Draft:Howie the Crab

The following information was taken directly from http://www.howiethecrab.com:

"'The most loved crab on earth.'

Frequently Asked Questions:

'Most asked question this week: How long until Howie molts again? I am estimating she will need to molt again in 10 months. That would put her next molt around May 2025'

What type of crab is Howie? Cardisoma Armatum commonly known as a rainbow, patriot, or a soapdish crab.

How old is Howie? She will be 9 June 24th (I've given her a birthday midsummer by estimation)

How long have you had Howie? Since 2016

How old was she when you got her? Howie was approximately 1 year old when we got her.

How big was she when you got her? Howie was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand!

Is Howie in salt or fresh water? Howie's species does best with fresh water so her tank contains fresh dechlorinated and treated water. They can tolerate brackish but they seek out freshwater sources as adults.

Why does Howie have a boys name? We didn't know her gender when we named her. By the time we figured out that Howie was female, we decided it was too late to change her name so we kept it.

How do you know that Howie is female? Her species is gendered by their stomach plates. A wide abdomen signifies that she is female. Males have narrow triangular abdomens. Howie is for sure female!

Don't male crabs have one large claw? Both genders of her species have one large claw for defense and one for dexterity.

Why doesn't Howie have any tank mates or other crab friends? Howie's species is solitary by nature. They are known for being aggressive and cannibalistic. She does best and is safest by herself.

What is Howie's origin story? Sorry, not a cool story...my daughter chose her instead of a replacement beta fish when she was in kindergarten from an aquatic pet store.

Why does she wear hats? A lot of people are afraid of crabs. Hats help make people feel at ease when they watch our videos. Giving any animal a hat makes it 1000% cuter...it's science lol

How do you keep her hats on? I use small pieces of gentle tape. I specifically choose kinds that come off easily and cleanly.

Isn't Howie scared when you take her out of her tank and go places? No, Howie is very much used to traveling and going places. I can tell by her body posture that she is not afraid. Scared crabs run, scramble, and fight when they're scared. They also might curl up into a defensive ball. You will see in our videos that her eyes are up and she is slowly walking around and exploring. If you see a video where she is moving fast ,it's because she's slow and I will speed up the video 5x-10x to reduce the duration of the video but still show how far she walked. I take great care and concern in how Howie feels in a situation.

Has she ever pinched you? Yes, but only once on accident many years ago during a feeding. I call it "The great pinch" Crab pinches are no joke. They are painful and can cause damage. Howie is typically very gentle, but when she's in a bad mood, I don't press my luck. I give her respect and space when she doesn't want to be handled.

What is her lifespan? The average lifespan in the wild is 2-3 years. 3-5 years in captivity with the species maximum lifespan of 8 years.

Don't they live for 15 years? No, that's information about blue land crabs. The information I have is compiled from other rainbow crab owners and educational sources. A lot of information online is written by hobbyists for ad revenue on pet websites and is not always the best source of valid information. There is a lot of confusion of information between the species cardisoma armatum and cardisoma guanhumi because they have many physical similarities.

Could Howie live beyond 8 years? Anything is possible under the right conditions. There are always outliers when it comes to data. Howie is healthy and well cared for and we are hoping that she will!

Is she the type of crab I see in Florida (blue land crab cardisoma guanhumi)? No, Howie's species comes from the West Coast of Africa. They are related. Howie does often get confused for a blue land crab because her red coloration and vibrant eyes have faded away with age.

What is molting? In order for crabs to grow, they must shed their exoskeletons (shell) and grow a new larger one. It is a very complicated process and I suggest doing a quick google search for pictures videos to help explain the process.

How often do crabs molt? When crabs are small, they molt often. In the beginning, its about every 8 weeks. As crabs age, it is less often. Howie's last molt spanned 8 months start to finish.

How many times has she molted? Howie has molted more times than I can count. She molted very frequently when she was little and I stopped keeping track. I'd estimate more than 20 times.

Does it hurt her when she's molting? Yes, I can safely assume that it's uncomfortable and painful for her. She is undergoing separation from shell and she does have nerves and sensation in all parts of her body. She is experiencing a lot of discomfort. There's a reason why crabs are more aggressive when they need to molt.

