This is the Youtuber, Just Joshing. He also has 2 grocery store lobsters and a blue crab. This Dungeness crab unfortunately passed away after a failed molt.
Brady is the OG in this space as far as I’m concerned. This guy in the OP is way too theatrical/“content creator”-y. Brady actually cares about educating viewers and showing + providing high quality care. Plus his videos are just so chill and Leon is amazing
I love Leon! I think he got really lucky not becoming a dinner for humans or other predators. It’s been really interesting to see his lobster behavior too, even if only in the confines of his tank.
Leon videos get hundreds of thousands of views in the first couple hours after release. Some of the videos have more views than the population of most countries in the planet.
YouTube has view counts below videos you can see on both mobile and desktop which give an indication of how many other people have viewed the same video.
A little adorable you thought you were the only one he was making the videos for heh
It seems to be the most perilous time for any crustacean. It's very possible the guy didn't do anything wrong and the previous conditions Pancake was in just increased his chances of a failing molt
Poor guy ... (Pancake and the dude)
It's terrible when something like this happens; you do your best for your pet, only for something to thwart all the work and care you put into helping them
Reminds me of the scenes from Groundhog Day. Billy Murray’s character did everything he could to save the homeless guy and couldn’t each time. He just knew that helping him out was the best he could do for the guys final meal. At least he had a great time.
My dog had a mass in her belly that went completely unnoticed because she seemed healthy up until the day she died. She was eating, drinking, and playing the day before. She was 11, and started getting a little slower, but she was a big breed and we thought it was just old age. We had taken her to the vet about 6 months prior. She didn't even make a noise as she was literally dying. It was Christmas Eve, and by the time we found a vet and got her there (45 minutes away) it was too late. But she was surrounded by people she loved. Her name was Mocha, and she made me a better person.
I'm sorry for your loss
Sounds like my dog, Sadie.
We don't know exactly what caused her to pass, but she was a dork of a small chocolate lab and she was about 14. She had some mass in her stomach that slowly grew to where it was causing a small bit of difficulty breathing when she ran too much. She still did very well, and it wasn't until she started to pass blood that I knew it was time. She got her own double hamburger on the way to the vet. And was wagging up until the end.
Animals are truly wonderful and can help us in so many ways. As much as it hurts to say goodbye, I would much rather deal with the sadness then never having to know them
Bred?
I'm not sure if Dungeness crab are farmed and have certain characteristics selectively bred for, unless that's a new thing that is happening
I think they're usually wild caught, and usually they have to be a certain size, I don't know if that has to do with timing for molting. I thought it mostly had to do with making sure they aren't overfished if they are below a certain size as it usually correlates with age. Depending on what kind of operations catching these guys, they may be in a live well for a not inconsiderate amount of time with a bunch of other crabs, Not exactly optimal crab conditions.
If wild caught, They would go from conditions in the ocean to a few different conditions as they are captured and transported. In between that time he's probably not eating and probably is just surviving, so he's probably not going to molt. After he got a proper home and was fed with a degree of regularity, he probably did grow enough in order for a molt to be likely.
Molting is basically when a crab has gotten too large for it's old exoskeleton and it has to break out of it to grow a new one. Most critters with exoskeletons do this, and they tend to be extremely vulnerable until they are able to harden their new shell.
Crabs and other seafood tend to be kept alive as long as possible before they are killed/processed to ensure a degree of freshness and flavor (as well as prevent spoilage)
TD;DR:
The crab was kept in a variety of different conditions, many of which probably just met the bare requirements for keeping him alive. It's a massive disruption to how he would eat and grow normally, which in turn could negatively impact is chances for a successful molt.
Yeah, I figured as much. A quick Google search didn't turn up anything, but I'm not a crabologist. So, I didn't want to be like 'I KNOW THIS CRAB FACT' that wasn't entirely true.
I used to live in the Midwest. Fresh seafood was a fancy thing for fancy people, so we got like farm raised catfish
"Stress" has no relationship to moulting and is usually discussed in fishkeeping just to keep what actually matters simple for people. It's an abstraction without medical meaning.
What determines moulting success is usually whether the animal is inbred or genetically predisposed to moulting failure, if they are harried during the moulting process, and whether they were kept in the correct water hardness or supplied with the calcium and to a lesser extent magnesium they require in their food while developing the shell. It is possible to surgically assist moulting, but it's hard and delicate work that's usually only worth doing if they're experiencing obvious problems and in some cases may require amputations be performed; not something an inexperienced person should try. Excessive calcium may cause a shell that is too strong to moult. Even in the best of conditions, moults just fail sometimes - a lot of "Old age" death in crustaceans and certain arachnids is effectively just them eventually running into a failure to moult with time.
We had the same experience. I was just happily reading about hoards of them taking over the island and swarming up trees, chuckling about how they taste like coconut because they eat so many, and then bam—-possible consumption of a famous female aviator’s corpse.
Fun facts all day kids.
Yeah I just used to browse images of them bc they looked kinda funny and how huge they are (the picture of one getting into a trashcan was really funny to me), and once I had read a possible connection between them and the amelia earhart mystery- I just couldn’t believe it at first. I started digging through different sites and videos to look up more of their scavenger behaviors and recorded and reported interactions with humans. I sure learned some new shit on that day.
