CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

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Motörcrab
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CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Motörcrab » Wed Aug 07, 2019 11:37 am

After weeks of construction CrabbyLand has officially opened! It is a 29 gallon theme park featuring three interactive rides, The Crabby-Go-Round, Crabby Round-Up, and for the thrill seekers the Choller Coaster!

The Crabby-Go-Round is a standard wheel with a two tone mesh. The Crabby Round-Up is a heavily modified saucer attached to the rear wall.

Last but certainly not least is the Choller Coaster it has a beyond vertical stagering 8" first drop followed by two inversions and over banked turn while transversing through nearly 5.5 feet of track!

I must have used approximately 300 small zip ties to construct the backdrop and coaster.ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

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Coenobita Curiosities offering crabby decor
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoenobitaCuriosities

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curlysister
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by curlysister » Wed Aug 07, 2019 12:41 pm

Holy Cow!! You are the KING of plastic canvas!!!
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Sillymel
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Sillymel » Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:43 pm

Curlysister is right...holy cow. That is awesome! I wish I had just some of your creativity talents. I’ve tried to duplicate stuff from your pictures and it never turns out the same. I’ve been working on the simple popcorn box for about 3 weeks now. Lol.



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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Xenocrab » Wed Aug 07, 2019 4:46 pm

It's really quite simple. Don't over think it. It's a box with a hole on each side held together with zip ties. I'm sure you can do it. A box cutter/exacto knife may be easier to use for cutting out the centers of the sides.

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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Motörcrab » Wed Aug 07, 2019 5:27 pm

Thanks, I ended up going through several revisions of the crabby cubes. I finally worked out a final design. Cut the mesh in the shape of a cross. Then fold the ends pieces up. The end of the longest piece will be the lid. This method uses a lot less zip ties. It also looks a lot cleaner if you put the locking part of the zip ties inside the box.

Xeno and I have been tossing around the idea of trying to sell some of the easier things we make. Cubes, Acurite holders, decorated terracotta pots, hemp and jute ropes.

We were thinking about doing made to order backgrounds but there are so many variables. They could turn into a nightmare pretty quickly especially with the time involved. We probably have about 30 hours of time in all of the crab meshing involved. For example the wood coaster on the background took me two or three attempts and probably 6 hours until I was happy with it. The ferris wheel was another two hours to figure out. Lakitu from Mario Brothers was another two hours until I was happy with him.

The Choller coaster took me about 5 hours to build. I was getting too critical with it trying to be too realistic. This turn is too tight and would never work in real life, a rider could tough this support. It was also going to have a station too but I was getting frustrated. First floor was going to be a basic hiding area. The loading area was going to be used as a place to put a food dish with one side of the roof that flipped up for easy access. It's partially built, maybe I'll redo it for my Halloween tank.
Coenobita Curiosities offering crabby decor
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoenobitaCuriosities

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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Motörcrab » Wed Aug 07, 2019 10:00 pm

I just had my first rider on the Choller Coaster! Perhaps he was doing an inspection before daily operation!Image

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Coenobita Curiosities offering crabby decor
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Hermiesguardian » Wed Aug 07, 2019 10:34 pm

Wow!! That's all I can say.
raising son's dog, Dante. Husky/hound.
Raising daughter's hermit crabs, Shelder, Paras and Derek. Added 2 more of my own (of course) Pete and Stryper. Former mommy to 2 guinea pigs and beloved cat, Nissi

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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by PinchersAndShells » Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:28 pm

Motörcrab wrote:
Wed Aug 07, 2019 5:27 pm
Xeno and I have been tossing around the idea of trying to sell some of the easier things we make. Cubes, Acurite holders, decorated terracotta pots, hemp and jute ropes.
OMG, please?? I really want a cube.
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Xenocrab » Thu Aug 08, 2019 7:30 pm

I'm sure we can work that out! PM your info and we can get one or two out to you
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:49 am

Guys, that looks amazing. Really good job, definitely up there with use for plastic canvas!

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Sillymel
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Sillymel » Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:11 pm

Motörcrab wrote:Thanks, I ended up going through several revisions of the crabby cubes. I finally worked out a final design. Cut the mesh in the shape of a cross. Then fold the ends pieces up. The end of the longest piece will be the lid. This method uses a lot less zip ties. It also looks a lot cleaner if you put the locking part of the zip ties inside the box.

Xeno and I have been tossing around the idea of trying to sell some of the easier things we make. Cubes, Acurite holders, decorated terracotta pots, hemp and jute ropes.

We were thinking about doing made to order backgrounds but there are so many variables. They could turn into a nightmare pretty quickly especially with the time involved. We probably have about 30 hours of time in all of the crab meshing involved. For example the wood coaster on the background took me two or three attempts and probably 6 hours until I was happy with it. The ferris wheel was another two hours to figure out. Lakitu from Mario Brothers was another two hours until I was happy with him.

The Choller coaster took me about 5 hours to build. I was getting too critical with it trying to be too realistic. This turn is too tight and would never work in real life, a rider could tough this support. It was also going to have a station too but I was getting frustrated. First floor was going to be a basic hiding area. The loading area was going to be used as a place to put a food dish with one side of the roof that flipped up for easy access. It's partially built, maybe I'll redo it for my Halloween tank.
I would definitely be interested in ordering a Acurite holder and 2 of the popcorn boxes if you do decide to do orders. I’m trying to make an Acurite holder now for my new tank and I’ve messed up so much mesh...lol.


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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Motörcrab » Sun Aug 11, 2019 8:30 pm

Sillymel wrote:
Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:11 pm
I would definitely be interested in ordering a Acurite holder and 2 of the popcorn boxes if you do decide to do orders. I’m trying to make an Acurite holder now for my new tank and I’ve messed up so much mesh...lol.


Xeno and I are really talking about giving this a go with trying to sell our crabby crafts. I know this is the very start of Halloween season for us. We volunteer at a local haunted house and the prep work for that is about to begin and takes up a lot of my time.

We really need to start researching Etsy, eBay and whatever else there is. We want the easiest way of selling at a fair price. We don't want shipping costs to be as much as or more than the product.

Any advice from previous or current sells would be awesome.



[/quote]
aussieJJDude wrote:
Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:49 am
Guys, that looks amazing. Really good job, definitely up there with use for plastic canvas!
Thanks! I usually get a strange look from Xeno when I tell her what I'm planning to try. I just realized I never posted any pictures of Fleabag at Crab Con. He dressed up as a Purrrr-ple Pincher!
Coenobita Curiosities offering crabby decor
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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Sillymel » Tue Aug 13, 2019 8:49 am

How do you know what is safe and what isn’t safe as far as the decor that you put in your tanks?


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Re: CrAbByLaNd The first theme park for crabs!

Post by Motörcrab » Tue Aug 13, 2019 9:13 am

We follow the care sheets here at the HCA and at Crab Street Journal. If we don't see something listed on one page we check the other. If we don't see something posted on either as safe or unsafe we don't use it. Both sites food lists vary slightly as well as the general care parameters depending on where you go. I don't feel as if one site is more accurate than the other since there are many ways to get to the final out come. Happy, healthy, crabs.

Our backdrops, cubes, and Acurite holders are all made of crafting mesh and zip ties. Those have been used safely for years. I'm just going a step above compared to wheel and water liners. The egg crate material I first saw used in turtle tanks. Since we use plastic bowls, wheels, mesh, plants, and whatever else it should be safe too.



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