Red Claw Crabs limbs grow back?

So I've had a red claw for about 3 months now, he used to be in a 6.5 gallon tank and I decided I wanted to move him up a bit. I got a new crab in with him in the 6.5 for a little while who I called Legless (when I got it, it was missing a leg.) When I got the new tank set up, I prepared both crabs for the move and in the process, Tank (the other one, named so because his claws are bigger than he is) took off one of Legless' claws, and another leg. What I want to know, is if those limbs will grow back. I've looked around but I've only found info on stone crabs. Would the water being brackish help them moulting? How would I make the water brackish if that's the case, as when I got them the store told me they're okay in fresh water but I keep finding that they do better in brackish. Is there a certain food I can give them to help them regrow faster? At the moment I keep 2 rosy reds stocked in the water side for them to hunt, and I keep restocking living plants for them because Tank likes to eat the roots of Anubias Nana and White Ribbon leaves, and Legless seems to like carnivore pellets.

 

All crustaceans molt, which I don't know if you know already means they shed their outer shell and the grow it back, and they molt because they need to grow. This includes growing back limbs. You can't speed it up, but you can make it easier by adding iodine and calcium to the water, do research on the iodine, but calcium can be in the form of organic egg shells to cuttlebones, cuttlebones being easier for them to consume. Can I get a tank pic? Also, take both crabs, flip them and take a pic of their belly. The fighting might be because of their gender. Boy+boy=fights, girl+girl=relative peace, girl+boy=mating, boy+boy+girl=mayhem. They do need brackish water in the long run, here's a forum...

Also, crabs are opportunistic hunters, meaning if they can catch it, they'll most likely eat it.

 

I really appreciate your response, lots of info. I can take a pic of their bellies if I can get them to sit still.. any suggestions on how to do that?

 

You can grab them and flip them. Don't rough them about or move too quickly. Grab them by their back, as their claws and legs can't scratch you then.

 

How'd it go?

 

I try to get them when they're out and about because I don't want to disturb them too much or move their environment around to just to pick them up, but no luck so far. They all seem to be getting along though, I think it was just from me putting them in that jar for transferring them that caused the fight.

 

I've been trying to get those pictures, but every time I see them moving around and they try climbing the side of the glass I try reaching for my phone to take a picture of the underside and they skitter off, no matter how slowly I move. Again I don't want to disturb their habitat right now, do you think you could show me a picture of a male underbelly and a female underbelly? I have searched it in Google but nothing I found was very useful, as it started leading into stone and fiddler crabs too quickly, I couldn't find any comparison photos. I can see their underside occasionally so if I know what to look for I can sex them myself. I am finding these crabs to be incredibly intelligent and caring, both of what I believe are males are caring for Legless because she can't get her own food very easily, Tank has gone as far as to rip up some leaves right by the water and not touch them at all, then move away, and even bring her full stems of my anubias plant and just leave it by her. She is being fed quite well by both of them, and I'm very happy for that because she found a safe spot up on top of the driftwood which the other two are too heavy to climb, and I was just putting some food up there with her so she didn't have to leave her safe zone. Now that I see what they're doing for her I feel a lot better about her. I do assume she is a female, her underbelly looks different than the other two and her claws are small. I don't think Tank meant to clip her claw I think he was frightened when she was put into the holding tank right after him so he just retaliated because he was startled and now he feels he has to help her to eat. I can't speak for the intelligence of these creatures as I'm only just learning how to care for them, but the little things I see lead me to believe they are very smart.

 

Sexing red clawed crabs is the same as any other crab as far as I know. Under their belly, there will be a tail like thing. If it is thin, it's a male. If it's thick, it's a female. Did you make the water brackish? If you want crabs that are similar but are easier to care for, get some red devil geosesarma.

 

I did make the water brackish, and there are plenty of hiding places both from my sight and the others'. They've been great lately sorry for not replying, I did find some pictures of what you were talking about and managed to sex mine, I have 2 males and 1 female. The one that lost her claw is the female, and the original male was the one that took it but I now witness him bringing her food all the time, be it carnivore pellets or plant leaves shredded up so she can eat. I do not think he meant to do it. The newcomer is a male but he is very passive, I've seen him and Tank fight only one time and it did not end badly either way. They mind their own business normally and have their own dedicated hiding spots. I did however recently learn by observing them eat, that they have the ability to open up the entire bottom half of their body and it appears to have teeth that drag food in, but I've never seen anything like it, it's as if his entire body is just one big mouth.

 

Some pictures I just took of the tank, and I got a picture of Tank the crab and Titan, the other male though his pic is very dark. You can see the claw size difference. I couldn't get a good view on Legless she is hiding under the log ATM but I will post when I get one.

 

I got one of her eating but here's the other pics from previous post (10 pic limit)

 

Is it the front that opens up? That's where they eat. It does lead to only a small ish mouth.

 

No it's the entire bottom half of his body. I'll send a picture I have it in video

 

 

Maybe he is storing food? I dunno. Interesting find.

 

How's it going now?