Fiddler crabs are fascinating crustaceans with unique behavior, so no wonder they have found their way into our homes. These active little guys love spending time in the water and enjoy burrowing and scuttling around on land. Fiddler crabs have simple care needs, are relatively low-maintenance, and provide hours of entertainment. To discover if these unique invertebrates are for you, look at the five care tips for keeping pet fiddler crabs below.
1. Understand Your Crabs’ Needs
If you want pet fiddler cribs to thrive, you must understand their care needs. There are around 100 species of fiddler, and you find them on coastlines near brackish water, a mixture of freshwater and saltwater. Fiddlers spend most of their time foraging in the water – but also need dry areas to burrow and hide.
Fiddler crabs aren’t the creepiest crustaceans, but males have an abnormally large claw, which makes them look like they’re playing a fiddle. It’s easy to distinguish males from females because females have smaller, equal-sized claws. Fiddlers use their claws to burrow, eat, and communicate with each other. They lift their large claw in the air to alert other crabs of their presence – in the same way we wave to each other.
Fiddler crabs grow up to two inches long and live for around three years in captivity. They are an excellent choice for first-time pet parents because they’re hardy and easy to care for. But if you want a cuddly pet, you should look elsewhere because fiddlers don’t enjoy handling or petting.
2. Recreate Their Natural Habitat
Another way to ensure you have happy crabs is by recreating their natural habitat. Fiddler crabs need ample space, brackish water, and deep, sloping substrate to burrow in. They also benefit from decor such as rocks, live or fake aquarium plants, driftwood, and caves.
A 10-gallon tank is ideal for four fiddlers. If you add more crabs, you must increase the space by four gallons per extra crab. Overcrowding can cause massive problems in a crab community. It leads to stress, bullying, and fatal health problems.
Fiddler crabs need water and dry surfaces in their habitat, and you can produce this by placing sloping banks of sandy substrate around the sides of the tank. You must also put a deep layer on the floor. To finish, add a couple of inches of brackish water, and your crabs have the perfect environment. Use aquarium salts to create brackish water by following the instructions on the packet. Fiddlers need a specific gravity of 1.005 and 1.01, and you can measure this with a hydrometer.
3. Feed Your Fiddler Crabs Daily
Feeding your pets is the next crucial care tip for keeping fiddler crabs, and you must provide food daily. Luckily, they are scavenger omnivores, so they aren’t picky eaters. They have a straightforward diet – and you don’t have to add extra drinking water to their enclosure. Fiddlers hydrate themselves with the tank water.
The best diet for fiddler crabs is species-specific pellets or flakes, which you add to their water daily. Like most crustaceans, fiddlers also benefit from a powdered calcium supplement. You can also enrich their diet with occasional treats, like fresh fruit, veggies, seaweed, and shrimp. Treats should only make up a small part of their diet, so only give them two to three times weekly. Always wash fruit and veggies and blanch them before feeding, and remove leftover treats after 24 hours. Rotten food will attract mold and bacteria, which can make crabs ill.
4. Regularly Maintain Your Crabs’ Enclosure
Fiddler crabs are hardy creatures, but you must still regularly clean and maintain their enclosure and expect to spend a few hours each week tending to them. You must lightly clean the aquarium weekly and deep clean aquarium decorations, substrate, and tank surfaces every four to six weeks. Fiddlers aren’t prone to many illnesses, but they will suffer in unsanitary conditions, so you must keep their tank clean.
Your fiddlers’ enclosure must be between 75 – 85 Fahrenheit, and you should use reptile heat lamps to provide light and heat. Don’t use the lights for more than 12 hours daily. Fiddlers need a dark period to rest.
Depending on your setup, you can add a filter to the water and change half the volume monthly. You must change half the water weekly if you don’t have a filter. Fiddler crabs are excellent climbers and can shimmy up the tubes of external filters to escape, so use an internal fish tank filter. You should also place a secure mesh lid on the tank to provide ventilation and prevent them from escaping.
5. Understand Fiddler Crab Behavior
Understanding fiddler crab behavior is vital for their well-being, and the first thing you must know is that they love to live in groups. You should keep at least four crabs together – one male and three females. Avoid introducing too many males because they will fight over territory. You don’t have to worry about them breeding because females won’t hatch live eggs in captivity. Fiddler crabs may eat small tank mates such as fish or other inverts, so you should only keep them with other fiddlers.
Fiddler crabs shed their exoskeleton once or twice a year and are incredibly vulnerable during shedding. Crustaceans can feel pain, so you mustn’t touch or disturb them during molting. Crabs are usually quiet, withdrawn and lethargic when shedding, and they may seem lifeless, but this is normal and may last a few weeks. Most owners leave the old shell in the enclosure for up to a week because many crabs eat the skeleton, which provides a nutrition boost. Once the molt is over and crabs have a new shell, they will resume their typical activity.
