HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I just collected some of these outside and set them a little habitat to gradually dilute all the junk from the outside ones into cleaner edible pillbugs, just encase a crab decides to eat one. I'ma introduce them in a week or so.
I think I have Armadillidium vulgare in the enclosure.

Soo, what's you experience with these crustaceans? Do they damage molting crabs, did they help clean up?

I put some in when I had the 29 gallon crabitat. It didn't take long for them to disappear. I assume the crabs ate them.

I put ten in the tank two weeks ago, and I saw one yesterday. I was going to get some more after I cut the grass today. I was thinking pill bugs and dandy lions would make a nice treat. I hoping my crabs ate them up.

Due to them being in the same family as a crab they can carry illness that might be brought to the crabs. Im not sure that this can happen but because its a possibility i dont put them in my tank. I did once and the crabs did eat them. After i learned about a disease that pill bugs can carry, there was a thread in the HCA about it, im not sure where, i looked for it but cant seem to find it. Ill keep looking. I just dont want to bring in any other bug eggs or parasites that could be on them to my tank. Ive heard of lots of people using them however without problems. I just always chose to be on the safe side. I figure they dont need them and my tank is clean so i guess i dont either. I cant imagine that they would find pill bugs on the beaches when they are wild. Just my opinion.. Ill see if i can find the thread info.

I've used them for years and they have been a great help with keeping the crabitat clean and with turning all kinds of stuff into substrate. I never had mold while they were in there and anything left around just disappears after a while, whether it's leftover food, leaves or small twigs. I don't change the substrate at all.

Mine are Porcellio scaber and they don't dig, so they don't hurt molting crabs. As far as I know, Armadillidium vulgare doesn't dig either.

Sometimes they seem to have the urge to drown themselvs in the water bowl, I don't know why this is. At first I suspected low humidity, but I ruled that out.
In the summer, I usually throw out a lot of them because they breed like mad. I guess that I have 200-300 of them in the crabitat (75g) at the moment.

good to know Jedediah, do you remember some kind of disease that was something about the rollie pollies turning blue ? I cant seem to find the info. I thought you had posted in that thread. Maybe it was Keith. What ever i read in that thread is what scared me off of them. I do put earth worms in my tank. They love the earth worms. I was just concerned about that disease. Im still looking for the info.
in looking for info i found this showing that they can be quite predatory, I wonder if they would bother molters? http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthr ... +predatory
I so would like to have them in my tank, im not trying to discourage anyone or say its wrong, just trying to check all the data before i go rollie pollie hunting!

Varieties of land hermit crab and sow/pill/potato/whatever else people think to call them are actually very, very distinct from each other. Considering their closest relation is to the Class Malacostraca, they're very, very distinctive from one another.

To put it into perspective- we share a class (Mammalia) with Pandas, giraffes and beavers, however we're incredibly distinctly different from them.

As well, the infection that you're talking about is that of an iridovirus, which may not even be a worry depending on where you live in the world. Iridovirus targets mainly invertebrates, specifically insects, and is actually pretty choosy which creatures it will actually infect. A virus that has infected a population of sowbugs, for instance, for many years is very unlikely to suddenly jump the species barrier into land hermit crabs. This doesn't mean to actively feed bright blue bugs to them, but you don't really have to freak out about a possible infection destroying your tank either.

Thanks so much!

Jedediah wrote:Mine are Porcellio scaber and they don't dig, so they don't hurt molting crabs. As far as I know, Armadillidium vulgare doesn't dig either.

That is strange, when I introduced them into the habitat, they immediately buried themselves in the EE. It was in the main tank, what now?

I've found mine dig, but only in the first half inch or so of substrate. And they tend to avoid the crab burrows.

By don't dig I mean that they won't go deep into the substrate. They will cover themselves, especially the small ones, but prefer hiding under cork tunnels or smoething. They don't go and dig for food or buried crabs

This is amazing to me! My daughter and I will have to go dig some of these out of the woods! I like anything that eats up mold, extra garbage and misc. stuff. I am excited about this new adventure. Thank you for this thread!

b0bz0r wrote: Iridovirus targets mainly invertebrates, specifically insects, and is actually pretty choosy which creatures it will actually infect.

Iridoviruses have traditionally be identified in insects, but now many have been found in other taxa, amphibians, fish, mammals, cephalopods just to name a few. And some happily infect a variety of cells.

Keith

i added some today and have some trouble with them climbing up to the top of the tank. I dont want them loose in my room. any suggestions?

so far they have hidden themselves and are getting along with the crabs.

Keith, does that mean that you would hesitate adding them?
Has anyone had any deaths unexplained after adding them to the tank? I worry about what they may bring in with them but again couldnt worm castings bring in the same sort of things?