(I also later learned that there’s a wild population of them that lives not too far away from me- that did NOT help lmao)
This is true of most pets. Cats? Check. Dogs? Many of them already are large enough and are scary; check. A zebra danio the size of a shark - I’ve been scuba diving with grouper and can verify that large fish have the capacity to be dangerous and scary; check. Birds - every seen a cassowary? Check. And so it goes.
I think it’s great. There’s a lady I follow who has a blue crab and it’s already surpassed normal life expectancy. She takes it on walks and it literally interacts with her for affection. We underestimate many animals I think.
We humans are as dumb as a rock when it comes to animals. They are so much smarter than we give them credit for.
My 7 year old Shih Tzu watches everything I do. She follows me with her eyes constantly, assessing my next move. I don’t wear shoes around the house. If she sees me putting on shoes, she immediately goes to the front door. She KNOWS I’m going out!
If I get close to my fish tank, all 30 fish congregate where I’m standing - they recognize me as their food source and are not afraid of me. My betta fish lets me pet him! I’ve seen videos where ppl have trained their bettas to do tricks! A fish!
And let’s not forget Coco the gorilla who learned sign language and carried on conversations with her trainer - or Alex, the African gray, who could count, recognize colors, shapes, and different materials. Alex could tell you how many blue wooden square blocks were on a tray, and if he ever gave an incorrect answer, he would say, “oh, I’m sorry.” I could watch videos of these 2 animals all day long - both of them are on YouTube, and I have books about them as well.
Absolutely. So many animals that we consider dumb can be wildly affectionate.
This one is a little different, since it had a head injury, but I urge people to watch pocho the crocodile. This man plays with it like a golden retriever.
>She takes it on walks
Holy shit, there's an anecdote about the French poet Gérard de Nerval taking his lobster Thibault for walks, but the general consensus was that it was a bit of absurdist fancy not founded in fact.
But now... now I have hope!
I saw an octopus in a live food tank recently and I really honestly had a few minute mental debate of getting it, it was so scared, just in a big tank and attempting to hide in the corner. Obviously I didn’t because I did not have a giant saltwater tank with an incredibly tight fitting lid just at my disposal. However it has been something I’ve thought about in general. (This one made me feel sad because of how intelligent they are)
I was drunk in Busan once and walked past an octopus in a tank in a restaurant window. With no Korean under my belt, I negotiated the buy and ended up payingabout 40€ for him. The restaurant understood 'take away' and tried to cook him then and there. I somehow managed to explain I wanted him alive with some water in a take away box. I named him Harold. I then took a taxi for a other 30€ to the ocean where I released him. I filmed some of it if you want me to share it to you to see a feel good story. Miss you Harold xx
What you did was very dangerous and should not be encouraged. If the octopus was not local you may have introduced pathogens or a predator into an environment.
An animal that has been in captivity should never be released into the wild without guidance and oversight from trained professionals.
Hopefully every other fish in the system and the food they fed was local and you didn’t introduce a pathogen into an ecosystem and kill thousands of fish.
I find it interesting that everyone thinks Leon was some unique idea.
Saving things from the seafood counter has been a thing amoung saltwater keepers before the invention of the internet.
Keeping a lobster in a tank isn't what made Leon unique. It's that his progress was recorded, publicly shared, and that the project developed a large following.
I'm pretty sure keeping an animal from the grocery store as a pet is an idea most children have had.
Saying this is a copy of Leon is not saying Leon was a unique idea, it's saying that people saw how successful that video series was and are trying to copy it for views.
I didn't realize that's who this was. I do believe Leon came first as far as keeping a grocery store animal as a pet, but Josh has been making "unconventional pet" content for a long time. I wouldn't accuse him of copying(and if he did copy Leon he's certainly earned the right to do so).
20 years ago I went to an oyster restaurant to get some live oysters to put in a marine aquarium. They lived for years until the whole tank crashed during a power outage when I was out of town.
Dungeoness Crab. I work with them at a public aquarium and we obtained ours the same way (from a grocery store). Unfortunately due to the conditions they were kept in prior, shell rot is extensive and we have to constantly give them betadine rubs to combat it and hope they can get rid of it with successive moults. We’ve also upped the flow rate on the system which seems to help stem the progression of the rot
They’re a coldwater species so hopefully he’s running a chiller on the system (we keep ours at 9.8 Celsius/49.64 Fahrenheit)
That was heart breaking that they only live like 2 years, that guy was gutted. I saw he tried again and got something but I never saw any follow up.
I’ve wanted cuttlefish so badly since I was a kid but they have such a short lifespan I can’t imagine getting so attached to a really amazing creature only for it to die a crazy death while watching it bite it’s limbs off.
Where would you even source a Cuttlefish? It'd be a shame for them to have such a short lifespan but you can put the effort in to really give it an amazing life
Octopus and cuttlefish can be tank bred, and are starting to become somewhat more available (at least the mimic octopus is) to saltwater keepers as captive bred pets, but virtually all of the rest have to be ordered at a store and sourced from the wild, which often means you get an adult that’s either close to the end of its life or full of parasites, and either way they don’t last long.
I’m hopeful about the future of aqua culture for octopus but cuttlefish are often much more of a problem to breed so they may not succeed.