Why isn't she eating? Can't you just force feed her? This question pertains to when Howie is in premolt and not eating. Depending on when you're reading this, it might not be a current issue These two questions are asked a lot. People find it very distressing when pets aren't eating. Howie is regrowing her mouth parts, esophagus, stomach lining, intestines, and gills. A film forms between her new old shell and old shell blocking her mouth. This information is not commonly known even in the scientific community. Howie trusted me enough last year to stick a digital otoscope into her mouth during her last molt. I was so upset that she wasn't eating for so long, I wanted to find out the reason. To my surprise, there was a very big reason. I can only assume the film forms to protect her newly forming parts. I submitted my recordings to people within the scientific community for additional study and peer review. So no, it would be dangerous to try to force feed foods or liquid.

How long can she go without eating? Most sources will say up to 2 weeks. During Howie's last molt, she went an astonishing 45 days without eating! So I know she can go at least that long.

Do you still give her food? Yes, always. No matter what, I make sure that she has food available.

When will she molt? I am estimating the molt will be after April 15th as her progress is being very slow. This is an estimate only and I will be giving updates on my social media as necessary and let everyone know if that changes.

Can't you help her molt? No, its a delicate process in which she has to separate from her old shell, nerves, and vital organs. It is dangerous to interfere with a crab during the molting process. They are soft and can easily break apart and die. Luckily for us, Howie doesn't mind if I watch and she's very comfortable with my presence.

How long does the molt take? There are two parts to this answer. Howie goes through a premolt stage. She starts out eating less frequently and will begin to skip meals. Then, she will eventually stop eating. Finally, she will actually molt and push her way out of her old shell. Premolt can last months. The actual act of the molt only takes from 30 minutes to 3 hours. Young crabs do all of this much faster. Now that Howie is old, this process is very long.

Why is everyone worried about her next molt? If you're just now following, Howie's last molt was very difficult on her. Since Howie is so old we are all worried. 90% of crabs die during molts or from failure to molt. The larger she becomes the longer it takes to regenerate her mouth parts, esophagus, stomach lining, intestines, and gills. During this time, she doesn't eat and will solely rely on stored calories and she must still have enough energy left to make it through the actual molt. It is a race against time to regenerate her body before she starves. But other problems can occur during the actual molt resulting in molt failure and death. Such things as parts of her body not regenerating properly.

Has Howie ever lost a claw or a leg? No, Howie has never sustained any injuries in my care.

What's wrong with her eyes? 'you will see this issue in older videos. But as time passes, this will happen again as she gets closer to her next molt' If you've noticed that Howie's eyes looked cracked, you're right! Because she's so old, the most fragile parts of her shell are not making it in between molts. The thin shell over her eye is delicate and cracks have formed. This is all normal and due to her age related decline. Over the past 3 years, Howie has had issues with her eyes cracking. This is self repairing with each molt. (You will notice how much she improved after her molt. Howie looks much better now.)

Can she see? Yes, even though her vision is slightly reduced from the cracks in her shell, she can still see.

Can crabs see color? Yes, she can see color. You might be asking yourself, well how to you really know? Howie has a strong preference for red bell peppers. I can present red, yellow, orange, and green bell pepper and she will immediately choose red without tasting. I also had to desensitize her to her ball pit balls. I had to spend time getting her comfortable with each color ball!

Does she recognize you? Yes, she recognizes faces, foods, and objects. I oftentimes find her staring at me from across the room or searching for me if she can't find me.

How does she react to other people? Howie does not like people she doesn't recognize. Typically, if I am with her and holding her, she will accept onlookers but not being touched or pet by a stranger.

What do people think when they see you walking your pet crab? Honestly a lot of my neighbors avoid me. We have a quiet neighborhood where everyone keeps to themselves. If someone does stop to say something, they just ask if she's a crab because they're not sure what they're seeing. A few people will stop and ask questions from time to time, but every reaction has been positive.

Why do you use a leash, isn't she slow enough to catch? I use a leash for her safety and the safety of others. I do not want Howie to run into the street or down a sewer. I also like being able to keep her close and prevent her from pinching other people and animals. If Howie is enjoying herself, she doesn't always want to be picked up. So if an emergency should occur, I don't want to have to catch her. The way I put on her leash, it also functions as a harness to prevent drops and falls.

