Keeping Peeler Crabs

[Hagar the Horrible]

Can anyone give any advice on keeping crabs until they peel? I'm wondering if it's possible to catch crabs with a net from a harbour and somehow keep them alive until they molt. Also does anyone know if they would peel around the same time (within a few days of each other) .
I'm thinking of catching a few and trying to keep them alive by placing them in a tray and covering them with a damp cloth, and putting them into a bucket of sea water for an hour every couple of days. Would this work?

[husshunter]

if you go on to the sea angler magazine web site alan yates has a good video about keeping peeler crabs

[paul mason]

Can anyone give any advice on keeping crabs until they peel? I'm wondering if it's possible to catch crabs with a net from a harbour and somehow keep them alive until they molt. Also does anyone know if they would peel around the same time (within a few days of each other) .
I'm thinking of catching a few and trying to keep them alive by placing them in a tray and covering them with a damp cloth, and putting them into a bucket of sea water for an hour every couple of days. Would this work?

Trying to bring jacks on could be long and expensive business, You would probably have to create a proper habitat in large tanks with pumps and then i don't think its successful.
If my memory serves me right i think i remember reading in an angling magazine something about someone doing something like this, i must have been a failure otherwise we would have heard.
Also i think some of the lads off this site have tried it and failed. Better off finding a reliable source or supplier.