HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I am having to change out my food more often lately. Humidity & temp are both staying around 80. But one of the foods from HCP is molding quicker, it's the HCP basic diet. Was one of Peanut's favorite, until I noticed that when it molds little teeny mites are taking over it. And by teeny I mean TEENY!! And that's the only place they can be found.
Peanut has dug down so I can't check him...he dug down about 4 days ago. Hoping they are just harmless food mites, but they are a nuisance!! Thinking that's what was bugging *no pun intended haha* Peanut into digging under.
I'm going to Petco today to get the new tank & supplies to do their new setup. Should I try digging for Peanut to check him, or leave him be?


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Edit* I am afraid to do too deep a clean as Jack still hasn't surfaced & I don't want to bother him!


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Leave your crabs alone. Food mites are not harmful or bothersome to the crabs.

mool wrote:Leave your crabs alone. Food mites are not harmful or bothersome to the crabs.

Just annoying right? lol


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You should put some isopods in your tank.

CrabbyCakes wrote:You should put some isopods in your tank.

How would I go about getting some??


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CrabbyCakes wrote:You should put some isopods in your tank.

I would like to state that Isopods are not going to kill the food mites. They simply will just compete for food. Food mites are harmless, and will not bother the hermits. I have them in my tank, not very many because I have isopods, and I do change my food daily. Nothing to worry about.

GotButterflies wrote:

CrabbyCakes wrote:You should put some isopods in your tank.

I would like to state that Isopods are not going to kill the food mites. They simply will just compete for food. Food mites are harmless, and will not bother the hermits. I have them in my tank, not very many because I have isopods, and I do change my food daily. Nothing to worry about.

Thanks!!

Also, I was wondering how do I go about installing a hamster wheel that has metal on it?? Are there any that aren't metal or have metal components??


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Mine have metal on them. That is the only metal in my tank...lol! The metal is coated, and the hermits cannot access it. I hang the wheels upside down by using command strip hooks

GotButterflies wrote:Mine have metal on them. That is the only metal in my tank...lol! The metal is coated, and the hermits cannot access it. I hang the wheels upside down by using command strip hooks

Cool beans!! Makes sense now lol all I saw at petco had metal components, but they are coated.


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I second leaving the buried hermies alone . The few times I had food mites, I didn't do a deep clean. I just scraped the surface of the sub clean and dumped it. Then all wood structures were dunked
In MSW and baked to dry. And I boiled all shells in shell shop since I found some in there before. Seemed to get rid of them quickly. But as stated
Above, food notes are only a nuisance to us and not the crabs The isopods in general have been a great addition to our tat. We got ours from Stacey at Isopod Connections.


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Thanks guys!!!


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