Return of the horse shoe crab!!!

[NY_Carp_Sticker]

My horse shoe crab just came crawling out of the sand bed after a 3 month absence..... I thought he had been eaten! Plus he's twice the size he was! Is that normal, for them to disappear into the sandbed for months at a time? Or are they nocturnal, sleeping in the sandbed during the day?

My porcupine puffer wont stop following him around..... It's as though he's never seen him before, he's not trying to eat him, seems to be just curious, although I DID just feed him.... lol!
any ideas?
-Nick-

 

[Speckled Grouper]

Well, how about this:

My Horseshoe Crab disappeared and a few weeks later I found it's (what I thought) dead body floating.

Another few months went by and one night I am looking at the tank and see this gigantic Horseshoe crab happily crawling around....I think the look on my face must have been priceless!

When I bought him, he was the size of a quarter, when he reappeared he was easily 3" in diameter. He lived out the rest of his live in the sump.

 

[NY_Carp_Sticker]

yeah, same here, I bought mine when he was quarter size and found several molts until he disappeared (i'm sure there's several molts under my sandbed) now he's about 5in. across his (head?)

 

[Doc Hammer]

Horseshoe crabs are cool guys indeed. Anyways, yeah, it's pretty normal for them to spend most of their time in the substrate, mostly just scavenging on uneaten food and eating anything else that might be in the substrate. My guess is that he might have come out because he's probably reached sexual maturity and is looking for a girl!

 

[NY_Carp_Sticker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10053970#post10053970 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Doc Hammer
Horseshoe crabs are cool guys indeed. Anyways, yeah, it's pretty normal for them to spend most of their time in the substrate, mostly just scavenging on uneaten food and eating anything else that might be in the substrate. My guess is that he might have come out because he's probably reached sexual maturity and is looking for a girl!

NO!!!! He get's no girlfriend!! I don't need a billion little crabs running amuck! lol (dont they lay something like 3-4 thousand eggs?)

Well, he's gone again, spent about 2 hours out then went back under, (why did I buy him anyway?) OH YEAH!!! cuz he was on sale for $1 and I thought he'd make a nice snack for my porcupine puffer, but nope, he just wanted to watch him tool about hehe. A little off topic, but, my favorite is when my porcupine puffer goes to the filter out-put and swims agains the current and decides it would be a good time to puff up and plays pin ball around the tank in the flow, man it's funny, I just can't seem to catch him in the act w/ the video camera, you guys would love it! he bounces off everything, tank walls, live rock, then eventually gets caught in the flow of the powerhead and shoots him across the tank just to bounce off everything again!:lol:

 

[trae]

If you ever get a chance to go to North Carolina OuterBanks you can see how they actually live. and they are free bait when you surffish.

 

[NY_Carp_Sticker]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10055248#post10055248 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by trae
If you ever get a chance to go to North Carolina OuterBanks you can see how they actually live. and they are free bait when you surffish.

DUDE!!!! I sayed on the outerbanks for 2 summers with my grand parents! first in Kitty Hawk, second in Duck, the second year I worked at Tommy's Gourmet Market in Duck, lol, that was kinda creepy you said that hehe

 

[trae]

i know......................LOL i miss my home

 

[Str8baller]

I love my horseshoe crab! I love watching it swim upside down, quite amusing and funny