HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I think I found mites in my crab tank there was a little white/clear bug crawling on my hand while holding my crab
I can't get more bedding until tomorrow will my crabs be ok? How should I wash my crabs to prevent the mites from infesting the new tank and keep my crabs safe?


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Set up a bowl of declorinated fresh water and dip them through it and "pour out" their shell water. You can then observe one at a time in a seperate isolation tank (such as a smaller tank or tupperware container) for only a few minutes. If you see little bugs come out, then you have mites. It's also possible the bug was on you from walking outside or something and you just didn't notice it until you held your crab.

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This post goes into detail about identifying bugs in the tank http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92537

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PLEASE DO NOT BATHE YOUR CRABS UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU HAVE HARMFUL MITES.

Bathing is extremely stressful. I have springtails and food mites that sometimes crawl on the crab's shells. They don't bother the crabs. They are normal and NOT harmful to the crabs. They are actually beneficial bugs that are normal in the crabitat.

What's that bug: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92537
Mites: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 67&t=92530

C_fiesta wrote:Set up a bowl of declorinated fresh water and dip them through it and "pour out" their shell water. You can then observe one at a time in a seperate isolation tank (such as a smaller tank or tupperware container) for only a few minutes. If you see little bugs come out, then you have mites. It's also possible the bug was on you from walking outside or something and you just didn't notice it until you held your crab.

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I dipped one in the water (much to its dislike) and nothing came crawling out. I did see a white dot on him but I couldn't tell if it was a gland or something
I was returning them and saw a brown something crawling through the bedding, cleaned the food/water dishes and didn't see any mites on the legs before the bath
I'll still change the bedding and give a bath to my 2 that are up and the one who's molting after it wakes up
Should I add stress coat to the bath water tomorrow?


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steaile wrote:

C_fiesta wrote:Set up a bowl of declorinated fresh water and dip them through it and "pour out" their shell water. You can then observe one at a time in a seperate isolation tank (such as a smaller tank or tupperware container) for only a few minutes. If you see little bugs come out, then you have mites. It's also possible the bug was on you from walking outside or something and you just didn't notice it until you held your crab.

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I dipped one in the water (much to its dislike) and nothing came crawling out. I did see a white dot on him but I couldn't tell if it was a gland or something
I was returning them and saw a brown something crawling through the bedding, cleaned the food/water dishes and didn't see any mites on the legs before the bath
I'll still change the bedding and give a bath to my 2 that are up and the one who's molting after it wakes up
Should I add stress coat to the bath water tomorrow?


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Please read my post before you posted your reply...mites come in all colors...Don't bathe and don't replace your substrate unless they are bad mites. More than likely they aren't. You will do more harm than good.

steaile wrote:

C_fiesta wrote:Set up a bowl of declorinated fresh water and dip them through it and "pour out" their shell water. You can then observe one at a time in a seperate isolation tank (such as a smaller tank or tupperware container) for only a few minutes. If you see little bugs come out, then you have mites. It's also possible the bug was on you from walking outside or something and you just didn't notice it until you held your crab.

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I dipped one in the water (much to its dislike) and nothing came crawling out. I did see a white dot on him but I couldn't tell if it was a gland or something
I was returning them and saw a brown something crawling through the bedding, cleaned the food/water dishes and didn't see any mites on the legs before the bath
I'll still change the bedding and give a bath to my 2 that are up and the one who's molting after it wakes up
Should I add stress coat to the bath water tomorrow?


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If you have one who is moulting, please DO NOT change the substrate or bath him! Check out the link I posted to see if you can identify the bug. It's normal to find bugs in the crabitat and most are harmless.

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I have a second (bigger) tank I was planning on setting up with new substrate i wasn't planning on disturbing the molting crab, I did check and it looks like they're not doing much if any harm so I'll leave them all alone until I'm back at school to set up the new tank
I'm going to leave the crab I checked earlier alone and give fresh food

Thanks for all the help, I've only had them since April so anything different freaks me out a bit


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GotButterflies wrote:PLEASE DO NOT BATHE YOUR CRABS UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU HAVE HARMFUL MITES.

Bathing is extremely stressful. I have springtails and food mites that sometimes crawl on the crab's shells. They don't bother the crabs. They are normal and NOT harmful to the crabs. They are actually beneficial bugs that are normal in the crabitat.

What's that bug: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92537
Mites: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 67&t=92530

Yes, that might post is very good! I tried very hard to find it.

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C_fiesta wrote:

GotButterflies wrote:PLEASE DO NOT BATHE YOUR CRABS UNLESS YOU KNOW FOR SURE THAT YOU HAVE HARMFUL MITES.

Bathing is extremely stressful. I have springtails and food mites that sometimes crawl on the crab's shells. They don't bother the crabs. They are normal and NOT harmful to the crabs. They are actually beneficial bugs that are normal in the crabitat.

What's that bug: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92537
Mites: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 67&t=92530

Yes, that might post is very good! I tried very hard to find it.

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I have it bookmarked