Crab intruders? In my house? It may be more likely than you think...

I found a large crab in my closet today.




I honestly have no idea how it got there, not only because I don't have a saltwater tank, but I also don't keep any crabs in it.
I have a 100 gal setup with a large turtle living in it, and other large tropical fish too big for the turtle to bother. Other than an occasional feeder guppy or ghost shrimp, I don't keep a lot of smaller fish or invertebrates in there, since the turtle or others would eat them.

So this crab turning up outside of the tank and in my closet down the hall was a bit of a shock. I haven't had crabs since I owned a saltwater tank over ten years ago.

I have a working theory that this might be a freshwater crab that came into the tank as a larva on some live plants, then it survived to adulthood in some hidden part of the tank and then made its escape up a bamboo plant, where it made its way down the hall to the closet.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with crabs suddenly apparing where no crabs have gone before? Could a freshwater crab sneak into a tank and survive that long with large predators? Is this even a freshwater species? I'm at a bit of a loss why it is here.

 

I found a large crab in my closet today.



I honestly have no idea how it got there, not only because I don't have a saltwater tank, but I also don't keep any crabs in it.
I have a 100 gal setup with a large turtle living in it, and other large tropical fish too big for the turtle to bother. Other than an occasional feeder guppy, I don't keep a lot of smaller fish or invertebrates in there

It's a robber crab, duh. Check your valuables.

 

Ok so first someone on Reddit finds their Apple Snail under their bed after it went missing for a month, and it was somehow still alive. Then a crab suddenly materializes in your house.

I think I need to go check my basement for giant killer bladder snails.

 

Ok so first someone on Reddit finds their Apple Snail under their bed after it went missing for a month, and it was somehow still alive. Then a crab suddenly materializes in your house.

I think I need to go check my basement for giant killer bladder snails.

Bring a weapon. When giant killer bladder snails haven't fed in a few weeks, they get nasty.

 

As a point of reference, I live in Phoenix Arizona, which is the exact opposite of an ocean.
I'm a good 4+ hours drive away from the nearest natural crab habitat, so it's not something that would be native to the area, or brought in by a bird.
It's a real stumper.

 

As a point of reference, I live in Phoenix Arizona, which is the exact opposite of an ocean.
I'm a good 4+ hours drive away from the nearest natural crab habitat, so it's not something that would be native to the area, or brought in by a bird.
It's a real stumper.

Have you had sea food recently?
The most plausible answer is that it managed to smuggle itself in on plants that you bought and was hiding out in your tank. Crabs and crustaceans of any kind are very good at hiding when they don't want to be found.

 

Maybe a rainbow land crab? Could be a young one, brought in as larvae somehow, they actually spend most their time on the land scavenging for plant matter and hiding. Which would explain where you found it and possibly how it lived so long. They will eat pretty much anything, I'm guessing even crumbs in a closet if he had to lol Only thing is they eat plants, so I have no idea why there would be any larvae on them.. Thats crazy

 

that’s called a rave crab. They are commonly spotted doing this

 

that’s called a rave crab. They are commonly spotted doing this

Strange to see one so far away from a music festival.

 

Strange to see one so far away from a music festival.

Maybe OP was blasting some music and attracted one.

 

Strange to see one so far away from a music festival.

These posts are just the same as in the fish tank smell thread lol.

Buuuuuuut... In my opinion it looks like a fidller crab. One actually played the fiddler on the roof, he played the fiddle for the original casting in the orchestra. So if you here fiddler on the roof music, follow it so you can locate the rest.

 

Never found a random crab in any of my dwellings. Geckos, sure. Had one that we only saw when we moved furniture. But never crabs. Though one time at work we found a crab and a turtle by our door.

 

These posts are just the same as in the fish tank smell thread lol.

Buuuuuuut... In my opinion it looks like a fidller crab. One actually played the fiddler on the roof, he played the fiddle for the original casting in the orchestra. So if you here fiddler on the roof music, follow it so you can locate the rest.

More specifically looks like this

 

Lol thanks! Very funny! Now going to check the fish tank smells thread .

 

this thread Is hilarious, im cracking up lol, good stuff

 

This came up as a random great thread - and it is! Unsolved Mysteries!

 

This came up as a random great thread - and it is! Unsolved Mysteries!

Same here LOL.