HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Perhaps I missed this somewhere along the way... Why is wire bad for hermit crabs? I understand why rusty wire would be bad, but a non-rusting alloy that is safe for aquarium use should be usable, right? I used to use a non-rusting aluminum alloy mesh in my aquariums to seperate certain fish, such as breeding Bettas with no ill effects.

Invertebrates, especially crustaceans it seems, tend to be pretty sensitive to metal. It can cause molting problems among other difficulties. I would think if it's safe in an aquarium though, it's probably coated or safe enough for the hermies.

I had assumed that sensitivity to certain metals was the problem; nice to have it confirmed. The aquarium mesh being safe is pretty high on my list right now. I'm about to build a new crabitat, and it figured pretty heavily in my second-level plans.

Along the same line....I'd assume surgical-grade stainless steel would also be safe? Please give me some feedback. I'm nearly at the end of the design stage of this project, and I'd like to see my crabs in the new crabitat by the end of the month, if possible.

I asked around at great length a few months ago about whether stainless steel would be safe for hermies, and the concensus was that it would be safe, but the hermies might not prefer it to other surfaces. It is a long story, and I can try to dig up some of the messages from my inquiries if you want, but I need to go to bed now, and I have a midterm tomorrow, so I can't look till Friday. PM me if you want me to look for those messages.

Thank you! I'll trust your word. I'm going to mainly use it for framework and such to hold up the second level and to support proper bedding. I dislike the notion of using treated wood for interior structures for the possibility of rotting and/or chemical poisoning, yet untreated wood would still rot, and much faster. No need to go to all that trouble, although I appreciate the offer. Good luck on the midterms, Gaby.

Hey, TheGreyRonin, for structures in the tank you could use platic and use standard woodworking techniques to drill, tap or cut.You can buy most plastics in most structural shapes. PVC, Delrin, polypropylene, polyethylene, Fiberglass, acrylic, polycarbonate, Teflon, PEET etc... They come in shapes like film, sheet, tube, round, square, angle, threaded rod, netting, etc...Shop at stores like "US Plastic", "McMaster-Carr" etc... Hermiluvr's Husband (terence)

Thank you. I had thought about using PVC and such, but wasn't sure if some of the types available would be harmful to them. Another problem is the scarcity of places to get decent plastics around here. Being in a rural area, it's generally much easier to find metal than plastics. On the other hand, if the shipment came in, I'm making the 120-mile round trip tomorrow for my plexiglass, so I'll check on what else they have on hand while I'm there.

What I'm thinking of doing is using metal and coating it with silicon; while it is still wet, crush/enbed sand on the top. Let silicon set, shake off excess sand. This of course is an unproven method on my part, but the science behind it is sound. I'm using sand to blend in with the substrate, but the answer to my question in " crabitat material" suggested that epoxy top coat is not harmful to hermit crabs.