Burrow and behavior in O. scyllarus

[DanInSD]

Hi, I just got a gorgeous O. scyllarus a few days ago. I provided a PVC burrow made of 1.5" PVC and a few 45 degree connectors.

"Thumper" found the burrow immediately and spent the night cleaning out sand and "decorating" with shells 'n' stuff. However, the burrow appears to be too narrow for him/her (haven't figured that one out yet...) to turn around in, so it spends most of it's time with it's telson sticking out one end (even though the tube is several body lengths long). [Side question: is this normal? ]

How wide do you O.s. keepers make the burrows? Looks like it needs another 1/2 inch or so to do a "flip turn" -- so maybe 2.5"?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Gonodactylus]

How long is the animal. I have a 5 cm O. scyllarus that lives in a 3/4" ID tube and a 16 cm one that requires a 3" ID tube which is a tight fit.

Roy

 

[DanInSD]

Dr. Roy, the animal is approximately 4.5" long. I will upgrade to a 3" tube if that's what he's going to eventually need.

Many thanks, I'm a huge fan of yours.

Dan

 

[Gonodactylus]

The grow slowly. I would try 2.5".

Roy

 

[esco]

hi, fellow san diegan here too!

my 10 cm o. scyllarus didn't take to 1.5'' PVC ... he can poke in, but can't "twist" out.

so my PVC burrow i made for him is pretty much empty most of the time. he has made himself a nice burrow right next to it though

it's fun to watch her construct and move sand around in her burrow. i placed maybe 10-15 pieces of LR rubble ranging from 2cm to 6cm and she's used every single piece in building her burrow. fascinating creatures!