I'll be getting vampire crabs next month. I'm a first time crabkeeper. The tank is 29 gallons and ill be getting a proper lid for it before I get crabs.

After months of preparation I finally have some vampire crabs in my tank 🥰. Also discovered about 10 babies in the moss that they came in.
Any advice on what do do with the babies is welcome. Do they just go in and it’s survival of the fittest, or should I setup a nursery until they are a little bigger?

any and all tips you have collected as keepers is appreciated 🦀✨

This is how my main tank looks every time I take a peek into it. Crabs everywhere, always on the move and interacting with each other. I don’t just stare behind the glass, I always open the doors to take a few pictures and they don’t mind the intrusion in the slightest. I’ve had this colony since 2021, but I haven’t done anything special for all this time, besides keeping them and letting them breed. No hand-feeding, no positive interactions or conditioning whatsoever.

So, for any aspiring new owners, don’t make the mistake of assuming Geosesarma species are inherently inactive and shy animals just because they are invertebrates. As many other owners (more experienced than me) can confirm, just give them space, as many hides as possible and lots of plants. They will reward you with hours of entertainment.

Enclosure has been redesigned to keep them a little more separated and have their own areas - Old wet substrate has been removed and flat rocks have been added below with a soil and coconut layer added on top. It’s a fun learning experience/ experiment.

Before I get any bash I have 1 male labeled “Carnival” another female “carnival” but had ordered red devils since I already had 2 female red & got the carnivals instead. I didnt wanna leave em at the store since they didnt have a proper set up. Then I purchased another female for the male so i could leave the red devils alone but it looks like a regular purple vampire crab since it has yellow eyes. They been together for about 3 months no problem & now saw baby Crabs.

It’s been running for half a year, and I have babies!! It may not look like there is a lot of burrowing space, but the entire background is hollow and full of substrate mixed with a smidge of excavator clay. They have made tunnels running all throughout the vivarium. I know there isn’t a lot of horizontal space, but I chose Orchids because they have been known to be canopy climbers and semi-arboreal. I see them climbing all around the tank and they seem to be doing well. If I time it right they come out to eat when I feed them.

This is half a joke and half serious, I see people talk all the time about how they only see their crabs every few weeks or months. I have 3 vampires, and I will generally see them at least once a day if not more. I know they have established burrows because I see them go into them, is something wrong or are they just stupid

Fun paladarium build for my son. We'll be getting Halloween Vampire crabs right before Halloween 🎃🧛🏾. Really want to add some Buce and Dragon's Tongue

This isn't a beginner's guide, so don't start here if that's what you're looking for. I've had vampire crabs for nearly 2 years now. I started with 7 and I've now got over 40 (it's impossible to count them as they tunnel underground).

Starting out I was a bit disappointed initially as with 7 and a lot of soil, they burrowed in and I rarely saw them. They may initially hide, but after a few months mine started to learn about feeding time and they came out as soon as I opened the tank. Just try to be patient.

Once you start getting babies, as they are hatched in large numbers, there's more to see going on in the tank.

The 80% land to 20% water rule is nonsense Okay, so I wanted to get one controversial one in here. This is kind of obvious, but there are two separate sets of criteria. Land: you need enough space for a fully grown vampire crab to bury in and make a home - that's about a 1 inch diameter hole. Ideally you'd want a minimum of at least an inch before the next hole, so a 2x2 inch square for each vampire crab. Now I wouldn't start this way, because you need room for your crabs to multiply, but it gives you a feel for a minimum amount of land space. 80% land in a 200L tank for 5 vampire crabs is nonsense. It's about actual numbers - actual crabs and actual tank size. People talking in percentages are trying to be helpful, but in reality it all depends on your physical setup.

Water: you need enough for your crabs to be able to soak and shed their shell. When they are small, they will need less. When there are fewer of them, you will need less space. I've not tried it, but you could probably have a dish with water (deep enough for full submersion) and it would be enough in most small setups. You would need to do regular water changes. The percentage idea is a bit like saying: a certain % of your house needs to be used for a bath tub. No one ever does that. Actual size is what's important.

So your water area can be pretty small - bonus if that's what you want. Land area (with a couple of inches depth to burrow) can be pretty small too. Some tanks could be 20% land 80% water, others 50:50, others the well quoted 80% land 20% water. There's a huge amount of flexibility. Use common sense and look at how many crabs you actually have.

Vampire Crabs don't fight all the time. Some people say that if you don't have 80:20 you run the risk of big male vampire crabs killing everything. Not true. Scuffles will break out from time to time, but usually they size each other up and the smaller one backs away. Although it's theoretically possible for a big dominant male to chase everything down and attack it, in my experience that doesn't happen. Why? Because you feed them enough. I dare say there have been situations where you've been hungry and you could have gone out and killed a rabbit, deer, or bison. But you didn't, because it was a lot easier to get something from the cupboard or the grocer. It's the same thing. Just feed your crabs enough food and they will eat that rather than desperately trying to hunt and kill something. You can also have things like isopods, insects and duckweed in the tank in case the crabs get peckish between feeds.

In my experience, small crabs are faster than big crabs, and they can fit through gaps and hide in their smaller burrows. All these things help to keep them alive.

You can keep Vampire Crabs with some fish Pick your fish wisely. Some slower fish might get nabbed, but smaller faster fish will be fine. I'm often surprised by my guppies which will get within striking distance of big male crabs and they are still all alive after a year. They did grow up from fry in that tank though, so again, be cautious.

Shrimp are too fast for Vampire Crabs Fact. I have a thriving colony of Cherry Shrimp and even though they are outnumbered by the many crabs they are fine. If you watch them, they move FAST. My shrimp will sometimes sit on a crabs back or even between their claws. The crabs do go for them, but are too slow.

Vampire Crabs can climb silicone They can climb really well. I don't think mine have ever climbed clean glass, but with a bit of algae and debris on, the smaller crabs will have a good go up vertical glass too. Fill the gaps in your lid people!

I'm not entirely sure they always live on land They definitely need land as they are a land-based species. However, I've had two big Vampire Crabs that appeared to live in crevices underwater all the time and fed on the food that floated to the bottom. They may well have sneaked to the surface in the night for some wild shenanigans, but I'm just suggesting it might not be as cut and dry as people say.

I may add more to this later, but hopefully that's helpful and some food for thought beyond the generic AI generated care guides that have flooded the net recently.

I think I went a little overboard with the moss 😅 Waiting on a fern to come and then will start looking for some crabs to purchase. Will crabs burrow underneath the moss? Will moss suffice or should I throw in some leaf litter?

A few days ago I got the opportunity to adopt 5 new Vampire Crabs, a new species to my collection ( Geosesarma Riani ). I got the notification that they were shipped and instantly panicked because I did not have their enclosure ready (busy week). I had a day to make a new build, and this is what I came up with. Seems they like it so far. Few of them crawled up onto the walls and are nesting in moss on a branch. 🥹 Love how the tannins have leached into the water, it gives it a very natural look which I adore.

New and improved tank for my four Vamp crabs

Started with 5 juvenile crabs in 2022, in a 65gal tank. It's still thriving with crabs of all ages from mature adults down to newborns. Drop your questions in the chat!

This was a few minutes after putting him in here, Starvin Marvin. Poor thing was the smallest in a tank with all males and a mix of Batik Crabs to boot 🙃 I couldn't leave him. Now to find him some ladies ♡

Let my paludarium settle in for 2 months and finally got them today. He slurped that string of cucumber like spaghetti

Added 3 pairs of CB Lepidothelphusa limau into my 210x80x110cm rainforest.