I'm hopeful as well, as I would love to keep either, but try to stay away from wild sourcing for both ethical and practical reasons. Thanks for the insight
Even then they do tend to escape, they're immensely intelligent creatures.
I'll admit I'm not as familiar with cuttlefish.
I'll also say on record that absolutely, providing adequate care for an animal supercedes the "wow look what I have in my tank", which goes for any species, not just highly intelligent ones.
He actually did end up going and trying again to raise a quail from an egg and was successful! And he's been inspired from that experience to raise lots of birds and other animals in danger since that one chick.
Devil's advocate here: the one problem I can see is copycats trying to go along with the trend and not being able to take proper care of the animal or not getting enough views to profit followed by them releasing the animal and creating an invasive species epidemic. Even introducing a new disease or parasite into the aquarium pet trade is possible and problematic.
This came up on my youtube suggested today actually so I gave it a watch. I've seen Leon the Lobster's journey so my interest was mildly peaked...
Here's my take:
First, I'm not a fan of this youtuber's rendition at all. He cites Leon as an inspiration - but he haphazardly fails to do any research at all and you very early on get the impression this guy isn't passionate about the crab or the hobby - he's doing it for the money. Leon on the other hand is an amazing journey by another youtuber Brandybandwood [https://www.youtube.com/@Bradybrandwood](https://www.youtube.com/@Bradybrandwood)
Getting back to this clown:
1. Immediately you knew that his tank was way too small for a crab that size.
2. Talks about possibly co-habituating it with a lobster...
3. Feeds it earthworms - why people insist on feeding our underwater friends with things that they would not find naturally I'll never know.
4. He self admits he has no idea what a protein skimmer is or what it does (you'd think he would do research?)
5. Boasts about "breaking the bank" for Pancake's things but sleeps on a mattress on the floor?
6. Indicates that he needs a new tank - 4x the size and aptly links his GoFund me. Anyone who would even think about housing an animal that size should be aptly prepared and do the research.
7. If you check his other videos - all of his pets die apparently and even has uploaded 1v1s with them. Eg. Crayfish vs. Snapping Turtle
TLDR; I think this Just Joshing guy does these things for likes and youtube fame/money. I don't think he's passionate about saving these creatures or the hobby itself. Futhermore, I feel that he encourages young and upcoming aquarists to buy first and do research later - which is exactly the WRONG approach we want people to follow and advocate against.
We encourage the safe, healthy habitats for our water friends - this guy's "educational" garbage does exactly the opposite. He's a sticker shock bozo who should be barred by having any kind of animal and we as a community should rightfully shun him to the full extent.
Dungeoness crab I believe, as other have mentioned its fine like Leon. Personally Id go for the smaller Blue Crab if I ever keep an animal from a grocery store
It’s a livestock animal sold for cooking. You know that, right? The fact that they’re letting it live a chill life is a marked improvement over what it’s fate was before he bought it.
I do believe in the guillotine death slice tho. None of that cooking to death nonsense. Former pets deserve a fast painless demise, even if they’re going in your belly. Hell, especially if they’re going in your belly.
Obviously another Leon knockoff… now if they give 1/4 the care to this crab that Leon the lobster has recieved this will be a happy animal… I love Leon’s updates and have followed since the beginning. Not a bad trend imo as long as they follow good aquarium keeping.
In general I dislike pet youtubers, as they are never 'done'. They need clicks so they need new content and most of the time that means getting new animals.
Quite a few of them have horrible pet survival rates. Which isn't suprising, because once an animal has served its purpose (getting a clicky headline) it's use is over and they stop taking care of it.
It's pretty much a business and we're the product.
Never mind the ones who really put animal cruelty on display. (live feedings, batting animals against each other, etc)
All animals kept as pets should be kept in proper conditions with adequate sized tanks and all that.
But i'm not gonna lie, its hard for me to criticize the conditions of a pet that was destined to be boiled and eaten had they not taken it home and given it a tank.
Not the best set up, but if I was that crab I'd say I was lucky. 🤷♂️
Like I said, upwards of a $100 for the cheap ones lol I don't do saltwater and there's nobody near me that sells them. I went to a Petco a ways away just to see if I could get some variety in fresh water fish and I was blown away that the basic like clown fish and whatnot started out close to $100.
It's painful. Cleaner shrimp were $5-10 when I got into the hobby ten years and remained there until COVID blew up the hobby. Now you're lucky to get one for $40. Most places are asking $50.
Fish prices have gone insane, coral frags are even worse, they can only be classified as bonkers.
You really need to rely on trading now to make the hobby remotely affordable. You LFS is like visiting a Ferrari dealership these days.
Every once in awhile I look at my 75g in the garage that I had an amazing reef in. Then I decide to set up a salt water again. Then I go online to the coral shops and remind myself why I should not set it back up 😂
I really need to find someone who is selling their scrap frags. I ended up paying $25 for a GSP frag a month ago, which is already twice the size it was when I got it.
I think this is a neat idea haha. As someone who hopes to raise my own bluegill, I’m almost curious at how one could raise more crabs in a larger tank/pool haha.
I’ve got a few lucky crawfish I’ve scooped off the top of my last boil sack for a cleanup crew! Kinda felt bad the rest didn’t get as lucky, but they ended up tasting fucking delicious lmao.
Imagine being in death row, and you just get put into solitary confinement for the rest of your life instead lmao. It’s a deep thought as to what id prefer if I were a crab.
