Humane method to kill gorilla crabs?

[ThunderGoose]

Yep, I have two gorilla crabs that are currently in my sump and refugium. Unfortunately I need that space for other "problem" critters that I would rather have than these crabs (Dexter the serial killing hermit crab in particular). But I'm a big softie and I want to deal with them humanely. Any advice?

 

[Dsnakes]

In a dish in the freezer is a common one

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Find someone with a puffer or triggerfish tank, freeze it in the freezer, or relegate it to it's own system (make it like a nuisance critter themed tank or something )

 

[samnaz]

Freezing seems slow and painful though, what about a pot of boiling water?

 

[Dsnakes]

Freezing seems slow and painful though, what about a pot of boiling water?

puts them to sleep
better include some butter and old bay in the pot

 

[Victoria M]

Does clove oil work on crabs?

 

[Treyp05]

Cant get faster then a hammer. Seems humane when I smack a mosquito on my arm. Smash it small enough and put in a zip lock bag with a little water and freeze. Then you could feed him back to your tank to not waste anything.

 

[dede]

Give them away, bring them back to LFS.

 

[Gil03]

I think you're in the wrong hobby if "Humane" is a paramount interest of yours lol.

 

[Whiskeyboy84]

If you have kids hook them up with their very own predator tank and let these two be the first residents! Kids love watching violence.

 

[Greybeard]

Find someone with a puffer or triggerfish tank

I have a friend with a foot long spiny puffer... I can assure you, he'd put a quick end to a gorilla crab

 

[tsav87]

SMASH. It's over. lol

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I think you're in the wrong hobby if "Humane" is a paramount interest of yours lol.

I categorically disagree. There's nothing about reef aquarium keeping that's inherently inhumane. Animals can actually live much longer in captivity than they can in the wild due to improved care and lack of predation. Sure, people can intentionally or unintentionally do things that are not conducive to animal health, but that's a separate issue. On a whole, I believe that reefers see their fish and corals as their pets and treat them as a member of their family. If you do your best to provide a reasonable facsimile of the animal's natural habitat, I wouldn't call that inhumane at all.

 

[K. Steven]

Why kill them? Bring them to a store or post on a local forum. Someone will take them.

 

[McMullen]

@chipmunkofdoom2, I'm on the fence here. There is nothing natural about keeping animals in a glass box.
I used to love going to the zoo, but as an adult it honestly seems sad to me. Sure, lots of arguments about education, awareness, ect, but the animals inside the box........they often are shells. I think if you were to look at the hobby as a whole, not the minority whom take great strides to provide as close to natural home as possible, you'll see mostly sub par and sometimes inhumane husbandry.

Oh and I vote hammer. A forceful hammer impact should be quick and virtually painless.

 

[Gil03]

I categorically disagree. There's nothing about reef aquarium keeping that's inherently inhumane. Animals can actually live much longer in captivity than they can in the wild due to improved care and lack of predation. Sure, people can intentionally or unintentionally do things that are not conducive to animal health, but that's a separate issue. On a whole, I believe that reefers see their fish and corals as their pets and treat them as a member of their family. If you do your best to provide a reasonable facsimile of the animal's natural habitat, I wouldn't call that inhumane at all.

The intent to keep our inhabitants in the best environment possible for their health is not in question however the reality says different...like someone else stated there's nothing natural about swooping up fish/corals from the ocean to be put in a petri dish IMO. At the end of the day coral/fish/inverts dying in a glass box for whatever reason will never be natural imo.

As far as the crab goes I'm sure some lfs would take it in.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

@chipmunkofdoom2, I'm on the fence here. There is nothing natural about keeping animals in a glass box.
I used to love going to the zoo, but as an adult it honestly seems sad to me. Sure, lots of arguments about education, awareness, ect, but the animals inside the box........they often are shells. I think if you were to look at the hobby as a whole, not the minority whom take great strides to provide as close to natural home as possible, you'll see mostly sub par and sometimes inhumane husbandry.

Oh and I vote hammer. A forceful hammer impact should be quick and virtually painless.

The trouble with this logic is that it allows for some very dangerous mental math. If it's inhumane to keep fish in a glass box, why then do we need to provide tangs with lots of swimming space? Keeping them at all is inhumane right? How then is keeping three tangs in a 240g more humane than keeping three tangs in a 29g? They're both inhumane.. by your logic, the 240g is just a bit less inhumane than the 29g.

It's also important to note that marine ornamental fish are not humans or primates. To understand that they are in a glass box and not in the ocean (to be sad or "shells" as you put it), they would have to have self-awareness. Self-awareness is a psychological characteristic almost exclusive to higher-order primates. I don't mean to say that we can treat fish poorly because they don't know any better: every possible effort should be taken to provide fish with accommodations similar to that which they would find in the wild. I just think it's naive to assume that fish have the same awareness and perception that we do.

While no industry is perfect, especially if it deals with live animals, I think it's really a stretch to assert that most marine animals in this hobby are mistreated. If that is truly your opinion, you are doing all those animals a disservice and are participating in their mistreatment by continuing to practice this hobby. I am on these forums because while I do believe this hobby is imperfect, I don't believe the problem is inherent to the nature of marine aquarium keeping, and I do believe animal health and well-being can be improved. I do not participate in things that I believe are inherently inhumane if I can avoid them.

Sorry to threadjack @ThunderGoose I would probably try to give them to a LFS or fellow reefer. If that's not an option, hammer or freeze would be best.

 

[Mark Gray]

A 45 will work quick but take them out of your sump first

 

[Gordon Cashmore]

put on Craigslist

 

[Reefer_Rob]

Another vote for LFS