HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have a 75 gallon tank with 6 inches of sand on one end, and about 12 inches on the other end. I have a side tank heater, a UVB light for a day cycle, large salt water and fresh water dishes. I feed my crabs a varied diet of fresh mango, papaya, pineapple, apples, bananas, shrimp, and meal worms. Today I found one of my large older males, Carl, dead in one of their hiding places. He had four of his limbs detached and laying next to him, but more frightening there were HUGE mites all over him and his shell.
I maintain my tank daily and regularly check all crabs for mites. These mites were super big, some were even long...and they were clung in masses all over his shell and body and on the walls where he was hiding. I promptly removed him and all the crabs for a cleaning, and found another dead crab, this one with all limbs in tact and partially buried. I have examined my substrate and decorations carefully while cleaning and also examined my crabs and found no mites anywhere.
This dead guy was COVERED....wondering if these mystery mites could be the cause? Can't find em anywhere else in the tank

Also, to clarify...I saw no mites on the second dead crab.

We're they mites?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Were they food mites?
Edited: I'm sorry for your loss, and even more apologetic that I didn't think of being sincere enough to say that at first!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you happen to get any pictures? I think it'd be helpful in this case,

No they weren't food mites....they were way bigger than any mite I've seen, dakr brown/grey in color, and had ridges down their back. I cleaned the whle tank and found none anywhere else or on other crabs....Im freaked out becase they don't look like any picture I've seen

Could you maybe look at this and see if any of these fit what you saw? http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 26&t=92537

Hi, first of all I want to say I'm very sorry for your losses. Losing pets is a very difficult and frustrating thing, especially when we don't totally understand causation. Is it possible the crab died from a different cause, and the bugs you saw were just eating the decomposed body? I would think you would probably find the mites on all your crabs if they were the parasitic type. The only kind I know of would be red, and found on the soft parts of the crab, such as the leg joints. If you wanted to fill out the help request emergency template stickied to the top of this section it might help us take a better look at what might have been cause of death. I agree with others though that a pic would probably be the best help in this case to help us get a good id of what you are dealing with.

So sorry for your loss!! How traumatic for u! Hope the more experienced crabbers are able to help you narrow down the cause of death for the hermies:(


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SpaceCrabCat wrote:No they weren't food mites....they were way bigger than any mite I've seen, dakr brown/grey in color, and had ridges down their back. I cleaned the whle tank and found none anywhere else or on other crabs....Im freaked out becase they don't look like any picture I've seen

Could the have been isopods then? The rolypoly bugs? Or pill bug? I looked through the bug link given by another poster and it seems possible. I'm sorry you've lost your babies.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Just wanting to put it out there that isopods won't kill crabs, but if they are isopods they're likely eating a crab that already died, they prefer easy meals.

PinchersAndShells wrote:Just wanting to put it out there that isopods won't kill crabs, but if they are isopods they're likely eating a crab that already died, they prefer easy meals.

I only mentioned them based on her description. I know they are scavengers like the crabs. Maybe if isopods were on her crabs, she has a different mystery on her hands.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

Visual wrote: I only mentioned them based on her description. I know they are scavengers like the crabs. Maybe if isopods were on her crabs, she has a different mystery on her hands.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I meant to aim that more towards OP in case they didn't know, sorry

PinchersAndShells wrote:

Visual wrote: I only mentioned them based on her description. I know they are scavengers like the crabs. Maybe if isopods were on her crabs, she has a different mystery on her hands.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I meant to aim that more towards OP in case they didn't know, sorry

No no! No harm taken or meant or anything! Type inflection is dang near impossible to interpret. I think I came off condescending earlier when I just asked 'mites?' But I was in a hurry to chase a two yr old and in my mind I asked 'are you sure it's mites? They sound too big.'

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk