Crab Deadloss

[Big Kev]

I tried it last year and it seemed to make a difference,so i`ve done it again....kept my peelers in old washing bowls that have a couple of inches of wet sand in them. Of the 100 crabs i got over 2 weeks ago,only 2 have died and i still have 24 lively fellas happily half buried in their play pit. I think the "natural surroundings" keep them happy

[Greg Barratt]

What, with mermaids in seaweed skirts, and the like?

[iank]

Interesting stuff Kev.

Can I just ask how many bowls are you using for 100 crabs and are you keeping them cool or putting fresh sea water on at any time?

Cheers Ian.

[Big Kev]

I had 3 bowls...I take them out and give them a quick rinse in a small bucket of sea water then put them in a bucket of fresh sea water about 20 at a time and let them have a drink for 15 mins before returning them to the sand...I used to lose crabs regularly but not any more

[wobbler72]

I've kept 30 in two bowls for the last 10 days (part of which was in the fridge). Just put the bowls at an angle with fresh sea water at the "deep end" and covered them in seaweed. Changed the water every day. Didn't lose any and brought all but 3 to "popper stage" without any trouble. Roll on winter!

[morrow]

Good info Kev

[iank]

Thanks for that.

[tatch1]

That's got to be good to know cheers Kev

[Greg Barratt]

I didn't mean to be flippant in my last post- I'd had a toke and the joke was there;
it would seem highly likely that conditions similar to their natural habitat
would be less stressful than storage in a frigid box.
It might be better still, if they were kept in a marine aquarium- with weed and other crustacea-
who knows, there might even be a chance for reproduction in such conditions.