peeler crab farming?y

[samuel-cox]

In April the water is just starting to warm and the days are getting longer, this triggers male crabs to start moulting.They need to do this to grow and breed. They are followed in June by the females.(normaly found under large males)

I like a lot of crab collectors have lernt to grade my crabs. jellies and poppers are at the bottem of the fridge, this is the coldest part and stops the moulting prosses. Good peelers go on the next shelves. Crabs that have only just started peeling can be left in a warm (not hot)spot in the shed and the prosses will continue and in a few days they will be good bait.

I was thinking of using a tank,lights and a heater to imertate the spring to see if I could induce the male crabs to moult.

I know certan plants can be induced to bud by putting them on a 12 hour light, 12 hour dark plan, does anyone think it could work with crabs????

[macky]

try it....

 

but pick the crabs with barnacles on there backs, these are crabs that aint peeled in a while.

[Guest stevie cop]

I have read that if you pull a crabs eyes off, it will start peeling! I've never done it, nor would I, but it is supposed to do something to their hormones and start the peeling process.

 

If someone came up with HRT for crabs, they'd be a rich man in no time ;o)

[Guest jay_con]

This is a subject im really interested in. Its got to be worth a go sam, although I know of no one who has ever managed this on a large scale.

A friend of mine who keeps marine tanks says he had a few crabs in his north sea tank and they peel twice a year. I think the key more than anything may be feeding them on the right diet. I think they only cast when they have outgrown thier previous shell so feeding them and getting them to grow could be essential essential. I once talked to a marine biologist at a university in belgium via email, he suggested shrimps as a good diet and something else with calcium in to get them ready to form a new shell, however adding feed to the water will contaminate it so take out anything the crabs dont eat. This guy also said something about the eye's in crustaciens as hormones in the eye stem are known to induce peeling. (before you give me grief I don't advocate doing this and am only passing on info)

 

Sam I keep all my crabs in a purpose built small breeze block pond with a filter. I manage to keep all types of crabs and even peeling lobsters and I dont have to bother with the water other than to check and correct it's salinity once a week and change 25 percent of the water every 3 weeks.

 

I have managed to get some crabs to peel that havent started the process when you pick them up (the ones that look like they should be peeling but arent when you check them), but many never peel and you have to take them back to the sea.

[kennyboybass]

I have kept crabs alive for weeks in small tanks with just a aerator the live bait type or the ones you use from the mains, the crabs i have had out of their shell include the red ones, but i only put a few in at the time because they fight a lot and claws and legs get pulled off,the green crabs are pretty easy they seem to come out over night,iam yet to try the velvet type they need a lot of oxegen

[Huge_Vitae]

The 'cutting the eyes off technique" does work....

 

And NO I don't do it or agree with it... I only know about it because I read the Court Report. The 'fisherman' as was described was rightfully prosecuted and fined.

[Guest jay_con]

just being devils advocate as I did last time we discussed this topic.

 

Is it any more cruel than killing a worm by stabbing him in the head with a hook. Or dragging a fish away from his family and friends.

 

If you go peelering at the right time in the right place you should be able to get enough for your own use without having to resort to this method.

[maximo]

using a heater definitely brings the shore crab on faster but you need plenty of oxygen to do it.

also not too much heat.

imo velvets need no more oxygen than the red crab which come out of their shells very fast once they split.

and dont mix red and velvets unless you only want red crab left.

winter about how big is your pond and is it kept at a constant temperature.

[Guest jay_con]

max, the pond is roughly 6 foot by 4 foot I also have 2 4 by 2 tanks linked in. I circulate water round them all and through the filter with a pond pump. They are also great for keeping mussels, worms, hermits etc.

 

The temp fluctuates. last summer it went in excess of 20 degrees c. I paniced a bit and expected all the crabs to die but I hardly lost any. Im still on the look out for a beer blast chiller though to cool it down. Last summer wasnt the hotest weve had and I fear if we get a heat wave this summer I may run into problems. The biologist I spoke to said a constant temp of 15 was a good starting place.

 

I dont have any aeration attached. I presume the water quality and oxygen going in when the water falls out of the filter is sufficient.

[samuel-cox]

Guys we should be careful discussing using baby lobsters and small edible crabs for bait. These have strict size limits and if we are to ask for the size limit of bass to be increesed we have to be squeeky clean where other speacis are concerned.

Good stuff though so far, I have a six foot by 2.5 foot fish tank in my dining room when i put crabs in they normally moult within a week.