Doesn't she need water to survive? Yes and no. Howie has modified gills that breathe air. But in order for them to function, she must be hydrated. She is a land crab that has adapted to breathe air in a humid environment. Luckily, Nebraska is very humid and she does well when outside when the weather is cooperating. I also never let her go long without access to water for her own personal comfort.

How long can she go without water? Approximately 24-48 hours. Like any animal, they need access to water for hydration.

How long can she stay submerged under water? Howie can go a couple of hours under water if she is stationary. If she is moving around and playing, she will pop up for air every 1 or 2 minutes.

Why is there so much water in her tank if she's a land crab? Howie's tank is a unique set-up tailored to what she loves best. Howie loves to swim and bask! Her species typically prefers to burrow but Howie would always sit in the water. In the beginning, she would pitifully sit in her water dish all day. Gradually we began giving her more water in her tank until we found what she liked best. Trust me guys, cleaning and draining water is a big hassle and we aren't doing it "wrong" on purpose. We do full water changes which results in us draining out 30-35 gallons and then filling it again with a fresh 30-35 gallons. That's haulding 60-70 gallons each tank clean which we do every other week.

What does her species eat? Her species typically eats fruit and vegetables. They only require protein weekly. Her digestive system works best with a heavy plant based diet with a weekly protein. Too much protein can be bad for them.

Why does Howie eat cheese? Once upon a time when my daughter was little, she shared her string cheese with Howie unbeknownst to me. By the time I found out, Howie would not give up her cheese. She fought to keep it! So I let her finish it. Nothing happened other than Howie was happy. Weeks later, I was curious to see if she would accept cheese again. She squeaked with excitement! I had never seen her react in such a way to a food. It became one of her favorite treats.

Why do you feed her nothing but "treats"? What you see on social media, is only 1 minute of Howie's day. I don't show the boring parts of her day when she's unexcitedly picking at lettuce or kale. She receives a large variety of healthy foods. Howie will get sad and bored of repeat meals and refuse to eat. I've found that offering a wide variety with occasional treats seems to keep her the happiest.

Does Howie have emotions? Yes, she does. She feels happiness, fear, boredom, curiosity, frustration, anticipation, and trust. She is capable of many complex emotions. You may not believe that until you really start watching her videos to see that crabs are capable of so much more than we ever knew.

How did you train her to high five and use sign language? Howie loves reaching out and touching my hands. So I encouraged it and now she understands when I put my hand out, I want a gentle tap. I do not use rewards or withhold food. As for sign language, I began using it to communicate with her when I fed her. I would tap my mouth to encourage her to eat. It took a long time, but she began signing back to ask for food. So on her own, she learned how to communicate her needs. We are still working on the sign for "more" and there will be times you see her tap her mouth with both claws at once. She is trying to sign "more food" but hasn't quite distinguished the two words by the vibration from my voice.

Why does her color seem to change? I get this question a LOT! Howie is brown on top and blue at eye level. Her coloration greatly depends on lighting and angles. In fact, her blue is an optical illusion created by "Crustacyanin"; a carotenoprotein biological pigment found in the exoskeleton of lobsters and responsible for their blue color. She is bluest under her LED aquarium lights and she looks pretty drab from above while she's walking around the house under regular lighting. As for any coloration differences from year to year, she has been slowly losing her reddish orange hues and has becoming more brown. Over the few years I've been updating cameras, lighting, and equipment in an effort to show her best shades of blue! To anyone who thinks Howie has been repeatedly replaced, she's not. You can't even get her species in the US anymore let alone train a new crab to do all the unique things that Howie does. So that's not even a possibility!

Do you eat crabs? No, I'm allergic to fish and shellfish. I also grew up in a household where two other family members are allergic too. Crab, shellfish, and fish have never been on the menu. I have never viewed them as a food source.

Will you get another crab when Howie dies? This question is a painful one. I've spent a long time thinking about it. Howie is unique and I've spent years forming our relationship. It will be difficult to carry on. A lot of people have told me they would love to continue watching me care for another crab. While I haven't fully made up my mind, if I did, I might need some time to heal before I look for another crab. Right now, I'm hoping to break the odds and get more time with Howie."