Vampire crab "Purple Haze" - Geosesarma spec.

The Purple Haze vampire crab belongs to an as yet undetermined species of crab in the genus Geosesarma. We therefore list this pretty land crab as Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze". The Purple Haze vampire crab comes from the Southeast Asian region. Vampire crabs are highly valued in terraristics due to their unusual colors, relatively easy keeping and active social life.

The Purple Haze Vampire Crab is colored in shades of purple. Their bright yellow eyes stand out nicely against the brightly colored claw arms and dark purple legs. On the back, the Purple Haze Vampire Crab is light purple to bluish in color. With a carapace diameter of about 1 to 2 cm, the Purple Haze Vampire Crab is also rather small for a Geosesarma species.  You can recognize the males of the Purple Haze Geosesarma by their V-shaped belly pouch that tapers to a point at the front. The belly pouch of the female Purple Haze Vampire C rab, on the other hand, looks like an upside down U.
The Purple Haze Vampire Crab belongs to the land crabs. Geosesarma land crabs belong to the specialized reproductive type. Females carry only a few rather large eggs in their abdominal valve until fully developed small juvenile crabs hatch at the end of the gestation period, which they release. After release, the small Geosesarma go directly on their own to explore the terrarium.

The terrarium for rearing the young must be sufficiently large and equipped with many hiding places for the young crabs. The small Geosesarma are grateful for tubes and lots of foliage. The more varied you set up the terrarium, the better the survival chances of the young animals. Young Geosesarma are cannibalistic among each other, and also the adults predate a young animal from time to time. In a rearing terrarium without adult Purple Haze vampire crabs, the chances of getting as many juvenile crabs through as possible are increased. If you put the small Geosesarma as early as possible individually, the survival rate is again significantly higher.

The small Purple Haze Vampire Crab is a group animal that needs interaction with conspecifics and should definitely not be kept singly. Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze" you should not socialize with other crabs, also not with other species from the genus Geosesarma. In a species terrarium this vampire crab is perfect.

A well set up humid terrarium with a footprint of 60 x 30 cm or larger is suitable as a home for a small group of 5-6 Purple Haze crabs. A surplus of females in the group is ideal. you can keep 2 males well together with 3-4 females. Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze" is a land crab and does not need a deep water part because of its good adaptation to land life. A 10 cm high water bowl with fresh water is sufficient, a larger water part is possible, but not necessary. Make sure that there are enough exit possibilities. The water hardness does not matter.

The air temperature in the humid terrarium for the Purple Haze Vampire Crab is ideally between 20 and 26 °C, the humidity should be about 80-90%. To keep the humidity so high permanently, you should spray daily in the morning and evening in addition to the permanently moist substrate or use a nebulizer. Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze" is a good climber and finds its way out of the terrarium actively. Doors and ventilation panels must therefore always close tightly without gaps.

As substrate for your crab terrarium for Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze" you best use coco humus or terrarium humus, which should be about 10 cm high and kept permanently moist. This way you keep the humidity in the terrarium high enough and the Purple Haze Crabs can build their small living caves in the substrate. Geosesarma sp. "Purple Haze" does not eat plants, so you can plant and scape the terrarium beautifully. Perching plants are especially good because they are not affected by the digging activities of the Purple Haze Vampire Crab.

The Purple Haze Vampire Crab is a carnivore. Frozen foods, FD foods such as freeze-dried insects , and of course live foods are suitable for daily feeding. White isopods or springtails are suitable as a permanent source of live food in the terrarium and also clean up uneaten food and dead plant parts. A good special food for carnivorous crabs like NatureHolic Crab Feed is also highly recommended.