Red vampire crab

Care at a glance

Overview

The red vampire crab is a small land crab for a humid paludarium with hard water. It is best with a little experience.

Caring for the red vampire crab

Build a paludarium that is mostly land over a shallow water area, with at least 10 gal (38 L) for a group. Keep the humidity high, with a tight lid to hold it in. Red vampire crabs are bottom dwellers that climb and forage across the land area, spending little time in the water.

Keep the air warm, at 72 to 82°F (22 to 28°C). Use hard, mineral-rich water rather than plain RO, since they need the hardness, and aim for a pH of 7.5 to 8.0. Feed a mix of dried foods, blanched vegetables and protein such as bloodworms or bits of fish. Add a calcium source such as cuttlebone for molting.

Keep more females than males, because males are territorial and can kill each other. Otherwise red vampire crabs are mostly peaceful, but they will hunt small fish and other crab species. Choose any tank mates with caution.

A female carries her eggs until they hatch as tiny, fully formed crabs that can walk straight away. The adults will eat the young, so move any babies you want to raise into their own container. Breeding is moderately difficult.

Good to know

Geosesarma hagen is a small land crab in the family Sesarmidae. Most red vampire crabs in the trade are wild collected.

In the wild

Red vampire crabs come from Indonesia, across Java, Sulawesi and the Riau Islands. They live along damp forest floors and stream banks rather than in open water, and they spend most of their time on land.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Blue-leg vampire crab

  Geosesarma bicolor

  2 in (5 cm) · 10 gal (38 L)

  2 in (5 cm)10 gal (38 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Orange vampire crab

  Geosesarma tiomanicum

  2 in (5 cm) · 11 gal (40 L)

  2 in (5 cm)11 gal (40 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Purple vampire crab

  Geosesarma dennerle

  1 in (2.5 cm) · 10 gal (38 L)

  1 in (2.5 cm)10 gal (38 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  White mandarin vampire crab

  Geosesarma pontianak

  0.6 in (1.5 cm) · 10 gal (38 L)

  0.6 in (1.5 cm)10 gal (38 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
• Purple arm vampire crab

  Geosesarma noduliferum

  0.6 in (1.5 cm) · 10 gal (38 L)

  0.6 in (1.5 cm)10 gal (38 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Mandarin vampire crab

  Geosesarma notophorum

  0.6 in (1.5 cm) · 16 gal (60 L)

  0.6 in (1.5 cm)16 gal (60 L)72–81°F (22–27°C)