Red Apple AKA Chameleon Crab (Metasesarma aubryi)
- In stock, ready to ship
- Backordered, shipping soon
PLEASE READ: This species is a semi-terrestrial crab. NOT FULLY AQUATIC. Cannot be kept peacefully with vampire crabs.
The Red Apple Crab is a communal, semi-terrestrial crab whose color changes with its mood!
The Red Apple Crab (Metasesarma aubryi) is a small, very colorful, semi-terrestrial species that is native to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. It inhabits forest areas near streams, rivers, and ponds near coastal areas. It spends most of its time on land, but also often submerges in freshwater. It is communal with its own species, though males will sometimes fight in the confines of a smaller enclosure.
In nature, the Red Apple Crab lives in leaf litter and vegetation. In the paludarium, it requires ample land area. It typically will not eat healthy ornamental plants, but it will often help keep them clean and it may consume dead leaves. Like most crabs, it needs plenty of cover, especially when molting, so lots of decor is necessary. While it is communal with its own species, it might be aggressive with other types of crabs. It is a skilled climber, so extra care must be taken to ensure that it does not escape its enclosure.
Like most crabs, the Red Apple Crab is an omnivorous scavenger and an opportunistic hunter on occasion. It will feed on filamentous algae and detritus in the paludarium and will also readily accept high-quality fish foods. Fresh and dried vegetables and fruits are also excellent food sources, as are insects, worms, and other invertebrates. It reportetly prefers plant matter over animal matter. Due to its opportunistic nature, the Red Apple Crab might eat other ornamental invertebrates and fish, so its tankmates must be chosen with great care.
- Generally peaceful with its own species
- Fascinating behavior and beautiful coloration
- Ideal for paludariums
- Easy to feed
- Excellent scavenger
- Temperature: 75° - 82° F (24° - 28° C)
- pH: 7.5 - 8.0
- KH: 4 - 10 dKH
- Humidity: 75+%
- Minimum tank size: 5-10 gallons for a male and 2 females. Larger colonies require larger tanks.
- Diet: Omnivorous. High-quality sinking flakes and pellets, plants/algae, fruits, and freeze-dried or frozen meaty foods will be readily accepted. Cuttlebone or a similar material should be added to the aquarium to supplement calcium, which will aid in exoskeleton production
- Social behavior: Peaceful with its own species. May fight with or prey on other species.
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Origin: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand
- Average adult size: 2 inches (5 cm) or less
- Average purchase size: 1 - 2 inches (2.5 - 5 cm)
For the safety of our animals, we only ship live fish, crabs, and select other inverts exclusively via UPS 1 Day Air. If your order contains this item, you will only see UPS 1 Day Air as a shipping option during checkout. If other items are in your cart that can ship with 2 day or standard shipping options the only shipping method you can still select is UPS 1 Day Air.
UPS 1 Day is a description of the duration of time a shipment will spend in transit once it has been shipped. This does not guarantee the package will be shipped the same or next day from which the order was placed.
Shipping Schedule for this service
Current Handling Time:
1-9 business days
Here at Aquatic Arts, we consider the welfare of the live animals we are shipping to be of the foremost importance. This process is much more involved than simply creating a shipping label and affixing it to a box. Depending on the order, it takes from 4 to 7 people to complete this process properly. We check the weather conditions here where they fly out of the Indianapolis UPS facility and the destination for each shipment. We start early each morning and go through a multi-step process to have the day's shipments prepared in time for the UPS pickup. The volume of orders in our system also affects the processing time. Therefore our stated handling time is 1-9 business days.
Shipping Rate
Pricing is by size of package needed to fill entire order and distance it must travel. It will be calculated at checkout.
