# 5 gallon crabitat vivarium build.



## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

I know this is a frog forum, but there aren't many crab forums I've found so far, and vampire frogs are kept basically the same way as darts.

Supplies!










First layer of GS


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## BOOSHIFIED (Jun 23, 2009)

jebbewocky said:


> I know this is a frog forum, but there aren't many crab forums I've found so far, and vampire frogs are kept basically the same way !


I want one of these vampire frogs you speak of.


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## Tony (Oct 13, 2008)

BOOSHIFIED said:


> I want one of these vampire frogs you speak of.


"Vampire Flying Frog" Found; Tadpoles Have Black Fangs


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## randommind (Sep 14, 2010)

They're out there......


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

Man, I can never post photos from Flickr. Either I'm doing something horribly wrong, or Flickr is stupid.


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## 31drew31 (Nov 14, 2010)

Flickr is funny, you have to click on the right down arrow, and copy/paste the BBcode

Here ya go:


224601_10150165834354087_525999086_6877993_8319881_n


230979_10150165834854087_525999086_6878003_2862983_n(2)


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

I have a little 5 gallon I am currently using as a growout for plants, but once I get those out of the way I might try something like this!!


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

Crabitat? That is hysterical LMAO! I might have to get a couple of crabs just so I can tell people that I have a crabitat.


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## Woodsman (Jan 3, 2008)

And if it doesn't come out looking good, you can say you have a crapitat!

Richard.



JimO said:


> Crabitat? That is hysterical LMAO! I might have to get a couple of crabs just so I can tell people that I have a crabitat.


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## Wallace Grover (Dec 6, 2009)

Woodsman said:


> And if it doesn't come out looking good, you can say you have a crapitat!
> 
> Richard.


*insert witty remark about compost piles as they relate to crap here*


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## JimO (May 14, 2010)

You could keep it simple and just put a concrete block in the tank and call it a Slabitat. HA!


Woodsman said:


> And if it doesn't come out looking good, you can say you have a crapitat!
> 
> Richard.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

So...does anyone have any tips/suggested tools for carving Great Stuff?
And any tips on applying silicone to it evenly?


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

I have a dremel tool. I'm good for cutting. Derp.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

I checked on the little guy today, and...he didn't make it, so he'll never get to see the awesome setup I had planned.
I might re-purpose it into a dartfrog, or maybe a tarantula enclosure--he only made it a month and a half so I don't know if I'll try crabs again.


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## ryan10517 (Oct 23, 2010)

sorry for your loss


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

ryan10517 said:


> sorry for your loss


Thanks. 

I've decided I'm going to re-purpose this into an enclosure for my P.cambridgei.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

jebbewocky said:


> Thanks.
> 
> I've decided I'm going to re-purpose this into an enclosure for my P.cambridgei.


Sorry your crab didn't make it. I love trinidad chevrons though. Spectacular spiders. Unfortunately my biggest trinidad molted into a mature male recently so it doesn't have much longer left. Glad to see that there are other tarantula enthusiasts here.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

varanoid said:


> Sorry your crab didn't make it. I love trinidad chevrons though. Spectacular spiders. Unfortunately my biggest trinidad molted into a mature male recently so it doesn't have much longer left. Glad to see that there are other tarantula enthusiasts here.


Yeah, I've got 13 T's at this point--no dart frogs yet actually.
I joined here because most T keepers don't keep elaborate setups, and I'm looking to do that for my arboreals. That's not to say I won't _eventually _have dartfrogs, but it's not in the cards currently. Not enough room, $, or time.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

JimO said:


> You could keep it simple and just put a concrete block in the tank and call it a Slabitat. HA!


I was actually thinking about this the other day--that this would actually work pretty well. You could use the holes in the middle of the concrete block to put some substrate in for burrowing, and concete blocks have enough texture to them that I would think it wouldn't be any problem for a crab to crawl up it. It would also be rather interesting in my opinion.

EDIT: And HEAVY.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

Never mind!

a quick google search told me that using a standard concrete block would be a bad idea. Maybe if it was coated in silicone, but that would pretty much make it very smooth, and difficult to climb.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

Welp, last night I cracked the side of the aquarium. It's still salvageable for a tarantula, once I put some plexi over it and silicone it, but it's no longer watertight.

