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There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 12:38 am
by Chocobo
There’s white mites on my Halloween crab they’re eating him pls help I dunked him in saltwater once in hopes it might help and then I isolated him the other crabs don’t seem to have mites
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:50 am
by scuttlecrusty22
I think the best thing to do if find a veterinarian that will take a look at him for you. I don't know much about Halloween crabs, but I know that any pet owner doesn't want their animals to suffer. Best of luck to you!
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Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:51 am
by Hermiesguardian
I did a search on here for mites and found this. I copied just part of the post.
The best way I've found to get rid of mitesis... wait for it... more mites. Predator mitesare species of mites that eat other mites(and other tiny insects) but not your crabs. They've been used in gardening to control aphids, spider mites, and other pests. As it so happens these little guys will eat the mites right off your crabs and out of the top layers of substrate in your crabitat. After they run their course (and out of a food source), they die off and your crabitat is mite free once again.
I've used them twice to great success, and would probably do it again if I was sure my crabs had parasitic mites on them. Like others have said though, the white mitesyou're seeing on your crabs potentially aren't harming them. The parasitic mites are red and stick to their joints and eye stalks
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:25 am
by curlysister
Is there any way you can borrow a phone with a good camera and post a photo?
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:58 pm
by Chocobo
curlysister wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:25 am
Is there any way you can borrow a phone with a good camera and post a photo?
I already know what kind of mites they are and that they’re harmful. Nobody has an actual camera that is meant for taking really detailed photos, just basic phone cams
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:02 pm
by Chocobo
Hermiesguardian wrote: ↑Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:51 am
I did a search on here for mites and found this. I copied just part of the post.
The best way I've found to get rid of mitesis... wait for it... more mites. Predator mitesare species of mites that eat other mites(and other tiny insects) but not your crabs. They've been used in gardening to control aphids, spider mites, and other pests. As it so happens these little guys will eat the mites right off your crabs and out of the top layers of substrate in your crabitat. After they run their course (and out of a food source), they die off and your crabitat is mite free once again.
I've used them twice to great success, and would probably do it again if I was sure my crabs had parasitic mites on them. Like others have said though, the white mitesyou're seeing on your crabs potentially aren't harming them. The parasitic mites are red and stick to their joints and eye stalks
I didn’t know they ate the mites off the crab but that makes sense. I’ll do that then. After rinsing my crab in salt water last night he seems to be fine, and he’s sleeping very peacefully. I’ll examine him again when he wakes up. I threw that stick out. I still don’t understand how the mites lived through being cooked. I think they really were irritating or upsetting him because he was blowing bubbles and not acting right and that’s why I decided to look at him.
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:11 pm
by Chocobo
https://www.arbico-organics.com/product ... z8QAvD_BwE
Is this the right type of mite for getting rid of the bad mites
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 5:28 pm
by curlysister
How do you know what kind of mites they are? If they cam from a stick, they are probably not a harmful type.
Here's the HCA info about mites:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 67&t=92530
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 6:05 pm
by Chocobo
Yea I’m pretty sure they came from the stick and it was only on one crab, but they’re gone now. If it’s not the mites then I don’t understand why he’s bubbling at me and constantly leaning against the glass when I have 70 humidity and 80 degrees. I haven’t even really seen them on the food lately except for one time, on one freeze dried grasshopper. I saw them crawling around the stick from outside though and I saw some on the plastic plants. He’s not bubbling anymore after I dipped him in salt water but he still seems slower than usual lately
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 6:23 pm
by Chocobo
Can someone pls answer this
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:53 am
by curlysister
Were you able to read through the care sheet re- mites?
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 9:37 am
by Chocobo
curlysister wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 12:53 am
Were you able to read through the care sheet re- mites?
I read stuff on mites but honestly hermit crabs are a lot different than Halloween crabs and also I’m pretty sure these mites are getting inside the mouth of my crab so idk how I would get rid of that. It doesn’t say anything about that because it’s not about that type of crab
Re: There’s mites crawling on my Halloween crab and he’s suffering help
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:00 pm
by curlysister
Photos would be so helpful. Smart phones are capable of taking a photo of sufficient quality that we could see the mites.
But mites are mites - what would be a beneficial mite for hermit crabs would be a beneficial mite for other types of crabs too - because it about mites not about the type of crab. I am still not convinced that the type of mite that would come off a stick would be harmful to the crabs. But if you want to use good mites to get rid of them, the care sheet tells you the type.