HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Next week we will be having an exterminator come out to our home to treat for fleas. We have done our own home treatments for fleas twice now and have not been able to get rid of them. The two times that I treated for fleas myself I put up blankets over the doorways and turned off the HVAC system for six hours while we left the home with the treatment in the rooms that were carpeted. I was essentially blocking off any of the pesticide fumes from reaching the rooms that did not have carpet, including the mud room which is where our crabitat is. Now I am seeing fleas in the rooms that do not have carpet as well. This includes the room where our 55-gallon crabitat is.

I am assuming that I can completely seal off the 55 gallon tank using glad press and seal and everything should be ok. Removing the crab tank for the day until the pesticide fumes wear off is not an option.

I guess I'm just putting this out there in case anyone else has had this problem. Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

I've ran through this scenario in my head myself because about once a year the exterminator comes. What I would do is soak a very large bath towel and cover the tank. That's what you're suppose to do in a fire to keep the smoke out (my dad was a lieutenant for 30 years). I think it would help keep other fumes out as well. I like your idea. Maybe do both? I'm curious if there's any other ideas as well.

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Well... being that my profession is a Vet Tech, I prefer prevention so it doesn't reach this point, but you are here, so after this gets addressed, prevention is going to be key so it doesn't happen again. If you have dogs & cats - please be on the look out for tapeworms - fleas can carry them and if your dogs and or cats injest a flea that is carrying one, your pet will then have them too. They will look like grains of rice that move in your pet's feces. Sometimes they even come out of the anus. Tapeworms cannot be passed to humans through the pets. Humans can only get them if like the pet, they injest a flea that is carrying them.

I've never dealt with having fleas. LUCKILY!! So, the only advice I can offer is that giving your animals prevention, will help prevent future outbreaks. I do know that food grade diatomaceous earth is safe and inexpensive for flea control. You can use it by sprinkling it on their coats and rubbing it in. It can also go on the floor for flea control. Just leave it down. It will drive your OCD crazy, but it works.

I don't know about the pesticides in the crabitat room. I personally wouldn't do it, but that's me!

Edit: check out this link: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 7&t=104384

Press and seal is a good idea. I would cover that with a plastic sheet so no residue gets on the immediate area as well.

We've always combated fleas with a good topical. Having 27 cats and an old drafty house, it's always a battle in the summer, especially with the fleas becoming immune to the products. There is some newer and better stuff out there for cats and dogs, like the seresto collar which lasts for 8 straight months. We still make do with Advantage II.

Between that and flea traps (hot light over pan of water) and vaccuming several times a day, the fleas stay relatively under control until the furnace kicks on winter and the dry air finishes the job. I refuse to spray chemicals myself, too worried about the cats and critters, but I can imagine how one would need to if it got bad enough. For us, the treated cats act like flea bait, which also helps keep them off of us and everything else.

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I want to thank you all for your comments and suggestions. Aside from regular veterinarian exam visits, etc., we spend $112 a year on Revolution, which protects against fleas ticks and heartworms. It seems the fleas have become immune. The dog has already been to the vet and we have already started her on a new flea preventative, (NexGard). Hopefully the fleas will not be resistant to this new medication. Diatomaceous earth is not an option, having two special need toddlers with pica, (a disorder in which an individual eats non-food items and substances).

Right after the last flea treatment that we did our washing machine broke down before I could get all of the fabrics in our home washed in hot water. The laundry room is right beside the mud room, which is where the crabs tank is kept. So now the bigger part of the flea infestation is actually in the room right beside the crab tank. Not treating these rooms is not an option.

Thankfully we are picking up a new washing machine today. So this time when we have the professional exterminator come over to treat for fleas I should be able to finish completely washing all of the fabrics in our home in hot water. I believe this is why the last treatment did not work.

Revolution stopped working about three years ago for us. It did NOTHING for the fleas. Waited two weeks and tried Advantage II and they were falling off in droves. Definately switch up what you've been using and talk with your vet about double teaming two products. Ours has said we can treat with different ones every two or three weeks (depending on the vet) which also helps. None of our vets have ever recommended treating the house because they've never had anyone who had it be effective on its own. The pets have to be dealt with, it's the only way to make it last.

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I personally don't care for Revolution. Just so you know, it does not provide protection against ticks. Anything topical like that- especially cats- needs to be watched- they can be infamous for rubbing it off in the dirt.
Edit: it needs to be applied directly to the skin on the back of the neck

Please also know that all products are only guaranteed if purchased from a vet. Those companies only sell their products to veterinarians. There is no way to prove that you are getting a LEGIT product by purchasing it online, at Walmart, or anywhere other than at at Vets. They DO have people out there making fake stuff that looks just like the real stuff. (Just like how there are fake Coach purses, etc.)