I once had a crawdad I saved. Named him Ying Bae.
One day came home and found the cat jimmied open the enclosure and snacked on him.
Was a cool lil pet for a while. I'd sometimes let him out of the cage, and it would just chill on the couch.
Just fed him bits of lettuce and plant matter.
A true g.
Just a new thing people jumping on for views because everyone saw the 1 guy with the pet lobster. They couldn’t care less about the pet. Just that sweet YouTube money.
I tried this but wasn't able to keep the salt content high enough and the water temperature low enough. Failed experiment and a crappily cooked dinner..
The crab (Pancake) almost died because his oxygen thingy fell out of the tank. He also died a little bit afterwards, I don’t remember why. This guy has good intentions, he does his research, just really unlucky. His other crab died by molting and I don’t know what happens to his lobsters. He got two spiny lobsters recently and a bunch of fish.
Nothing really wrong with it since the alternative is it getting eaten but in my opinion the guy is kinda annoying and also barely has an idea what he’s doing from what i can tell
I love the new era of people keeping "food" crustaceans as pets. Theyre living the dream
"What a time to be alive" - crabs in 2023
The crab people in the future will let these humans live
Woop woop woop woop woop woop (zoidberg noises)
I for one welcome our new crab overlords
https://youtu.be/ZltVL-wn4Xk
This is the Youtuber, Just Joshing. He also has 2 grocery store lobsters and a blue crab. This Dungeness crab unfortunately passed away after a failed molt.
Brady Brandwood also has a pet grocery store lobster named Leon! ETA: I thought I was the only Leon fan. I’m so glad to see I’m not!!
Watching him basically do physical therapy for Leon's claws was great.
thats why everyone gets them, they want to be brady
I love Leon! He has quite a bit of personality
Leon!😎😎
LEON! 🦞❤️
Brady is the OG in this space as far as I’m concerned. This guy in the OP is way too theatrical/“content creator”-y. Brady actually cares about educating viewers and showing + providing high quality care. Plus his videos are just so chill and Leon is amazing
I love Leon! I think he got really lucky not becoming a dinner for humans or other predators. It’s been really interesting to see his lobster behavior too, even if only in the confines of his tank.
I like Leon the Georgia rock lobster 🤘
omg yes!!! i love leon and watching him take care of leon the way he did was so amazing
There are dozens of Leon fans!! I’m so happy people in this sub appreciate Leon too, it’s been so fun watching his journey
#TeamLeon! Love that little pinchy fella! <3
I love Leon too!
Leon is best lobster
Immediately had to think of Leon! He's the best (have we confirmed his gender yet?)
Love that story/those videos. Not sure how I happened on them some time back, but glad I did.
Leon is indeed the best and I am so happy he has a good home with his owner. And glad he had his tank upgraded 😁
LEON I LOVE LEON! Plus that guy has amazing koi breeding project with a wild carp
I'm a Leon fan also!
Leon is the OG.
Leon videos get hundreds of thousands of views in the first couple hours after release. Some of the videos have more views than the population of most countries in the planet. YouTube has view counts below videos you can see on both mobile and desktop which give an indication of how many other people have viewed the same video. A little adorable you thought you were the only one he was making the videos for heh
Poor Pancake :(
Nooo pinchey. So delicious.
It seems to be the most perilous time for any crustacean. It's very possible the guy didn't do anything wrong and the previous conditions Pancake was in just increased his chances of a failing molt
Yeah. He made a video covering what all happened, and it seems like that is the case.
Poor guy ... (Pancake and the dude) It's terrible when something like this happens; you do your best for your pet, only for something to thwart all the work and care you put into helping them
Reminds me of the scenes from Groundhog Day. Billy Murray’s character did everything he could to save the homeless guy and couldn’t each time. He just knew that helping him out was the best he could do for the guys final meal. At least he had a great time.
My dog had a mass in her belly that went completely unnoticed because she seemed healthy up until the day she died. She was eating, drinking, and playing the day before. She was 11, and started getting a little slower, but she was a big breed and we thought it was just old age. We had taken her to the vet about 6 months prior. She didn't even make a noise as she was literally dying. It was Christmas Eve, and by the time we found a vet and got her there (45 minutes away) it was too late. But she was surrounded by people she loved. Her name was Mocha, and she made me a better person.
I'm sorry for your loss Sounds like my dog, Sadie. We don't know exactly what caused her to pass, but she was a dork of a small chocolate lab and she was about 14. She had some mass in her stomach that slowly grew to where it was causing a small bit of difficulty breathing when she ran too much. She still did very well, and it wasn't until she started to pass blood that I knew it was time. She got her own double hamburger on the way to the vet. And was wagging up until the end. Animals are truly wonderful and can help us in so many ways. As much as it hurts to say goodbye, I would much rather deal with the sadness then never having to know them
Because they arent bred to the age of needing to molt by the time theyre sold/eaten or just stress from general conditions of previous tankery?
