Vampire crab "Mandarin White Arm" - Geosesarma notophorum

The Mandarin White Arm Vampire C rab or White Handed Mandarin Crab is pretty much a color variant of the species Geosesarma notophorum. Geosesarma notophorum from Southeast Asia is a popular vampire crab in terraristics because it is so colorful.

The White-handed Mandarin Crab is strikingly colored dark red-orange on the abdomen and legs, the upper side of the carapace is purple to whitish, and the claw arms are beige to white. From the front, the Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab looks really funny with its bright green eyes and purple markings between the eyes. With a carapace diameter of about 2.5 to 3 inches, the Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab is a rather large geosesarma.  Males of the White Arm Vampire Crab can be reliably identified by their tapered, V-shaped abdominal flap, while the abdominal flap of females resembles an upside-down U.

The Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab belongs to the specialized reproductive type. The females lay relatively few, but very large eggs. At the end of the gestation period, they do not hatch into larvae as in crabs with primitive reproductive strategies, but into fully developed young crabs that can wiggle off directly and do not need a larval stage in the water. In a sufficiently large aquaterrarium with many hiding places, foliage and a generally varied setup, juvenile crabs can grow large, although the adults as well as the juvenile crabs themselves are quite cannibalistic. In an appropriately furnished rearing terrarium and with early separation of the animals one brings naturally accordingly more crabs through.

The Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab is socially inclined. As a group animal these Geosesarma should not be kept singly. Please do not socialize Geosesarma notophorum "White Arm" with other invertebrates, including other Geosesarma species or variants of the same species.

A small group consists of 5-6 Mandarin White Arm crabs, ideally with excess females - for example, 2 males with 3-4 females. For this group size, a humid terrarium with a footprint of 60x30 cm or larger fits really well. Geosesarma notophorum "Mandarin White Arm" is well adapted to terrestrial life and does not depend on a deep water part. In the terrarium you should therefore offer it a maximum 10 cm high bowl, which is filled with fresh water. The water hardness does not matter. Especially during molting the small land crabs like to sit in the water. Please pay attention to exit possibilities!

The ground in the crab terrarium should consist of coco humus or terrarium humus. It must be permanently moist and piled up at least 10 cm high. This allows the White Arm Crabs to create short living burrows in the substrate. The terrarium for Geosesarma notophorum can still be planted well, perching plants do not suffer from the burrowing activities of the Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab. Because these Geosesarma land crabs are pure carnivores and not herbivores, there are no restrictions on planting.

Air temperature should be between 20 and 26 °C, humidity around 80-90%. Spraying should be done twice a day in the humid terrarium, alternatively, of course, a nebulizer can be used. Geosesarma sp. "Mandarin White Arm" is an active climber and quite resourceful when it comes to ways out of the terrarium, so the doors and ventilation panels must close absolutely gapless and tight.

The Mandarin White Arm Vampire Crab likes mainly meaty food and does not go for plants. We recommend for daily feeding, in addition to frozen food, FD food (freeze-dried insects, for example) and live food in the form of white isopods or springtails, gladly a food specially composed according to the needs of carnivorous crabs. Some brown autumn leaves are always advantageous in the terrarium, especially as permanent food for the isopods and spring tails, but also as hiding place for the land crabs. Woodlice and springtails are not only live food, but also take care of leftover food.