I've also discovered I don't really like the Great Stuff foam I've been using. I got the window/door product as it is a quicker cure, and expands without force so it doesn't crack windows, but it leaves large bubbles in the foam so that when I carve it I can't really shape it the way I want to.

I wonder if the black pond foam has this issue? I can't find it anywhere (EDIt for truth: Home Depot doesn't have it, lol) except online though!

If I do another tank later on, I'll probably go with styrofoam blocks, since those cure differently and don't have enormous bubbles.


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## saruchan (Jun 12, 2010)

Pond stuff works a lot better a bit pricy but works great! I've never had any problems with not sticking or bubbles. I've heard they sell something almost identical to it at kmart called max n fill. Its a lot cheaper too, theres a thread somewhere around here about it.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

Progress! I did the old coconut coir+silicone. It's far from perfect, but it's looks fine. Plus the spider's going to mess/web it up some anyway.
Not bad for a first attempt. There is some yellow showing through, but I'm OK with that--looks kinda like mold or lichen, and again spider's going to web it up anyway. I think if I let this cure for a week or two, and then get a nice centerpiece like a nice big corkbark tube I should be set.


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

Finished product!









*Close-up!*


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## Endagr8 (Feb 17, 2010)

varanoid said:


> Sorry your crab didn't make it. I love trinidad chevrons though. Spectacular spiders. Unfortunately my biggest trinidad molted into a mature male recently so it doesn't have much longer left. Glad to see that there are other tarantula enthusiasts here.


Is this guy still around? My female laid a dud sac this winter, and I expect her to molt soon enough. Maybe you'd be interested in a loan?

And cool enclosure jebbewocky! Reminds me of my _P. cambridgei_ enclosure!


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

The crab died awhile ago, sex unknown.
The P.cambridgei is still alive, sex unknown (but definently not an MM--not big enough, and no tibial hooks).


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## Endagr8 (Feb 17, 2010)

jebbewocky said:


> The crab died awhile ago, sex unknown.
> The P.cambridgei is still alive, sex unknown (but definently not an MM--not big enough, and no tibial hooks).


Ouch. Sorry for your loss. 

I was referring to varanoid's male though. If you get a chance to sex yours down the road and it turns out to be a male, I might be interested!


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## Trail_Mix (Nov 15, 2012)

Endagr8 said:


> Ouch. Sorry for your loss.
> 
> I was referring to varanoid's male though. If you get a chance to sex yours down the road and it turns out to be a male, I might be interested!


Have you considered doing an "aqua-terrarium" type set-up? Get like a 15 or 20g tall tank, and fill the water portion up about a third of the way. Then using rocks and silicone and/or grapevine/driftwood create a path for the crabs to get out of the water. Then you could create an elevated portion above the water, without actually creating a false bottom. Depending on how many crabs you are intending on keeping per tank, you could then create several different sections to suite the crabs needs, depends on the species too. You could make a sort of second-tier for the crabs above the water, allowing you to utilize almost all of the surface area of the bottom of the tank, while still allowing the crabs a significant land portion. Since many Geosesearma sp. are happiest with their legs dangling in the water so that they remain wet, but are actually above ground, you could create a sort of multi-tiered set-up for the crabs while stilll leaving room for a full aquatic zone. This might be easier than creating a half-land/half-water vivarium, though I really don't have much experience keeping different species of crabs. I do know that if you could integrate some sort of "water-fall" or "rain" feature into this set-uip, you could plant it with low-creeping/ground-cover type plants such as java moss or something as simple as that, and the crabs would probably love it. Just a thought, your imagination is really your only limitation when it comes to creating a suitable tank for these critters, though I know they would prefer to have their tank planted, and for most species, a little marine salt added per water change would help with their molting and breeding. Again, just my .02, good luck, and I hope to see some build journals and new species introduced!


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

...this thread is nearly three years old and the crab didn't make it six months..


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## bernddd (Jan 19, 2013)

jebbewocky said:


> ...this thread is nearly three years old and the crab didn't make it six months..


You make it sound like that's the crab's fault?!


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## jebbewocky (Apr 24, 2011)

I didn't mean to imply that. I just meant--what's the point in responding to an ancient thread about an animal that I stated didn't make it? I've avoided any kind of crab since.


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## ngeno626 (Nov 14, 2013)

this thread made me laugh. some cool pics though


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