HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Well, they've been in the tat a month, so they might have done the damage that they'd do, but I thought I'd ask.

I've been using sticks from our maple trees as climbing sticks for the crabsters.

That okay? They crabs have peeled bark off, and probably eaten a fair bit. But they SEEM fine.....

I think they are sticks from a red maple and a silver maple. We have alot of them, so Im not sure.

We dont spray our trees, they are too big for that and we are lazy, so I guess you could call them organic?

I did boil them before adding them to the tat.

Its not poisonous to other animals that I know of, my goats and sheep eat the trimmings all the time with no ill effects.

So is this okay?

Thanks!

Oh yes! maple bark is very good for them! all varieties of maple appear to be safe.

Yep, maple bark has a lot of tannin (which enhances color) and is very good for hermit crabs.

maple bark?
do they sell that?
we have oaks, but no maple way down here

wait- are oak tree bark ok?
should i soak it or bake it to kiss bugs?

I suppose you can kiss the bugs if you really want to, but I don't find it necessary

I recently added a bunch of maple to my crabitat, and they all seem pretty happy with the addition. I have a number of thin branches cable-tied together with some leaves still attached as a climby, and several enjoy climbing and eating it. I also have a maple leaf pit (1/2 substrate on the bottom, torn up leaves, twigs, and peeled bark on the top). A couple of my PPs enjoy it, but the Es really love the pit. Everyone is sampling the leaves and bark.

haha that made me laugh so hard
i meant kill em. lol

Oak bark is fine. If you are planning to offer it as a food, I like to rinse it off with water and then bake it at 200* for ten minutes or so, just in case there is something not good on the bark.