Internal medication is better imo, but only if you know animals are healthy. I loved Nexgard, but only 2 of my dogs can take it. One of my dogs started having seizures on it. She had been on it for 1.5 years before the seizures started. Since I stopped it, no seizures. I use FOOD GRADE diatomaceous earth on her. I don't do anything for my cats. They are strictly indoors. Most people I know use comfortis, which is a pill, and can get away with doing it every other month.

Diatomaceous earth, if food grade, is safe for humans edit: to injest not invest. Many humans take it on a daily basis to rid themselves of intestinal parasites.

One of my cats has pica. Pica is very common in the veterinary field.


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When we adopted our dog from a rescue group, he was in rough shape. His fur was so matted he had to be completely shaved and of course he was infested with fleas. They got in the house and we ended up having a little trouble getting rid of them.

What finally ended up working for us was we got him a seresto collar and I just vacuumed the house every day. In less than a week we stopped seeing fleas completely. We didn't have to treat outside of that.

Good luck with whatever course you take!

If you have someone come in to spray for them, just make sure the crab tank is sealed up tight! Saran wrap or even duct taping garbage bags around the tank should do the trick.

@GotButterflies

Well. Where do i start? Ok, just so you know, i am mot using diatomaceous earth in my home. Not even FOOD GRADE, as you put it. I'm sure you can understand that salt is food grade and safe for human consumption. But not if an individual consumes too much of it.

I know how to apply revolition to my pets as I have been using it since the product came on the market when I was a teenager.

I gave no indication whatsoever that the flea products that I purchased came from anywhere but the vet's office.

Pica, which is one of the many neurological disorders that my children have been diagnosed with, presents itself a lot differently in the human species than in a cat. Thanks for throwing such a broad comparison by the way. As a mother, I'm sure you can understand how it might feel to have someone compare your child to an animal, especially in such a tone. And then downplay a serious neurological disorder like that.

You might take into consideration in the future that I was speaking about my children with regards to ingesting non-food items off the floor, and not your cat.

I thank you for your valuable input. I think it might be time
for me to put my membership to this board on the shelf. This is not the first time that I have seen you (as well as other HCA board members), belittle someone (not just myself), with your vast knowledge.

Wow...where do I start?

Please accept my apologies for your taking offense to what I wrote. It is really hard for anyone to decider how one says things via writing.

When we write things on the threads here, more than just the OP sees them. Therefore, I cover all of the bases so that anyone who reads it will know.

Would you believe that people have applied topical orally and incorrectly? Not all topical are the same.

Never once did I say your children were like my cat. I said my cat has Pica. My cat eats almost anything that is flimsy plastic that she can get ahold of.

There is a difference between food grade diatomaceous earth and regular diatomaceous earth.

Once again, theses threads are for everyone - they are not directed at you.

Sorry that you took offense to them! Have a great night!



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Okay, time to cool off a bit.

And this is coming from actual staff. Please double check who is (lists are on the browser site) and if someone who is not is saying they are we need to be notified immediately.

Written words are inherently hard to convey meaning of. I can assure you that everyone has your hermits in mind and their best interest at heart.

It is often very hard to give advice without coming across as a know-it-all. I for one am extremely sorry if I came across that way. I was just sharing what I knew in the hopes it might have helped.

I will make sure the staff reviews this topic to see if there are any changes we can make here so that others don't end up feeling the same way in the future.

Again, I'm sorry that you had a bad experience and I hope you'll give us another chance in the future.

I'm very sorry about your flea problem.
I hope that you can protect everyone and everything from the chemicals used to kill the fleas.
I use Avon's Skin So Soft bath oil mixed as follows: 1 part Skin So Soft to 5 parts warm water in a spray bottle and spray my dog.
It helps with the coat and I have not found a tick or flea on my dog.
Good Luck, wishing you the best and hope you stay on this group.

EPAS wrote:I'm very sorry about your flea problem.
I hope that you can protect everyone and everything from the chemicals used to kill the fleas.
I use Avon's Skin So Soft bath oil mixed as follows: 1 part Skin So Soft to 5 parts warm water in a spray bottle and spray my dog.
It helps with the coat and I have not found a tick or flea on my dog.
Good Luck, wishing you the best and hope you stay on this group.

Oooh, trying to figure out how to word this without it coming across badly. Please know I'm just double checking because it's not common knowledge. Are you also treating for heartworm? Those are spread through mosquitos and often cannot be treated which means they are deadly. (Treatment is deadly as the worms die in the bloodstream or heart and cause blockages. Leaving them is just as bad. It's an awful choice to make.) The only way to protect a dog is prevention with the pills or topicals. Depending on the area of the country, it can be up to a 100% infection rate in any dog that steps outside. Ticks can be just as bad if you live in an area with Lyme and related tick spread diseases. I think we're up to 25% infection rates of Lyme in untreated dogs in my area of OH/PA? It's insane how bad it's gotten. All it takes is one tick that gets overlooked for 24 hours. These things often go hand in hand with monthly topical flea prevention, so I always like to ask just in case someone isn't aware!