HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Definitely springtails, and they can live on water. I have an enormous colony in my aquatic turtle tanks, they breed on the glass and platform and bounce around the water surface!

Generally they don't handle saltwater very well, which is why you are probably seeing dead ones floating around.

It's also a bit easier to flood, because everything tends to sink right to the bottom and overwet EE will rot from the bottom up. Just fussy to use, but definitely not harmful!

The seashells they wear are borrowed and are completely dead and inert by the time they get them. Nothing that would effect a hermit crab would effect the sea shell. What you are seeing looks like damage the snail took while still alive and before the crab ever got the shell. Sea urchins and other s...

Betta fish have gone sky high though! Our walmarts used to sell them for $4, but they all stopped. The local chain has their cheapest at $13 now up to $30, and our local shop regularly has $17 ones.

My local shop tries to order in natural shelled smalls, and sells all their hermits for $7. She found jumbos at an expo years ago and bought them for me to take and she said they were $15 each, but we were really tight on money at the time and I know she felt horrible for them so may have "rescued" ...

New crabs often die, they go through a lot and they are wild animals. Adapting to their new life in captivity is hard and many have been abused and injured before they ever make it home. Once they get through a molt or two, they are normally established at that point and live for a very long time!

I use dechlorinated saltwater for the initial mix, but yes, all substrate must be moistened until it will hold its shape!

It will look exactly like the crab did before molting as it's a perfect shed of their hard bits. Some crabs are lighter between their legs and on their carapace, so depending on the color, it could be the exo.

I've had tanks with just playsand for the last ten years. My husband even had to move a tankful of molters to a warmer room once, when our furnace was replaced in the middle of winter. Sand is an excellent holder of tunnels! I've found it to much sturdier than any mix.

I've been tempted to candy my Japanese Bloodgood maple a few times, just to see what it's like. It would be very pretty and seasonal at least!

If they are shaped like candy sprinkles, they are poop! It can come in different thicknesses and lengths and firmness, and what they are eating does affect the color. Mineral powders turns it white, carrots turn it orange, etc.

Is the part that you think is the exoskeleton still there? They eat their exo within a week or two.

Maple leaves are completely edible for humans, if you like that sort of thing. Sugared maple leaves are a Japanese specialty this time of year.

Don't forget to treat all the plant's soil, too!

I have never used the mosquito dunks stuff, but I have seen others in the community talk about it. It could potentially affect crustaceans, if I remember right it can cause issues with isopods, but it's mostly just plain old untested in crabs. Only a few people have used it. However, I don't think i...