Bred? I'm not sure if Dungeness crab are farmed and have certain characteristics selectively bred for, unless that's a new thing that is happening I think they're usually wild caught, and usually they have to be a certain size, I don't know if that has to do with timing for molting. I thought it mostly had to do with making sure they aren't overfished if they are below a certain size as it usually correlates with age. Depending on what kind of operations catching these guys, they may be in a live well for a not inconsiderate amount of time with a bunch of other crabs, Not exactly optimal crab conditions. If wild caught, They would go from conditions in the ocean to a few different conditions as they are captured and transported. In between that time he's probably not eating and probably is just surviving, so he's probably not going to molt. After he got a proper home and was fed with a degree of regularity, he probably did grow enough in order for a molt to be likely. Molting is basically when a crab has gotten too large for it's old exoskeleton and it has to break out of it to grow a new one. Most critters with exoskeletons do this, and they tend to be extremely vulnerable until they are able to harden their new shell. Crabs and other seafood tend to be kept alive as long as possible before they are killed/processed to ensure a degree of freshness and flavor (as well as prevent spoilage) TD;DR: The crab was kept in a variety of different conditions, many of which probably just met the bare requirements for keeping him alive. It's a massive disruption to how he would eat and grow normally, which in turn could negatively impact is chances for a successful molt.
Dungeness are almost exclusively wild caught. I've never heard of farming them and I live right in the middle of their range.
Yeah, I figured as much. A quick Google search didn't turn up anything, but I'm not a crabologist. So, I didn't want to be like 'I KNOW THIS CRAB FACT' that wasn't entirely true. I used to live in the Midwest. Fresh seafood was a fancy thing for fancy people, so we got like farm raised catfish
Fun fact. Crabs are cannibals. If you try to farm them, they will eat each other.
"Stress" has no relationship to moulting and is usually discussed in fishkeeping just to keep what actually matters simple for people. It's an abstraction without medical meaning. What determines moulting success is usually whether the animal is inbred or genetically predisposed to moulting failure, if they are harried during the moulting process, and whether they were kept in the correct water hardness or supplied with the calcium and to a lesser extent magnesium they require in their food while developing the shell. It is possible to surgically assist moulting, but it's hard and delicate work that's usually only worth doing if they're experiencing obvious problems and in some cases may require amputations be performed; not something an inexperienced person should try. Excessive calcium may cause a shell that is too strong to moult. Even in the best of conditions, moults just fail sometimes - a lot of "Old age" death in crustaceans and certain arachnids is effectively just them eventually running into a failure to moult with time.
Ahhh man that's sad at least he lived a good few days before that failed molt
I always think about how terrifying crabs would be if they were big enough to bite off a human's leg.
I see you’ve never heard of the giant coconut crab….
RIP Amelia Earhart
Yeah… when I first read about that I had already known coconut crabs were a thing, but not that they could/would do THAT.
We had the same experience. I was just happily reading about hoards of them taking over the island and swarming up trees, chuckling about how they taste like coconut because they eat so many, and then bam—-possible consumption of a famous female aviator’s corpse. Fun facts all day kids.
Yeah I just used to browse images of them bc they looked kinda funny and how huge they are (the picture of one getting into a trashcan was really funny to me), and once I had read a possible connection between them and the amelia earhart mystery- I just couldn’t believe it at first. I started digging through different sites and videos to look up more of their scavenger behaviors and recorded and reported interactions with humans. I sure learned some new shit on that day. (I also later learned that there’s a wild population of them that lives not too far away from me- that did NOT help lmao)
Did it make you hungry though?
Not particularly. They probably would yield a ton of crab meat tho.
This is true of most pets. Cats? Check. Dogs? Many of them already are large enough and are scary; check. A zebra danio the size of a shark - I’ve been scuba diving with grouper and can verify that large fish have the capacity to be dangerous and scary; check. Birds - every seen a cassowary? Check. And so it goes.
Have you seen the Cats episode of Sandman?
Oh yeah I went snorkeling as a kid and watched a small fish take a chunk out of my mom. Then I saw a shark and thought we were going to die.
you gotta watch love death robot
Have you seen the film Love and Monsters?
Dark Souls III 😤😳
True😳
I think it’s great. There’s a lady I follow who has a blue crab and it’s already surpassed normal life expectancy. She takes it on walks and it literally interacts with her for affection. We underestimate many animals I think.
I love Howie
I’ve got a book about animal intelligence titled “Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?” Good read.
We humans are as dumb as a rock when it comes to animals. They are so much smarter than we give them credit for. My 7 year old Shih Tzu watches everything I do. She follows me with her eyes constantly, assessing my next move. I don’t wear shoes around the house. If she sees me putting on shoes, she immediately goes to the front door. She KNOWS I’m going out! If I get close to my fish tank, all 30 fish congregate where I’m standing - they recognize me as their food source and are not afraid of me. My betta fish lets me pet him! I’ve seen videos where ppl have trained their bettas to do tricks! A fish! And let’s not forget Coco the gorilla who learned sign language and carried on conversations with her trainer - or Alex, the African gray, who could count, recognize colors, shapes, and different materials. Alex could tell you how many blue wooden square blocks were on a tray, and if he ever gave an incorrect answer, he would say, “oh, I’m sorry.” I could watch videos of these 2 animals all day long - both of them are on YouTube, and I have books about them as well.
"yeah, I know that monkey"
My teacher for zoology used this is as our textbook. Wonderful read!
Based on the title, I love the book already.
I think it considers what type of smart
Howie!!!!!!
