# My little escape artist



## TheCheeseWizz (Dec 9, 2008)

This is my little escape artist


This little guy has gone through quite a lot. About a week ago, we couldnt find him in the tank after we transferred him from the little tank to the big tank. After a day of searching, we found him running across the living room floor. So we caught him and put him in the tank and the next day he was gone again. So I looked in the tank really good including the filter and there he was. We then moved him back into the small tank because he cant go anywhere in that one. Just yesterday I realized that he was missing two legs. I dont know how this little guy is still alive but it has quite the story.




Does anybody else have a story like this with a crab?


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

This isnt one from me personally, but I saw it happen. I was at my friend's house and apparently one of his snails got out, and she was sweeping the floor. She couldnt sweep the snail at first (she didnt know it was the snail, just something on the floor) so she hit it hard. It hit the wall and smashed the shell. She was well mortified after that.


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## boosted (Jan 27, 2009)

My bearded dragon in his younger days was quite an escape artist.

lol forgot to post a pic of mine..


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

LOL i just thought about it, when i was younger I had hamsters. They got out every couple of weeks. We had two cats in the house, the hamsters lived twice their expected lifespan somehow.


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## Aquadoc (Jan 28, 2009)

The same thing happened for my frog. Still I couldn't find her....


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## budcarlson (Feb 3, 2009)

We had a hamster that was quite the escape artist, she got out of her cage on her own several times, which was up on a dresser, and we would eventually find her somewhere. One time is was 3 or 4 weeks. The kids did a bang-up job of taking care of her - found dead in cage one day, had to have been that way for a while. X's in the eyes and flies everywhere. Gross


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## TheCheeseWizz (Dec 9, 2008)

Thats pretty nasty.


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## kpkbfish420 (Jan 5, 2009)

Assuming they are red clawed crabs, we have 2, and they've been found in the filter a few times but that's it...do you provide them with a spot out of the water like a log or rock?


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## TheCheeseWizz (Dec 9, 2008)

Yes, he can climb up the filter tube and get the air there. He is almost always up there and we cant see him when he is. Other than that, I really like him.


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

Hey boosted, have you ever had problems with partial paralysis? Or a beardie that wouldnt move their back legs but could if needed, but only slightly kinda like a shake. I had a problem with impaction when I went out of town and left them with my mom, and he doesnt use his back legs now even though the female was worse with the impaction, pm me if you have any insight.


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

Have you tried a warm water bath for your Beardie with impaction? How long were you out of town?


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## boosted (Jan 27, 2009)

Yeah a warm or very warm bath helps impaction. I typically bath mine 2-3 times a week in 80-85 degree water. Some say this is too warm, but it has not effected him in any noticeable way.

If you are worried about it still having any 'hard remnants' left from the slight impaction, feed it iceberg lettuce for a maximum of 2-3 days. But make sure to keep it's water dish FULL, or bath it everyday and it will drink the water then. Basically, your feeding it Ex-lax for dragons. It will get very runny, so you have to keep up with watering.
After the 2-3 days feed it broccoli and other high fiber food to get it solid again. Mine loves a mix of Cucumber squash, Acorn Squash, Yellow Squash and Broccoli Florettes. Mine is nearly 4 years old now so I only feed him every other day.

Also you might try giving it a bath in semi-deep water. Where it will be forced to swim in the deeper water. Kinda make him use the rear legs and maybe dislodge anything that might be there.

I have definitely found that mine has far less trouble 'going' in the bath than on dry land. Not to mention the cleanup and the horrid smell is far more reasonable. It also forces him to be active and exercise in the deeper baths.

Third edit...
I have found it is far more reasonable to feed every day when leading up to a period where I will be gone for a short time. Kinda 'gut loading' in a sense. I have left him for up to 5 days on his own and he has been fine. But the 10-12 days leading up to it I load him up, so to speak. And he is happy when I get home and feed him after I have been gone.
I have just found that people that have never cared for reptiles simply have no clue and will screw it up too easily for me to risk it.


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

The impaction wasnt slight, but is not the problem anymore. Took it to the vet, (my friend) and got them fixed up. But good idea about the deeper water, he does tend to swim in the sink  Hes about a year old now, about 9 inches too. Just looks kinda sad when hes walking kuz he bobs from side to side..


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## boosted (Jan 27, 2009)

aconrad said:


> The impaction wasnt slight, but is not the problem anymore. Took it to the vet, (my friend) and got them fixed up. But good idea about the deeper water, he does tend to swim in the sink  Hes about a year old now, about 9 inches too. Just looks kinda sad when hes walking kuz he bobs from side to side..


What you could also do since he is that young and small...
You do have him in at least a 40 gallon now right....

Anyway tempt with small crickets, throw 5-6 in the cage and let it chase them down. When he stops chasing them stop adding them.
Mine at that age would easily eat 900-950 1/2"-3/4" a month. Plus veggies. I also guess that is why he is now almost 20 inches and 4.5 pounds...

