Will Sallylight foot crabs Breed In a tank?

[joe4117]

Hi Im still kinda new on this. But I have 4 Sallylightfoot crabs. 3 large to med size females,and 1 med/small Male. I was the first night i put him in my tank. when about 2 am I turned on the lights and i noticed the female biggest was on top and the male had her gripped
up hanging upside down underneath her and the male made these Back and forth motions, well then they noticed me spying on them and split. but the male went on for about 10 more mins to try to catch her again. so my question is
1. will they breed in a tank
2. how long does it take for the female to show signs of being pregnent/show eggs.
3. does or will she carry them like most crabs in a pouch.
4.will they survive with 3 starfish about 10 green crabs,and a bunch of snails and scarlet hermits?? Thankyou. :happyfish

 

[joe4117]

Man I must ask too hard of questions i have now posted a total of 4 things and only ever recieved 1 answer in this forum. i am starting to hold doubts here. Please If someone knows anything Please reply.

 

[stanlalee]

I dont have the answer but I've googled about 20 different sally lightfoot profiles (not including the 100 land dwelling true sally lightfoot species sifted out) and the most information I could find was "difficult" with no specific info. usually when a species breeds easily or regularly in captivity info is easy to find so I wouldn't count on it happening.

 

[toyshika]

Originally Posted by joe4117
Hi Im still kinda new on this. But I have 4 Sallylightfoot crabs. 3 large to med size females,and 1 med/small Male. I was the first night i put him in my tank. when about 2 am I turned on the lights and i noticed the female biggest was on top and the male had her gripped
up hanging upside down underneath her and the male made these Back and forth motions, well then they noticed me spying on them and split. but the male went on for about 10 more mins to try to catch her again. so my question is
1. will they breed in a tank
2. how long does it take for the female to show signs of being pregnent/show eggs.
3. does or will she carry them like most crabs in a pouch.
4.will they survive with 3 starfish about 10 green crabs,and a bunch of snails and scarlet hermits?? Thankyou. :happyfish

This is to funny. Stop spying on your animals when their trying to get some cookies!

Let's see....if any create is able to breed in the tank, you have to think about what is living in the tank that could eat the eggs or young. With the clean up crew in many of tanks, this is the reason why something wouldn't survive. Not sure which Starfish you have, but I have two Choc. Chip. I'm sure between them and the snails and such, any eggs left anywhere would be dinner you know? I don't have the answers to the other questions. Sometimes, we get the mating game confused with just normal play between the animals. Last night, I thought my Hermit Crabs were mating, but come to find out, he killed him and stole his shell. Now, I had empty ones in there, but he wanted the other one I guess. OH WELL! It's life in nature...
GL

 

[celacanthr]

I haven't found anything on the mating habits, not even in reports about their natural lifestyle.
I am sure it has happened, but I assume the fry are next to impossible to raise.
Interestingly, most of those reports i was talking about, mentioning that they are somewhat symbiotic with Diadema. they will hide under their spines for protection.
HTH