A long trip transport and a few days storage...

[Alex Gonzalez]

Hello all!

Well... like i told you in my presentation, im working with behavior of Callinectes sapidus and is time to get some crabs from the field...

I read some papers about transporting of this animals, and few of them say i can transport them in ice, the metabolism of this animals comes slower so they will not move or attack or such things that is very good. The problem is that i read it cant use this method for a long period without a constant temperature so...

I want to transport at least 100 swimming crabs from Laguna Madre, San Fernando, Tamaulipas, México that is like 8-10hours far from the facility i'll bring them, im going to travel in a school bus not climated, ill aconditionate it with 3 pools 2x3m and 50cm deep, i NEED to bring the soil and water from Laguna Madre (another study) (but i can put them in another place). I can fill all the 3 pools with ice (tritured ice with salt or without it) but i dont think ill success with the transport... i think ill have a lot of deads heh, because 8-10 hours without climated system, with temperatures at 30-40ºC... i dont think will work for me... :S

And is not only the transport... ill be there collecting for 5 days, i have a camp there but i have NOTHING but a tent, food and such things, the containers and maybe few more containers not as big as that ones, but nice, i have some solar water pump so there is no problem about the oxigen, i can find some food for them, but i dont know what more i need to keep them happy and unstressed, and of course, without the necesity of the canibalism heh.

Here in the Facillity i have the perfect conditions to store them, so thats not a problem, but the transport... is the most important and to worry about...


But i learned that is very different what someone said in a paper than the reallity, so... you all have a LOT of experience with the transport & storage so i think some of you will have a very good prespective of this, and will help me heh


Regards!


Alex.

[Dreampixels]

I would begin with a collection of good hard crabs. Give them the pinch test we talk about on here. Under the points near the body pinch them to see if there is any flex in the under shell when you do this. Only keep the hardest, they will have the best chance to return home alive.

For the five day stay collect them on the last day, or make some type of holding pen the keep them in the water. You will need to feed them and the higher the population in the holding pen the higher the mortality rate will become.

For the 8 to 10 hour drive, keep them as cool as possible with ice. Use a rack system to keep the crabs out of the melted ice water and allow the water to drain off. Also allow air to naturally enter the container so they can breath, do not expose them to the rushing air of travel as this will dry out the gills and kill them.

Lots of us transport our crabs in coolers with a bag of ice on top, the lid cracked and the water draining off. It is possible to keep them over night or a day with out too high of dead loss.

Main thing is COOL, MOIST, NOT IN ANY WATER, and AIR to BREATH.