THE MOST COMMON VAMPIRE CRAB QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Geosesarma Notophorum @milleniumsnakes
Vampire Crabs are vibrant, mysterious terrestrial crabs native to the islands of Indonesia, Borneo, and Thailand. Despite their presence in the pet trade for years, reliable information about them remains scarce online. That's why I've created this website—to provide accurate and helpful insights into caring for these beautiful crabs. In this guide, we'll explore the most common questions people have about keeping Vampire Crabs, offering tips and advice to ensure their well-being.
Are vampire crabs good pets?
Geosesarma Vampire Crabs make for great pets as they are low maintenance and fairly easy to care for. The hardest part about keeping them is finding healthy crabs. Sadly vampire crabs don’t ship very well which makes finding healthy ones tricky. The best advice I can give you is to buy crabs from the closest store to your location. The more shipping involved in getting them to you the less likely they are to survive.
Related: THE MOST COMMON REASONS VAMPIRE CRABS DIE
Outside of the shipping issues, it’s really important to mention that vampire crabs are super shy by nature so they aren’t the best pets for children. They spend 90% or more of their time hiding and sometimes you can go months without seeing them out and about. They are mostly nocturnal and quite skittish but slowly get used to human activity over time. If you have the option to buy captive bred crabs they are a lot more social and can even be hand-fed sometimes.
Hand feeding a male geosesarma vampire crab
Are vampire crabs aggressive?
Just like most crab species vampire crabs do have an aggressive streak which is something you need to be aware of when purchasing them. After keeping quite a few species for many years I would classify them as semi-aggressive as their aggression comes and goes and is rather unpredictable. Because of this, there are a couple of really important rules you need to follow.
You can’t mix different colour vampire crabs (species) Mixing different species is a major aggression trigger and almost always results in mass casualties. So avoid mixing any different species, regardless of what sellers tell you.
You need to keep more females than males. 1 male per 2 females is a great starting ratio. This ensures the male doesn’t hound one female to death trying to mate. It’s the same basic rule as keeping guppies.
Tank size is also really important so make sure you check out this guide as well: WHAT IS THE BEST SIZE TANK FOR VAMPIRE CRABS? A PALUDARIUM SIZE GUIDE
Why are vampire crabs called vampire Crabs?
If you ask chatGPT this question half the time it will tell you it is because they suck the blood out of their prey…. Which is a completely made-up fact. Along with a lot of other things it says about vampire crabs. In reality, they are suspected to have gotten their name because of the bright yellow coloured eyes which look quite similar to the old representations of creatures of the night. Especially when you shine a torch light on them on a dark night in the forest. Below is a classic stereotypical impression of Vampire's eyes in the dark.
Can vampire crabs be fully aquatic?
NOPE! While you do sometimes see the occasional uneducated fool keep vampire crabs in almost entirely aquatic environments, vampire crabs are actually terrestrial crabs that spend 99% of their time on land. While they do need water in their environment it isn’t where they primarily spend their time. Some vampire crab species spend a little more time in the water than others but for all species, land is where they will spend more than 90% of their time. As a result, you need to create an environment for them that is 80% land and 20% water.
Even though they spend a lot of time on land water is super important for vampire crabs as it is how they hydrate and keep their gills moist. They also need water to molt, which is how they grow in size. Here’s some further reading about vampire crab molting: WHEN A VAMPIRE CRAB FAILS TO MOLT
Are vampire crabs hard to keep?
Over the years, I've cared for a wide variety of animal species, and I have to say that Vampire Crabs are among the easiest and lowest maintenance. All they need is a well-planned, established paludarium ecosystem, and with feeding just a few times a week, they'll essentially take care of themselves. Just be prepared for their shy nature—so make sure you enjoy looking at your paludarium, as the crabs will be more of a hidden bonus. If you've made it this far and are convinced you want to get some, make sure to read this guide first: VAMPIRE CRABS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. It’s the best guide on the Internet and has video guides for each section covered.
Can vampire crabs be handled?
While you can handle them, I highly suggest avoiding it. The main reason is that they can move incredibly fast and unpredictably, often resulting in a sudden leap that sends them crashing to the floor. Once a Vampire Crab experiences any kind of hard shock or impact, it's game over. They almost always die within a few hours or days. This is one of the reasons they ship so poorly. Even a fall of 15 cm onto a hard surface can be fatal. Because of this, it's best to handle them as little as possible.
If you do need to handle them, make sure you scoop them up into the palm of your hand—never grab them with your fingers. Too much pressure on their body can be fatal. It might take a few days, but they often die after being handled this way. To check their sex, it's best to scoop them up and place them in a clear container so you can easily see their underside without overhandling them.
How to sex vampire crabs. Males and Female identification
DO VAMPIRE CRABS NEED SPECIAL LIGHTING?
Unlike quite a few other exotic animals, vampire crabs don’t need any kind of special lighting to live happily in captivity. All you need is a light that is capable of growing plants, which is basically any aquarium light on the market. So, you won’t have to spend a ton of money getting something fancy to keep them happy. Though, if you want to automate your experience as much as possible, I highly suggest getting a light that has app control and some ramp-up and ramp-down options.
This lets you set the perfect daylight cycle in your tank. Just make sure that you are running your light for between 8 and 10 hours a day to keep your plants happy. I generally run mine for 9 hours, with a ramp-up and ramp-down period included in that. The video below might give you some lighting ideas.
How I light my vampire crab tanks