We were all ready to move them and discovered Major Mold in the 65g. Took all afternoon and evening to fix. Now we're waiting for the humidity to come back up to par, it's climbing agonizingly slowly. On a happy note, one of them already changed shells.

[hprmom]

We finally moved the tinies into the 65g Monday morning. Two managed to get out of the fw pool on their own (we put them right in front of the ramp but they always pick the hard way out!), but after 15 minutes I decided to intervene with the tiniest one. I think he could have done it on his own, but we put all three in the pool at the same time and he got walked all over by the other two. I'm going to beef up the climb-outs in both pools just in case.

The first two have already been all over the tank and I've seen them snuggled up to the big guys in the tree trunk, so no issues there! I'm worried about the tiniest, Fezzik (my son's sense of irony!). He did come out and walk around a little the first night, but we haven't seen him at all since. The funny thing is, when we picked them up he was the one who was hanging out unafraid at the water dish while the other two were hidden, and now they've switched roles. If he's burrowed or gone down to de-stress or molt, I hope he got enough to eat first. I've been putting out small secondary food dishes in case he's afraid to eat at the Big Crab Buffet.

[hprmom]

One of the little guys is in trouble, not looking so good. I posted in the emergency forum, any insight appreciated!