Emergency- New Hermie with Mites**

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:47 pm

I am SO mad right now I want to give the guy who sold me my newest hermie a tongue lashing. first of all, the conditions at his store were AWFUL

and there were flies all in the tank. On top of that this small guy was in a painted green shell and on the ride home I noticed two little whitish bugs (They look like pill bugs and are clinging to his outer shell.) Right now the little guy still hasn't come out of his shell, and is sitting in a bath. What else can I do to get rid of the bugs and make sure he settles in okay?

I'm still pretty steamed at the stinky conditions the crabitat was in, but at least I saved the poor little guy from another day there. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:23 pm

i think the bathe is the best idea, hold on and let me see if i can find the link at hermit-crabs.com

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:26 pm

here it is:

http://hermit-crabs.com/FAQ.html

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 3:28 pm

I already checked there. Since no other bugs came swimming out during the full immersion bath and I didn't see any on him when he peeked out just now, I think he's alright. He's in ISO right now with a couple of shells, food, and water, so I'm going to let him adjust a day or two before putting him in the main crabitat. But he seems to be getting over his shyness, and I was able to tell he's a cute lil pp! That's all I can think of to do for now, and I'll keep you guys posted on how the new guy does.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:22 pm

Did you give a salt water bath? You need to do that a few times a day, and do not put him into your main tank until 100% there are no mites on him or that tank can get infested.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 5:11 pm

Here it the FAQ on the mites

Disregard the title... it needs to be changed.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jun 14, 2005 11:33 pm

Okay, will give him a salt water bath before bed tonight. But he seems to be feeling better, was sitting in the food dish for hours and came out to see me a couple of times. Still no sign of any more bugs, mites or otherwise. I'm going to see how he is in the morning, and tomorrow I might introduce him to the others at bathtime. I would wait longer, but I think Tybalt's getting ready to molt and he's gonna need the ISO.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 5:43 am

It is not a good idea to get crabs from a place where the tank conditions are not good. I used to buy crabs from this place where there were flies and other bugs and always about six dead crabs and about two live crabs in one tank, and they all died just a little bit after I bought them. Even if the conditions are good, you still should inspect the crab before buying it to make sure it is okay. Don't just buy them because of a pretty green shell- A long time ago I bought a crab just because it was nicely painted, and it died after a week. But, since there's nothing you could do about that now, it was a good idea to give the crab a bath.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:40 am

And (even though this may sound completely obvious), don't forget to thoroughly disinfect the iso before you put another crab in there...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jun 15, 2005 6:07 pm

K, will do that when I disinfect the munchkin. He's doing EXTREMELY well now, is out and about though still a bit shy, and he's been digging a little in one corner of the ISO. Looks pretty healthy as far as color goes, has all his limbs, and still no sign whatsoever of any more bugs anywhere.

I know I live in a small town, but even for that this pet store was atrocious in its conditions. I knew I was taking a chance in buying the little guy, but I just wanted to get him out of there. Would've taken the larger one they had, too, but he was too big for my tank. Now I'm really glad I did rescue the little guy, he seems to be feeling tons better.