How to Raise Soft-Shell Crabs

A soft-shell crab is actually just a common blue crab that has recently molted. When eating seafood, typically blue crab is what you would find in diners and turns red when you boil it. Blue crabs are alert animals and will respond to you. During their growth, the blue crab sheds its hard exoskeleton leaving a soft-shelled crab. It is extremely difficult to get the crab at this point because if it is not eaten by others, the hard shell begins to grow back.

Things You'll Need

  • Large Aquarium (minimum 10 gallons per crab)
  • Dirt and Aquarium Pebbles
  • Plants
  • Water
  • Blue Crab
  • Dead Fish or other food
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Instructions

  1. Raising a Soft-Shelled Crab

    • 1

      Cover the bottom of the aquarium with dirt and pebbles. It needs to be thick enough for the crab to have room to hide under its surface. It should also be uneven so that when water is added to the tank, the crab can be completely submerged or on dry ground.

    • 2

      Place plants in the dirt giving more areas for the crab to hide. The crab will eat live plants so they will need to be replaced.

    • 3

      Fill part of aquarium with a small amount of slightly salty water giving the crab a swimming area. The water temperature should be kept at 72 degrees F. The pH balance should be between 6 to 8 to maintain life.

    • 4

      Feed the crab dead fish or any other dead seafood, such as shrimp or oysters.

    • 5

      Watch for the crab to shed its outer shell as the shell turns green 14 to 50 days prior to molting. Crabs go through the molting stage several times throughout their lives, but it is during this stage it is considered a soft-shell crab.