Moving Crabs Long Distances

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LeeHasCrabs
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Moving Crabs Long Distances

Post by LeeHasCrabs » Thu Apr 25, 2019 3:40 pm

My family and I are moving two states over in a month or so. I know some of you have moved with your crabs before, so I’m looking for advice on how to do this with them. I reached out to Motorcrab and Xenocrab about watching them but I want to try to move them with me. What mobile setups would I need and for how long will they be okay in them? I don’t think any are down at the moment. Thanks in advance for your help!


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aussieJJDude
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Re: Moving Crabs Long Distances

Post by aussieJJDude » Fri Apr 26, 2019 3:27 pm

If your road tripping, and you plan on keeping the tank. This is what I would do - others may differ, but this is purely my opinion if I was in your shoes!
- decommission the tank roughly 2-3 weeks prior to the move, to ensure and moulters have sufficient time to finish - no one wants the stressing of moving a moulting crabs - and set up a small travel tote with a thin layer of substrate (under an inch to discourage moulting) with foods, climbs and hides.
- use the current tank to transports goods like towels, their foods and accessories (shells!)
- keep the crabs with you if you can, handwarmers may be useful if you're travelling in a cooler area to keep them warm. Keeping them with you will lessen the chance of temps/humidity getting out of control
- if you're stopping at various locations to sleep the night, try to set them up first thing (like heaters!) and be the last thing to take out of the room
- at the new place, try to set up the tank as soon as you can. Add UTH first. If you're going to save the substrate from the current tank - some buckets or totes are great for this! - dump that all in, add crabs, hides and water/food. Decorating can always be done later once you've settled in (just the basics needed IMO)


If you plan on digging them up last minute before leaving - least disruptive - be prepared for moulting crabs. Small ISO containers such as deli cups with some sphagnum moss will keep them happy. (Some people would even suggest just isolating each crab for the trip with sphagnum anyway, as it offers good insulation, humidity, food source and water if that's more your style)

If you don't plan on keeping substrate, a small 5g bucket of their current sand would be a good idea to bring so the substrate in the new tank smells familiar and also has microflora present (basically seeding the new tank)...

If you plan on upgrading to a new tank, just set up the temp tote container in the new place with some of the basics to keep them happy....


Things to take with you (aka, keel accessible as you may need easy access):
- handwarmers
- water dishes
- small food dish (bottle cap works)
- small tote or travel container
- sea salt (if you forget to keep it, not the end of the world... crabs will survive a week or more without salt!)
- dry foods (easy clean up, less smelly IMO)
- dechlorinator
- temp/humidity gauge
- UTH to keep crabs warm, useful when you're stopping overnight


There's loads of ways to transport crabs, so feel free to completely ignore me and do what it's best for your situation! :)

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LeeHasCrabs
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Re: Moving Crabs Long Distances

Post by LeeHasCrabs » Sat Apr 27, 2019 8:18 am

aussieJJDude wrote:If your road tripping, and you plan on keeping the tank. This is what I would do - others may differ, but this is purely my opinion if I was in your shoes!
- decommission the tank roughly 2-3 weeks prior to the move, to ensure and moulters have sufficient time to finish - no one wants the stressing of moving a moulting crabs - and set up a small travel tote with a thin layer of substrate (under an inch to discourage moulting) with foods, climbs and hides.
- use the current tank to transports goods like towels, their foods and accessories (shells!)
- keep the crabs with you if you can, handwarmers may be useful if you're travelling in a cooler area to keep them warm. Keeping them with you will lessen the chance of temps/humidity getting out of control
- if you're stopping at various locations to sleep the night, try to set them up first thing (like heaters!) and be the last thing to take out of the room
- at the new place, try to set up the tank as soon as you can. Add UTH first. If you're going to save the substrate from the current tank - some buckets or totes are great for this! - dump that all in, add crabs, hides and water/food. Decorating can always be done later once you've settled in (just the basics needed IMO)


If you plan on digging them up last minute before leaving - least disruptive - be prepared for moulting crabs. Small ISO containers such as deli cups with some sphagnum moss will keep them happy. (Some people would even suggest just isolating each crab for the trip with sphagnum anyway, as it offers good insulation, humidity, food source and water if that's more your style)

If you don't plan on keeping substrate, a small 5g bucket of their current sand would be a good idea to bring so the substrate in the new tank smells familiar and also has microflora present (basically seeding the new tank)...

If you plan on upgrading to a new tank, just set up the temp tote container in the new place with some of the basics to keep them happy....


Things to take with you (aka, keel accessible as you may need easy access):
- handwarmers
- water dishes
- small food dish (bottle cap works)
- small tote or travel container
- sea salt (if you forget to keep it, not the end of the world... crabs will survive a week or more without salt!)
- dry foods (easy clean up, less smelly IMO)
- dechlorinator
- temp/humidity gauge
- UTH to keep crabs warm, useful when you're stopping overnight


There's loads of ways to transport crabs, so feel free to completely ignore me and do what it's best for your situation! :)

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This is amazingly helpful! Thank you so much!!!


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Re: Moving Crabs Long Distances

Post by wodesorel » Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:22 am

We had a member who did the snowbird pilgrimage from Ohio to Florida and back again every year. She used to toss her tank with the crabs in it in the backseat of her little car with her labrador, no fussing, and never had a problem. I don't recommend being that laissez-faire, but they can handle a lot more than you'd think!
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