Live plants for crabitat

Looking around at crabitats online I’ve noticed something a bit peculiar: there are rarely any live plants in the habitats. Most of the decorations are plastic vines from the pet store. I am a firm believer of making the environment for pets as close to the real-deal as possible. For crabs, this not only means emulating the temperature, humidity, and substrate, maintaining a proper daytime/nighttime balance, but also providing the vegetation and foods they encounter most often in their natural environment.

So I started looking into possible candidates to try planting in the crabitat. Luna and Lucas said they’re ready to go green!

While researching and trying to find tropical plants that like high humidity and temperatures, I was at the beach one day and literally walked all over the perfect candidate. Seriously, you cannot escape these things if you’re around a sandy area in California. They’re (confusingly) called Ice Plants. There are many different species that vary a tad in appearance and can be found in different areas around the globe, but the one predominantly found around my area is called Carpobrotus edulis. It is a perennial species with meaty, triangular leaves, and pink, yellow, or white flowers.

The species is native to the coasts of South Africa, but it was introduced in the United States originally along coastal highways to stabilize blowing dunes. It grows quickly and expands into a dense mat covering a vast area in very little time, which is why it is considered an invasive species.

What’s interesting about it is that its optimal growing preferences are very well matched with most crabitat conditions. It thrives off of nutrient-lacking soil, so those of us crab enthusiasts with a sand substrate, this is the plant for you. I can’t say if it would be suitable for an eco-earth substrate, as I have only tried it in sand.

I must say, it thrives in my crabitat. The original cutting that I planted tripled in size in 2 weeks. The crabs seem to like climbing on it and balancing along the top of the leaves. They’ve snipped off a leaf or two but don’t seem interested in eating it.

If you’re wondering about toxicity – “Is it safe if my crabs eat it?” – you don’t have to look further than its name to find out. Carpobrotus is derived from the Greek, karpos, meaning “fruit”, and brotos, meaning “edible”. If you’re still not convinced, edulis, also means “edible”.