Do You Want a Halloween Moon Crab?

Buying a holiday-themed pet is generally not a good idea, so let this be your warning: If you do not want to have a crab for the next five to ten years, then do not purchase a Halloween moon crab.

That being said, this is the perfect time of year to show off this particular orange, purple, and black crab. So if you’re actually in the market for a long-term pet, then allow me to show you more about Halloween moon crabs.

What to know about Halloween moon crabs

Halloween moon crabs are a terrestrial species of crab, meaning that they live on land. More specifically, they like to live in burrows. That means you’ll need to keep them in a habitat with at least six inches of substrate for the crabs to dig in, but deeper substrate is even better since they can burrow up to three feet.

They do, however, require a water source in their terrarium so that they can keep their gills wet. In nature, they tend to live along coastal regions.

A typical Halloween moon crab grows to about two to four inches in size, and they have a unique purple, orange, and black coloring that many people find aesthetically pleasing. For comparison, they are larger than the more commonly kept hermit crab, and unlike hermit crabs, moon crabs do not need to replace their shells with external shells.

Basic care for a Halloween moon crab

Moon crabs are fairly easy to feed. Being scavengers, they consume a wide range of foods—both plant and animal-based with plant foods making up the majority of their diet. Some items you can feed to a Halloween moon crab include:

• Raw coconut
• Seeds
• Peanut butter
• Fruit (cut into small pieces)
• Greens
• Freeze-dried crickets
• Mealworms
• Shrimp
• And prepared crab food.

You should also make sure your crabs have a source of calcium. You can sprinkle a calcium supplement on their food or provide a cuttlebone for them to chew. You can find cuttlebones available where turtle and tortoise supplies are sold.

These crabs live in groups in the wild, so if you’re planning to keep moon crabs, it’s best to get more than one. A twenty-gallon enclosure is the minimum size for Halloween moon crabs, and if you have several, you’ll need a bigger enclosure than that to allow room for the individual crabs.

Since they are a coastal species, the substrate in their enclosure should be moist and made up of sand or soil. Additionally, this species likes to climb and does well when provided with pieces of bark and other items to climb and perch on.

Halloween Moon Crab and Scaly Mom

One unique requirement for keeping these crabs is that they will need to be provided with both a freshwater pool and a saltwater pool that is large enough for them to fit their whole body in but shallow enough that they can easily climb in and out.

As a nocturnal species, you will not need a UV light for moon crabs. They do, however, require a heat source, either from a lamp or a heating pad under their terrarium.

You can purchase a Halloween moon crab from our online exotic pet shop and have it safely delivered to your address.