I currently have mine in a 48"WX24"DX18"H with three levels of basking pads. Plenty of room to roam and run. Though When I have the cash I fully plan on building him a much larger and truer home. 8'WX4'DX36"H where it will be a true vivarium with plants and all.


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## aconrad (Apr 30, 2008)

I have two in a 55 gal. they were bought together at birth and are perfectly fine together, atleast for now. They dont have a big appetite tho, which I am worried about. Maybe we could have a chat in the chatroom, Im also planning on building out one of the sides of my closet for a big wide tank. Im very good at that kind of things, and my father is a picture framer so we wont have that muc problems with it. Lol I wish I was as knowledgeable with reptiles as I am with fish >.<


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## brandeeno (Nov 16, 2008)

hmmm i had two baby red eared sliders that somehow always escaped their taller aquarium/tank. one day i came home and both were missing. I looked and found one under my bed. The other I never found. a year and a half later I see my cat clawing at under the couch and sure enough the second turtle was there. 

If only my blue yabbie was as fortunate. earlier the same year my mom bought me an "AUSTRALIAN BLUE LOBSTER" because i had just started the hobby and was smitten with the creature. I had it a week and it ate half of my guppies and three or my neons. It molted and turned an odd brown-green color. I had it another three months and it molted a couple more times each time growing larger and returnng more and more blue. one night i wake up to hear my cat hissing at something. I threw a shoe at her to shut her up and went back to sleep. The next morning she has a little cut on her nose (probably got in a scuffle with the yabbie) but the yabbie was MIA. I searched and searched and finally found him in the bathroom (three rooms over) unfortunatley he was dred out and dead 

I've also had a red claw crab and fiddler crab in an aquarium. they need a lower water line to prevent them from escaping and if need be seal up any openings with some window screen or wire mesh material to prevent the Houdini within them from preforming the great disappearance act! 

-Brandon


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## underdog5004 (Feb 26, 2009)

aconrad said:


> Hey boosted, have you ever had problems with partial paralysis? Or a beardie that wouldnt move their back legs but could if needed, but only slightly kinda like a shake. I had a problem with impaction when I went out of town and left them with my mom, and he doesnt use his back legs now even though the female was worse with the impaction, pm me if you have any insight.


That sounds like Metabolic Bone Disorder, basically, a lack of calcium and UV light. Try dusting his food with calcium powder, with no phosphorus added. Try to get him into some real sunlight for a couple hours every day.


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## danieleric (Apr 5, 2009)

I have a few self cloning crayfish that are quite good at escaping as well!


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## Ulli Bauer (Nov 10, 2008)

You have marbled crays? Interesting. 

Cheers
Ulli


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## telstepien (Apr 30, 2009)

A couple months ago I had a crab like that in my tank and he managed to sqeeze himself out of any possible area to escape to freedom, but I always ended up finding him right under the tank. Well one day that wasnt the case. I didnt find him for about a month. 

I was cleaning under my bed and there he was (which scared the #### out of me when my face was three inches from his). But he wasn't... the same. As in.. he was kinda stale if you get the picture  ewww


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## phil_pl (Apr 10, 2009)

i had two of these crabs for about a week
they loved to sit in my filter but then one day i looked in there for them and they were gone, havent seen them since....that was two weeks ago


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## telstepien (Apr 30, 2009)

Sounds like you have a case of LIYBS (lost in your bedroom syndrome) . The worst part is, they dont smell, so you will never know where they are! I dont think there is much hope for yours :/ Check under a bed!


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## joncro55 (Jun 16, 2010)

I've also had a red claw crab and fiddler crab in an aquarium. they need a lower water line to prevent them from escaping and if need be seal up any openings with some window screen or wire mesh material to prevent the Houdini within them from preforming the great disappearance act! 

-Brandon[/QUOTE]


Maybe the guy who started this thread should use your idea with the wire mesh. I know the crabs like to get up into the filter for more air and thats basically where they always hang out, so why not put some wire mesh at some point in the filter so they dont get sucked in any part of it. Wire mesh will give them protection from getting sucked in and also a good place to grab onto and hang out.

Also, for those with escape artist pets, wire mesh if always the answer. I have had several pets over the last 20 years and every cage I have ever had had a wire mesh top.

I buy from a guy in New Jersey, 

Belleville Wire Cloth

They always have had the stuff that I need.


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## joncro55 (Jun 16, 2010)

Here is their website if anyone is interested in purchasing any mesh from them, just contact and they will get back to you.

Belleville Wire Cloth Co., Inc - Woven Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth | Stainless Steel Wire Mesh | Wire Cloth Strainer


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## squirrelcrusher (Sep 23, 2009)

For my crabs (two red claws) I bought a small glass fish bowl and tipped it over inside the tank. It is on its short side and filled with rocks and decorations. I also put an airline inside the bowl. That way there is an air bubble in the bowl with a dry spot on the decorations. 

Before when I've had crabs in the tank they always escaped. But since I added the underwater air dome I haven't had any run aways. These guys have been in the tank for 4-5 months now! Before they were in only a short time before escaping


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