What is the largest crab you can realistically keep as a pet? I'm looking for something bulky like a rock crab, but nothing too spindly or flat like spider crab or blue crab. It also needs to be something you can get in the U.S. so coconut crabs are out of the question.
Crab tanks are advanced tanks
You are a stupid faggot
If you invest in a bigass saltwater setup with a huge chiller you can get sheep crabs or dungeness crabs at asian markets.
If you want freshwater, you can sometimes find african mud crabs also at asian markets.
>>2058724
Dungeon crabs look promising. Not sure about sheep crab, I want something that won't mind being taken to my back yard to play in the mud and eat dead squirrels.
Blue crab: okay size, very pretty, too flat and sharp along the edges.
Rock crab: good size but, decent color, nice and bulky
Dungeon crab: halfway between blue crab and rock crab in appearance
Coconut crab: good size, excellent amount of bulk, has a weird and distinct 'almost not crab' appearance
Fiddler crab: very small, very adorable, have nice coloring, super cute
Ghost crab: like a fiddler but bigger and cuter
Ranina crab: like a smaller more aquatic coconut crab from a fever dream
OP here. I found this picture of a 9lb rock crab which looks perfect, but how well do you think something like it would fair on land?
>>2058737
Then you're not looking for a crab.
>>2058737
what the fuck
>>2058722
If you read the thread, I want a land crab not a tank you gay fucking homo
>>2058737
This isn't a realistic expectation, man.
>>2058761
>>2058777
>>2058845
I think you mis-interpreted me. I want an aquatic crab, but I also want to take it out for an hour or so once every week or two. You know, for bonding time?
Rock crabs seem promising so far, they can live for days outside of water in the right conditions, they're big and bulky, and super adorable.
>>2058711
If your in the us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJb2TsuCrA
I've also heard that Barbados land crabs were available in the UK
>>2058929
These seem like a good secondary choice, still leaning towards rock crabs for size. But these seem like they'd be cheaper to care for.
>>2058927
> bonding
> with a crab
>>2058927
What are you doing to that crab?
im laughing mi ass off
>>2058927
Yes, but that is extremely stressful and you'll kill it by doing that repeatedly.
Also keep in mind you're looking at a multithousand dollar setup to keep something like that alive. Saltwater setups are expensive, and then you'll need like an 800 dollar+ chiller to keep the water the right temp. Rock crabs aren't hard to keep, there just is an enormous startup cost to get the tank suitable. (and you can't take them out of the water and handle them.)
>>2059007
That's a bummer.
What about australian mud crabs? They seem more amphibious
>>2058711
Just get a hamster. They have the same temperament of a crab.
>>2059018
They sort of are and would be infinitely cheaper to keep. Keep in mind any crab species is going to start flipping out the second you take it out of the water trying to pinch the shit out of you.
>>2059024
Also they're fast as hell.
I have no idea where to start looking for a mud crab. Most places either sell them in australia only, chopped up and frozen, or in bulk.
>>2059044
Vietnamese markets. You'll know they're mud crabs because they'll be wearing little straightjackets because they are extremely aggressive and would kill each other immediately otherwise.
>>2059063
I'll have to look around.
>>2058927
>I think you mis-interpreted me
>mis-interpreted
>I want something that won't mind being taken to my back yard to play in the mud and eat dead squirrels
> I also want to take it out for an hour or so once every week or two. You know, for bonding time?
>bonding time
>play in the mud and eat dead squirrels
what in the literal fuck anon
>>2059079
Keep in mind you'll need like at LEAST a 50 gallon tank with heavy filtration.
I did some looking around but the places that have green mud crabs 'near' me are pretty far away and don't have any that are still babies since they aren't farms.
Not much luck with barbados blue land crabs either, everywhere is out of stock for the time-being.
>>2059142
I am still torn on whether I should lean towards the land crab that's less aggressive and easier to care for or the mud crab that I can tear off and eat one of it's arms every 6-ish months.
>>2058737
hello homer
>>2058927
>MFW I once kept a dungeon crab from the San Juan islands in a tank because when I found it in the wild it had no front claws
Ended up feeding it a bunch of stuff I cooked up for him and gave it right to his mouth. Dude passed away years ago.
I named him Claus.
>>2059161
>dungeon crab
we know you're OP samefagging because there's no such thing as a dungeon crab.
>>2059162
Was it called a red dungeoness crab?
It's a red crab. Maybe a red cancer crab. I can't recall what type he was. Maybe he was a red rock crab? It's really been a while since I've seem those types of crabs so their names escapes me.
>>2059162
As OP I can confirm i've never had a pet crab before, only crayfish and sand fleas.
>>2058711
Get some Geosesarma species. They're beautiful, amphibious, and entirely freshwater.
>>2059189
They are fucking gorgeous, I love the halloween colored ones like this guy with the jack-o-lantern.
They are very much so lacking in the size department though, a breeder needs to work on that issue.
>>2059167
> sand fleas as a pet
Halloween crabs are easy to find treat them like a hermit crab and they'll live a few years.
>>2058927
Seriously the worst idea i've heard in a long time. I've had a large emerald crab (only three inchs) break skin on my finger when I got to close to his rock, and large 1+ foot crab could really do some damage.
>>2058722
Your /v/ is showing. Please take an hour to depressurize before posting.
OP I know how you feel but it's practically impossible to get a large crab as a pet.
When I was younger I had hermit crabs. I read all about coconut crabs because of how huge they got and I really, really wanted one, but they're just too much of a hassle. You'd need like a 300 gallon tank minimum to keep an adult comfy and a chiller to simulate ocean temperatures which do not run cheap. Plus they'd need sand to walk on and plenty of water, so you'd probably have to double that aquarium size, AND they're very fickle - keep the temp or humidity even a little bit too low for too long and it'll just drop dead without any warning suddenly. Also I'm not sure if they're susceptible to the same ailments as hermit crabs but those things can go crazy sometimes. Once I had one start dropping his limbs one by one every several hours until he had none. I moved him around to food and water regularly for a full day and then he finally died. It was bizarre and I have no clue what could've caused it.
So don't bother with crabs. Way too expensive and fragile for anyone to buy on any sort of whim.
>>2060267
You're hurting my dreams, I wish I could actually afford any of that stuff.
I am still getting some kind of crab, I got a nice 100-ish gallon tank waiting for a chitinous friend.
>>2059096
I think he just wants crab labor to remove all the dead squirrels (possibly that he kills), thus he wants the biggest one possible to eat the most squirrel. Doing OP's bidding is "bonding"
that's what I'm getting
>>2058927
>>2058746
>Ranina crab: like a smaller more aquatic coconut crab from a fever dream
This is fantastic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwxWnJgR0mc
>>2059167
>sand fleas
Are you talking about the parasite or mole crabs?
>>2061302
I meant mole crabs, but i'm not going to lie i've had parasite type too.
