A Question about Straws

[emmac350]

I am a member on several forums, and on one, a member posted pictures of a new tank setup and all the crabs in the new tank. I noticed that the straw appeared to be rather pale - a medium-light orange color as opposed to the bright red that they usually are. I remarked on this, and was told "Straws lose their color in captivity."

Now, I've never owned straws, so maybe their color loss is unavoidable in much the same way as how killer whales' dorsal fins always flop over when they're in captivity. But I've always seen that crabs, if given a good balanced diet, will maintain their old color and even get better coloring due to the high nutritional content they get as opposed to pet stores or even what they'd find in the wild. Granted, this is dependent on the diet given and their natural coloring (Rack has always been pale, even though he's been offered the same foods as all of my other crabs; maybe this is because he's seriously always molting, but I always have assumed that he eats what he needs and maybe his coloring is always going to be paler than the other PPs) as well as what they choose to eat out of what you offer.

So my question is this - have any of you been able to raise strawberry crabs and not have them go from their dark red coloring to a paler more orange color? If so, what do you feed them? I know they need more tannins and other coloring foods, but which of these foods do you offer more than you would if you didn't have the straws?

[ladybug15057]

*shrugs* The straws I have are the same coloring basically as when I got first got them going on 5 years this fall? What do I feed them differently, nothing. When we prepare the fresh and dry good dishes they all get the same things in all the tanks. ONLY difference being, the tanks with more hermies get larger portions.

[emmac350]

It depends on the crab a lot, H4E. A PP is not going to turn blue if it doesn't get enough carotene - it will turn a pale pinkish white or even an orange-ish white. An E won't turn green without enough carotene - it will turn a pale gray.

To be perfectly correct, the necessary part of a crab's diet for coloring purposes is mostly Zeaxanthin and Astaxanthin (what crabs' bodies turn Zeaxanthin into). If an E and a PP are both fed diets high in Zeax/Astax, though, they won't turn the same color. A PP will become deep red and purple colored, whereas Es usually get their 'accent legs' and claws turning orange and even bright red. If you feed your crab a lot of dark leafy greens, it won't necessarily turn green. It will most likely darken in color, but the color of the foods you feed won't be the same as the color the crab can turn after eating them.

[Wai]

Similarly, Aussies that do not eat enough carotenoids turn pale white/grey. On the other hand, if they eat lots of carotenoids, they turn dark brown/black.

However, Ceres did turn indigo after his first moult (which was a mess), but I've never had another hermit crab turn into that colour.

[spidtat]

I have had mine that were nice and dark when I first got them, then they molted and came up much lighter and I do believe it was b/c the diet or lack there of a proper one prior to arriving to me. Now it did take them a while to regain the color much longer than my other species and they all rec'v the same Keep On Crabbin' diet as the rest. I also think the lighter ones tend to be the younger ones but that is my philosophy and I am not sure if it is correct but what I have seen is a lot of times the lighter ones are just smaller, I know age and size are not always direct but it is close I believe. Anyway if you look in my avatar I have an oranger, if that is a word, Straw after a molt in the front left, Fred, he just came up from a molt Saturday and he definitely regained his color, so colors can come back with a proper diet.

[emmac350]

Thanks for the input, guys. I wonder if this is a hermit crabs in general sort of thing. I started crabbing with 2 PPs who were fairly light in color. One has grown tremendously fast in the last year and 4 months (almost) that I've had him so far, and he's darkened a decent amount since then. He's still a somewhat pale pink but he now has darker purple stripes on his legs and the pink has started darkening up with the last two molts. The other one has not grown nearly as much since I've had him (he's been in his current shell almost a year now with no change on how he fits it...he's rarely seen top-side so I don't know how much or often he eats or what he does eat if he does...I think he comes up after I'm in bed because I'm in bed by 9:30 or so most nights; if I'm up late on a weekend, like midnight or so, I usually get to see him) but he's still just as pale as he ever was. His big pincher has become a brighter purple, but that's the only change he's had. Do keep in mind that they're eating the same foods that the Es, who are turning all sorts of fun shades of brown and orange and red, are getting.

Do you think that younger crabs tend to be lighter across the board? I don't think I've ever seen a really bright or dark-colored hermit crab that was smaller than a tennis ball. I think this is something I'll watch more intentionally now, because my two bigger PPs that I adopted are a much deeper red with purple and I really hope that my 2 original ones get to those colors.

[spidtat]

I do think younger crabs tend to be lighter in color, it just makes sense to me that way as they have not had a chance to develop as much so in my mind it does make sense. I have a PP here and he is not tennis ball sized at all, his crazy shell in this picture makes him look much bigger, he has since switched to a nice turbo, but I would say he is slightly larger than a golf ball but smaller than a racquet ball.
Mr. Krabs

that is his picture in the link above.

[emmac350]

That is some OUTRAGEOUS coloring there, Spidtat - truly breathtaking. I wonder if mine will ever get that dark...out of curiosity, what do your crabs eat that you think might have caused that coloring? Or did you get him that color?

[spidtat]

Honestly I am not sure what makes him that dark but no I did not get him that way he started out orange and purple like many others, I think Marie may even remember me asking what makes them so dark long ago on CSJ. I know he loves his worm castings but other than that he eats like the rest. I do make my own food though and it is available at Keep On Crabbin' so maybe it is just something in the foods. I have another that is dark like him just not quite that dark but he is getting there.

[ladybug15057]

From your great knowledge and TLC spidtat. IMO, it has a bit to do with diet as well as possibly being healthy? I know many here do seem to lighten when they are considering premolt.
With CrabWorks Jon & Kate, she swears by the brown oak leaves.