Crablog 11-18-05:

• Oscar changed his shell last night, he's looking very handsome today.
• A couple of them really seem to like the plant I put in last night. Oscar decided to climb the plant after he put his new shell on (he's had a busy night) and he's been up there all day. Hermie is still sitting on the log underneath the plant partially hiding.
• Went to Michaels today, at the suggestion of several people in the various groups I've joined, to get some shells and plants. For a bonus we even found some fish net that they can climb (I've got ideas for cool things to do with the tank). We got a crapload of shells of all kinds of sizes and shapes.
• I woke up this morning and the temp in the tank is still low, still down to 70F. After Michaels we went to the Petco right beside it (Rockville on 355). I got another UTH (for a 1-5 gal tank) and mounted that on the back wall of the same side that the other UTH is on. After it being up on there for 10 hours, the temp STILL says 71F. I need a lamp.
• We also got another 6 crabs. I think one of them is a Coenobita Brevimanus (Indo). We may have picked up some Coenobita Compressus (Ecuadorians or Es). I'm still having a really hard time IDing them, it's very difficult when they come in such a wide range of colors.
• One of the new little guys is quite the acrobat. This evening he had climbed the plant/tree and was hanging upside down sleeping and holding on with just one leg. Very silly little guy. He stayed like that at least an hour after I found him like that. All these guys we got today are pretty active, rather, they have not gone and dug in like the first ones we got. They've either been in the tree or under the log.
• Several of the new ones look as if they are pre-molt or post-molt. Well, their color is very light tan. Some of their exoskeletons look almost transparent and since I'm new at this and not yet seen a crab molt, I don't know if it's pre or post look. One of the new guys has a very distinct blue look about him.