The tank had been looking very boring and dingy with its lack of fake plants, so as part of a trial run for potential future products I chose a few new bits for it, stripped everything out and completely redid the decor after adding some extra substrate.
Of the original stuff the coconut hut, two pieces of cholla, ocean pool, cork bark cave and food dish remain. The net will be readded at some point after it recovers from being pulled down and buried the night before. The new items I picked out are two fake ficus sprays, two plastic grass sprays, a leafy stem with lilac flowers to add in extra colour, a new piece of mopani wood and two more cholla pieces from my stash.
First I removed the hermies (all were on surface) and all the items to allow me to stir up the substrate and add in some more sand, other than a load of buried shells there was nothing to remove like food items. Next came working out the cholla climbing area, with a stroke of luck the chunky branch I wanted to have level is a perfect fit to hold itself securely wedged flat halfway up the tank walls. I broke out the cable ties to add two smaller bits as ramps up to the balcony piece, one each side, and a smaller piece leading to halfway up the slightly thicker ramp. The natural holes in the cholla make threading through with cable ties possible without drilling, cutting out some of the work that may be required with normal branches.
The ficus sprig stems have been threaded through the bigger holes in the main cholla piece and bent around and fastened with more cable ties to make them very secure, and the branches bent as needed to create a leafy screen to give privacy and security to the hermies and encourage them to climb.
The ocean pool was set into its dip next and the sand around firmed down to help prevent it being tipped over to flood the tank, with shells and pebbles placed in the bottom as they were before to stop the two babies becoming stuck with the sloping sides.
The stems on the plastic grasses and flowers are easily bent at a right angle to be buried deep down and help keep them stable even if anybody burrows directly underneath, and the small mopani has been placed directly in front the grasses to add another climbing and privacy area.
After that the tray of cleaned shells, fresh water bowl, cork cave and coconut hide were all placed, and a new order of more small shells added to give the babies a wider choice.
The hermies seem to feel much more secure in the new layout and have been climbing and exploring almost non stop, even the shyer members of the colony. They seem to love the new plants so once they have been tested for a while longer the grasses and ficus sprays (variegated and solid colour) will be added to the store, and the green cable ties are already there.
As always Vandal was the first to check things out, the first test of the idea was with rose cuttings and a stem of thin bamboo (real bamboo, NOT the toxic "lucky bamboo" sold in homebase etc). He ended up demolishing the rose and only one leaf was left by the time the others started waking up so a night trip into the garden was needed and by morning that was all gone too. Clearly a success! I don't have any pictures of the bamboo sprig yet but within one night all leaves had been stripped off.
The hermies have been making the most of their new decor already. Valentina, one of the babies, has now changed into a shell big enough she can retreat right back to the point it looks empty.
This has not stopped her exploring, and shortly after being put back in the tank by the food dish she reappeared at the top of the cholla level, resting for a bit before climbing back down surprisingly gracefully.
Later that night one of the larges appeared on the cholla, but unlike Valentina he went for a less conventional way to rest. Ninja also put in a brief appearance at the bottom of the front cholla ramp before disappering into the cocohut for the night.
Stretching down with one leg still holding him up, the claws just reached the safety of the floor, and the front legs gained purchase on the shells below.
Making his way off to the food dish for a midnight snack.
The tank had been looking very boring and dingy with its lack of fake plants, so as part of a trial run for potential future products I chose a few new bits for it, stripped everything out and completely redid the decor after adding some extra substrate.
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Three of the six hermies have now moulted and resurfaced safely..jpg)
Today when I went to feed the crew I noticed something strange out of the corner of my eye. Somehow little ninja managed to climb up the smooth bamboo stake holding up one corner of the net level, by the single strand of twine each side, and was sleeping on top with a single leg hooked under the twine. No mean feat with a normal shell, with the sheer length of his it would have been even harder.
I snapped a couple of (blurry) pics then left him to it, after a while I noticed movement, at which point the little guy promptly fell off. They constantly amaze me with their climbing abilities, but the fails have to be laughed at.
This blog will be following the progress and exploits of my 6 strong Coenobita violascens colony. Picked from ones for sale at the SEAS invertebrate expo after months of preparation, there were four larges midway though colour transition in very battered shells from the Achatina genus and two tiny ones still sporting their vivid baby colours.
