Upland Crab Farming?

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by Cade, Jan 24, 2013.

  1. Cade

    Cade Junior Member

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    I live in a mountainous area (over 2000 feet and 20 miles inland) of a Caribbean island. The local kids are sometimes hunting crabs in the muddy areas where springs give rise to small creeks. I built a house and one of my foundation drains is not quite level and it has standing water for a day or two after it rains. Thus it soon became inhabited by at least one large red crab.

    If I put in a shallow pond or maybe a whole raft of horizontal PVC pipes, would I have a crab farm here? The articles/websites I have found describe aquaculture in mangrove lagoons, but I am talking about a very different habitat I think. Certainly it is not brackish. Has anyone encountered a crab farm and what sort of detritus would one feed to crabs - I am thinking they might like the wastewater from upstream tilapia farming perhaps?
     
  2. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Hi Cade

    I haven't heard of a crab farm as such. I think it might be hard to stop them from walking away when they want unless you have some sort of crab fencing. Could you make an area that is bigger than what you have at the moment and see if more crabs turn up?

    When I lived in Vanuatu, there were land crabs that lived in muddy puddles that the locals would catch and eat but they didn't farm them. Do you know the species of the crab?
     
  3. Cade

    Cade Junior Member

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    Thanks for your reply annette. I have to look at that crab again - the references I have seen suggest the common upland crab hereabout is Cardisoma guanhumi, but my crab was dark brownish red rather than blue or grayish, and I had the impression that it had pointed ends on the carapace rather than the rounded margin shown for guanhumi sp. I guess I would not mind if the crabs walk away - the locals will eat them whether they leave or stay! But they might reach breeding age if they stay, and they will have better habitat (once I figure out what good habitat IS for these beasts).

    It was emerging at night and stealing the dog food but we put a grate over the drain - so I will remove that and get a photo. The dog announces the crabs arrival loud and clear - usually about 2 AM.
     
  4. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Ah so it is after the food, bit like the cane toads here but more tasty I suspect. I think most crabs will eat anything dead. Except for the weird coconut crab in Vanuatu that ate coconuts. So it likes the water and any sort of food. So your idea about the pvc pipes and some water with a bit of food may work. Put some more food out and make sure there is water around and see what happens. Once the crab feels safe it may bring its friends.
     
  5. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Your dog is going to hate you....
     
  6. Nacho

    Nacho New Member

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    Hi!!!
    Got an idea, use water from hydroponic system. I know its not the same as the salts on seawater but it could enhance the level of nutrients in the regular water and also, depending of the waterwaste you are going to use, you could obtain an alkaline water and\or buffer substances....
    Let me know :)
    Maybe planting adaptable algae that could release specific metabolites .... Or put an initial pond with fish and then use that water...

    Namaste brothers & sisters....
    Aloha
    Peace
     
  7. Cade

    Cade Junior Member

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    Thank you Nacho. I should emphasize that my crab idea is for an upland area; no salinity. The crabs here are acclimated to completely fresh water. But they are burrowed down deep as we currently have a drought, so I have not seen any for a while. I will revisit this project idea once our house is complete this summer, the rains return, and we start to have some regular gray water runoff from the house (I will put in gray water circulation with wetland plants; I expect the crabs will become conspicuous in the vicinity of these gardening efforts in short order)

    I have not been able to identify the species from my couple of poor photos. The sides of the shell are not pointed, but rather rounded. The coloration is reddish, with some blue near the leg joints, but I gather coloration alone is a poor indicator of species.
     

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