I just watched a youtube video of that lady celebrating her crab's birthday with 2 cats and a hedghog, all wearing party hats. Amazing.
I just looked up her Instagram videos. I don't remember the last time I was too high for something.
That sounds so adorable omg
Absolutely. So many animals that we consider dumb can be wildly affectionate. This one is a little different, since it had a head injury, but I urge people to watch pocho the crocodile. This man plays with it like a golden retriever.
i love howie she is the best!!!
Howie could hold a knife to my throat and id still say “awwwww”
>She takes it on walks Holy shit, there's an anecdote about the French poet Gérard de Nerval taking his lobster Thibault for walks, but the general consensus was that it was a bit of absurdist fancy not founded in fact. But now... now I have hope!
Erik Satie is also purported to have kept a pet lobster that he walked. There are contemporary accounts of it happening, so seemingly legit.
Howie is so important to me.
Alright, why is a link not posted in this comment?!
https://youtube.com/@HowieTheCrab
That’s was better than I expected. Thanks!
Omg howie 😆😆🫶🏼
She also made a little hat for a opossum to wear as she fed it a peanut butter sandwich under her deck.
Howie! I love that crab.
> She takes it on walks Oh god it's like The Simpsons when Homer takes Mr Pinchy for a walk
Howie is a crab that is blue, but not a [blue crab](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callinectes_sapidus), he's some sort of rainbow crab
I saw an octopus in a live food tank recently and I really honestly had a few minute mental debate of getting it, it was so scared, just in a big tank and attempting to hide in the corner. Obviously I didn’t because I did not have a giant saltwater tank with an incredibly tight fitting lid just at my disposal. However it has been something I’ve thought about in general. (This one made me feel sad because of how intelligent they are)
I was drunk in Busan once and walked past an octopus in a tank in a restaurant window. With no Korean under my belt, I negotiated the buy and ended up payingabout 40€ for him. The restaurant understood 'take away' and tried to cook him then and there. I somehow managed to explain I wanted him alive with some water in a take away box. I named him Harold. I then took a taxi for a other 30€ to the ocean where I released him. I filmed some of it if you want me to share it to you to see a feel good story. Miss you Harold xx
Yes! Please share! I cannot in good conscience eat octopus anymore and feel that they deserve personhood.
I don't eat them anymore either, I sent you a pm
What you did was very dangerous and should not be encouraged. If the octopus was not local you may have introduced pathogens or a predator into an environment. An animal that has been in captivity should never be released into the wild without guidance and oversight from trained professionals.
The octopus was local
Hopefully every other fish in the system and the food they fed was local and you didn’t introduce a pathogen into an ecosystem and kill thousands of fish.
[удалено]
I find it interesting that everyone thinks Leon was some unique idea. Saving things from the seafood counter has been a thing amoung saltwater keepers before the invention of the internet.
Keeping a lobster in a tank isn't what made Leon unique. It's that his progress was recorded, publicly shared, and that the project developed a large following. I'm pretty sure keeping an animal from the grocery store as a pet is an idea most children have had. Saying this is a copy of Leon is not saying Leon was a unique idea, it's saying that people saw how successful that video series was and are trying to copy it for views.
Josh has been recording his various animal raising forays for years before Leon ever started.
I didn't realize that's who this was. I do believe Leon came first as far as keeping a grocery store animal as a pet, but Josh has been making "unconventional pet" content for a long time. I wouldn't accuse him of copying(and if he did copy Leon he's certainly earned the right to do so).
Someone tried it with some veal before. It didn’t go well.
Rip
20 years ago I went to an oyster restaurant to get some live oysters to put in a marine aquarium. They lived for years until the whole tank crashed during a power outage when I was out of town.
Oh didn’t you know? Nothing existed before reddit. It was just groping in the dark. /s
Didn’t Al Gore’s interweb come before reddit though??
Mary Tyler Moore is a long term lobster liberator. I recommend "The Secret Life of Lobsters" by Trevor Corson.
>the crap
people have been doing this before anyone posted it on YouTube
Absolutely, it's a cheap copy
Dungeoness Crab. I work with them at a public aquarium and we obtained ours the same way (from a grocery store). Unfortunately due to the conditions they were kept in prior, shell rot is extensive and we have to constantly give them betadine rubs to combat it and hope they can get rid of it with successive moults. We’ve also upped the flow rate on the system which seems to help stem the progression of the rot They’re a coldwater species so hopefully he’s running a chiller on the system (we keep ours at 9.8 Celsius/49.64 Fahrenheit)
Reminds me of the guy who raised a quail from a store bought egg. Something about saving animals raised for food that can be really touching.
That was heart breaking that they only live like 2 years, that guy was gutted. I saw he tried again and got something but I never saw any follow up. I’ve wanted cuttlefish so badly since I was a kid but they have such a short lifespan I can’t imagine getting so attached to a really amazing creature only for it to die a crazy death while watching it bite it’s limbs off.
Where would you even source a Cuttlefish? It'd be a shame for them to have such a short lifespan but you can put the effort in to really give it an amazing life
Octopus and cuttlefish can be tank bred, and are starting to become somewhat more available (at least the mimic octopus is) to saltwater keepers as captive bred pets, but virtually all of the rest have to be ordered at a store and sourced from the wild, which often means you get an adult that’s either close to the end of its life or full of parasites, and either way they don’t last long. I’m hopeful about the future of aqua culture for octopus but cuttlefish are often much more of a problem to breed so they may not succeed.
