Vampire crab "Red" - Geosesarma noduliferum

The red-armed vampire cra b belongs to the crab species Geosesarma noduliferum "Red". The orange-red to bright red claws have given the red-armed vampire crab its name.  The Southeast Asian crab comes from the Indonesian island of Java. Like all vampire crabs, Geosesarma noduliferum "Red" is prized in terraristics for its beautiful colors, relative ease of husbandry and for its very active social life.

The red-armed vampire crab has beautiful legs colored in shades of purple in addition to orange-red to bright red claws. Their carapace is purple with a large light blue spot. Their bright orange-yellow eyes make a great contrast to the purple tones and red claw arms. With a carapace diameter of only 1 to 1.5 cm, the red-armed vampire crab does not grow very large for a Geosesarma species.  Males of the red-armed vampire crab carry a V-shaped abdominal flap under their abdomen, tapering to a point at the front. In females this is wider and rounded in a U-shape.

The red-armed vampire crab is a terrestrial crab. As a group animal, vampire crabs need to live with conspecifics of the same species. Please do not keep them singly! Geosesarma noduliferum "Red" does not fit in a terrarium with other crabs - Geosesarma noduliferum is perfect in a species terrarium.

A diversely furnished humid terrarium from 60 x 30 cm floor space is a good choice for a small group of 5-6 red-armed vampire crabs. There should be a surplus of females in the group, for example 2 males together with 3-4 females. Geosesarma noduliferum "Red" is well adapted to terrestrial life and needs only a relatively shallow, small water section with freshwater of about 10 cm depth - larger is possible, but not necessary. A water dish with several exit points is sufficient. Water hardness does not matter.

The red-armed vampire crab needs an air temperature of 20 to 26 °C and a humidity of about 80-90% in the humid terrarium. The substrate must be permanently moist, and in addition, daily spraying with a spray bottle in the morning and evening. A nebulizer is also suitable to keep the humidity high. Geosesarma noduliferum "Red", being an excellent climber, needs an absolutely escape-proof humid terrarium. Make sure that doors and ventilation plates close tightly without gaps.

Coco humus or terrarium humus is well suited as substrate for the humid terrarium. The substrate should be about 10 cm high and kept permanently moist. Geosesarma noduliferum "Red" creates short burrows in the substrate. Nevertheless you can plant the terrarium great - Geosesarma noduliferum "Red" eats as a pure carnivore no plants.  However, because the vampire crab burrows, perching plants are a particularly good choice for greening the terrarium.

The red-armed vampire crab belongs to the specialized reproductive type, which means that the female carries few rather large eggs in her abdominal flap. At the end of the gestation period, it releases fully developed small juvenile crabs, which immediately start exploring the terrarium on their own.

The young Geosesarma need many hiding places in the terrarium, because not only the adults are quite predatory. Also the small Geosesarma can be quite predatory among themselves. Therefore it is important to have tubes and lots of foliage and a varied setup in the terrarium. This will increase the chances of survival of the young animals decisively. A rearing terrarium for the young animals alone, without adult red-armed vampire crabs, increases the chances again. If you put the small Geosesarma as early as possible individually, the survival rate increases again significantly.

As a pure carnivore, the red-armed vampire crab likes frozen food, FD food such as freeze-dried insects and of course live food. White isopods and springtails are a great permanent source of live food for the terrarium, and incidentally the little crawlers also clean up food scraps and dead plant pieces. As a dry food, the special food for carnivorous crabs NatureHolic Crab Feed is highly recommended.