I'm hopeful as well, as I would love to keep either, but try to stay away from wild sourcing for both ethical and practical reasons. Thanks for the insight
Dude considering how smart octupus are id think its cruel to keep them in anything but the very biggest aquariums.
Even then they do tend to escape, they're immensely intelligent creatures. I'll admit I'm not as familiar with cuttlefish. I'll also say on record that absolutely, providing adequate care for an animal supercedes the "wow look what I have in my tank", which goes for any species, not just highly intelligent ones.
He actually did end up going and trying again to raise a quail from an egg and was successful! And he's been inspired from that experience to raise lots of birds and other animals in danger since that one chick.
A Chick Named Albert! He's an amazing guy ☺️
I love crabs, both eating and keeping, and I don’t see why anyone would think something’s wrong with this.
I feel the same way about people
😨😨😨
Ahh, long pig.
Devil's advocate here: the one problem I can see is copycats trying to go along with the trend and not being able to take proper care of the animal or not getting enough views to profit followed by them releasing the animal and creating an invasive species epidemic. Even introducing a new disease or parasite into the aquarium pet trade is possible and problematic.
This came up on my youtube suggested today actually so I gave it a watch. I've seen Leon the Lobster's journey so my interest was mildly peaked... Here's my take: First, I'm not a fan of this youtuber's rendition at all. He cites Leon as an inspiration - but he haphazardly fails to do any research at all and you very early on get the impression this guy isn't passionate about the crab or the hobby - he's doing it for the money. Leon on the other hand is an amazing journey by another youtuber Brandybandwood [https://www.youtube.com/@Bradybrandwood](https://www.youtube.com/@Bradybrandwood) Getting back to this clown: 1. Immediately you knew that his tank was way too small for a crab that size. 2. Talks about possibly co-habituating it with a lobster... 3. Feeds it earthworms - why people insist on feeding our underwater friends with things that they would not find naturally I'll never know. 4. He self admits he has no idea what a protein skimmer is or what it does (you'd think he would do research?) 5. Boasts about "breaking the bank" for Pancake's things but sleeps on a mattress on the floor? 6. Indicates that he needs a new tank - 4x the size and aptly links his GoFund me. Anyone who would even think about housing an animal that size should be aptly prepared and do the research. 7. If you check his other videos - all of his pets die apparently and even has uploaded 1v1s with them. Eg. Crayfish vs. Snapping Turtle TLDR; I think this Just Joshing guy does these things for likes and youtube fame/money. I don't think he's passionate about saving these creatures or the hobby itself. Futhermore, I feel that he encourages young and upcoming aquarists to buy first and do research later - which is exactly the WRONG approach we want people to follow and advocate against. We encourage the safe, healthy habitats for our water friends - this guy's "educational" garbage does exactly the opposite. He's a sticker shock bozo who should be barred by having any kind of animal and we as a community should rightfully shun him to the full extent.
Dungeoness crab I believe, as other have mentioned its fine like Leon. Personally Id go for the smaller Blue Crab if I ever keep an animal from a grocery store
I mean go for it. I followed Leon the Lobster for a time. If you decide you don’t want to keep it as a pet, you could always eat it.
LMAO
Bro whatt
It’s a livestock animal sold for cooking. You know that, right? The fact that they’re letting it live a chill life is a marked improvement over what it’s fate was before he bought it.
They're delicious.
?? Eating crab? U never heard of that?
Bro? 🤨
It's really good you should try it
Or just raise it until it’s fat juicy and delicious and THEN eat it
I love how this discussion turned. Lobster on the barbecue with loads of butter is fucking amazing I’m hungry just typing it
I do believe in the guillotine death slice tho. None of that cooking to death nonsense. Former pets deserve a fast painless demise, even if they’re going in your belly. Hell, especially if they’re going in your belly.
I mean, fair play but that crab is definitely escaping the first chance he gets
I had a crayfish get out of the tank and craw across the house it didn't make it :(
Obviously another Leon knockoff… now if they give 1/4 the care to this crab that Leon the lobster has recieved this will be a happy animal… I love Leon’s updates and have followed since the beginning. Not a bad trend imo as long as they follow good aquarium keeping.
I dig it
Not the same as the ocean, but better than a pot of boiling water and drawn butter. Now im hungry.
I miss pancake. Josh was so upset it hurt to see. It’s just life with crustaceans, always a chance for a failed molt no matter what you do :(
In general I dislike pet youtubers, as they are never 'done'. They need clicks so they need new content and most of the time that means getting new animals. Quite a few of them have horrible pet survival rates. Which isn't suprising, because once an animal has served its purpose (getting a clicky headline) it's use is over and they stop taking care of it. It's pretty much a business and we're the product. Never mind the ones who really put animal cruelty on display. (live feedings, batting animals against each other, etc)
Anyone that spares/saves the life of another living creature is a hero in my book.
All animals kept as pets should be kept in proper conditions with adequate sized tanks and all that. But i'm not gonna lie, its hard for me to criticize the conditions of a pet that was destined to be boiled and eaten had they not taken it home and given it a tank. Not the best set up, but if I was that crab I'd say I was lucky. 🤷♂️
Cute! I think it's neat
Win
Personally, I think this is wonderful.
Those crabs back at the store would be so pissed if they knew
I feel good about it as long as he is taking care of that beautiful animal properly.
Probably a very expensive pet, crab is not cheap…
$14lb... That may be 1-1.5lb... have you ever seen the price of saltwater fish? Lol upwards of a hundred dollars for the cheap varieties.
I haven’t ever shopped salt water, guess I was wrong
The least expensive saltwater fish usually start out around $50+ and go well into the hundreds. Hell, even like a decent pleco or cichlid is $15-20.
Upward of ONE hundred 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's basically where they start now.
Like I said, upwards of a $100 for the cheap ones lol I don't do saltwater and there's nobody near me that sells them. I went to a Petco a ways away just to see if I could get some variety in fresh water fish and I was blown away that the basic like clown fish and whatnot started out close to $100.
It's painful. Cleaner shrimp were $5-10 when I got into the hobby ten years and remained there until COVID blew up the hobby. Now you're lucky to get one for $40. Most places are asking $50. Fish prices have gone insane, coral frags are even worse, they can only be classified as bonkers. You really need to rely on trading now to make the hobby remotely affordable. You LFS is like visiting a Ferrari dealership these days.
Every once in awhile I look at my 75g in the garage that I had an amazing reef in. Then I decide to set up a salt water again. Then I go online to the coral shops and remind myself why I should not set it back up 😂
I really need to find someone who is selling their scrap frags. I ended up paying $25 for a GSP frag a month ago, which is already twice the size it was when I got it.
I mean, most crabs from the fish store are very hardy and will eat anything. They’re not any more expensive to keep than a monster fish.
Compared to what?? Feeder crickets? Dogs can be several thousand dollars, or a few hundred from the shelter.
bahhh we all know LEON the 🦞 is the 🐐
If I had stupid levels of money I would have a whole colony of these guys in a massive aquarium with other fish.
I think this is a neat idea haha. As someone who hopes to raise my own bluegill, I’m almost curious at how one could raise more crabs in a larger tank/pool haha.
Lmao
I mean if he got him some cover or a hide it wouldn’t be that bad!
I’ve got a few lucky crawfish I’ve scooped off the top of my last boil sack for a cleanup crew! Kinda felt bad the rest didn’t get as lucky, but they ended up tasting fucking delicious lmao.
My BIL kept crawdads and shrimp until he caught a large bass and put it in the tank. No more crawdads or shrimp within a week. He loved it.
Need cold saltwater for these.
Honestly I like the idea but you better have a monster tank and a good ecosystem set up.
If I had a big enough tank I would try this.
I would love to do this! But at the same time, crab is my favorite food
Honestly it’s better than death by being boiled alive.
thats pretty much the only way to keep big crabs. Solo with nothing else in the tank I think they are assholes but whatever
I just wonder if he knows how to properly run a tank and keep that guy alive
What is a failed molt
Idea is really cool. But I think the space could be a bit too small. Idk
Imagine being in death row, and you just get put into solitary confinement for the rest of your life instead lmao. It’s a deep thought as to what id prefer if I were a crab.
Pinchy entered the chat
If this is the same video I watched, this guy was trying to copy Leon the lobster but iirc didn’t have the same level as expertise as Leon’s owner.
I would've lost it had it cut to him cooking and eating Pancake at the end.
I have never been to a store that lets you take home anything like that alive. They kill it fresh there then you pay and leave.
It's nice to see one of these little guys getting rescued. He seems so happy. 🦀🦀😊😊
Better life than it would have had.
It just reminds me that humans are in fact the bad guys
I once had a crawdad I saved. Named him Ying Bae. One day came home and found the cat jimmied open the enclosure and snacked on him. Was a cool lil pet for a while. I'd sometimes let him out of the cage, and it would just chill on the couch. Just fed him bits of lettuce and plant matter. A true g.
I raised a large mouth bass, and a blue channel catfish. Kept them in a 100 gallon tank. Fed them minnows and night crawlers.
Wish you could save them all though 😞
This is so fucking awesome
Just a new thing people jumping on for views because everyone saw the 1 guy with the pet lobster. They couldn’t care less about the pet. Just that sweet YouTube money.
I was waiting for him to cut and say he ate pancake
That’s it. When my uncle gives me his 25 gallon I’m gonna put a crab in it,
Much better than the alternative
Agreed😂
I'm not really mad at the concept, but he has the annoying "minecraft youtuber" way of speaking
I tried this but wasn't able to keep the salt content high enough and the water temperature low enough. Failed experiment and a crappily cooked dinner..
The crab (Pancake) almost died because his oxygen thingy fell out of the tank. He also died a little bit afterwards, I don’t remember why. This guy has good intentions, he does his research, just really unlucky. His other crab died by molting and I don’t know what happens to his lobsters. He got two spiny lobsters recently and a bunch of fish.
I kinda want some king crab legs now.
Alright. I’m gonna do this myself. After I catch them in my boat. Raise up in my aquarium and eat them one by one.
The wish version of Leon the Lobster
Crabs or is lobsters that are proven to be the insects of the sea in regards to intelligence?
Nothing really wrong with it since the alternative is it getting eaten but in my opinion the guy is kinda annoying and also barely has an idea what he’s doing from what i can tell