HCA: Hermit Crab Association

hi um ok i feed my hermies normally moist food well lately i've been seeing flys flying around in the tat well i kill them when i see them but i dont think its helping i change the food daily but that doesnt seem to help either.

should i start using dry food? does any one have an idea as to how to go about making it?

gothic_swimmer_1990 wrote:hi um ok i feed my hermies normally moist food well lately i've been seeing flys flying around in the tat well i kill them when i see them but i dont think its helping i change the food daily but that doesnt seem to help either.

should i start using dry food? does any one have an idea as to how to go about making it?

Using dry food might help, although usually the moisture in the tank will eventually moisten the food. You can also try reducing food portions a bit and removing food when uneaten a lot quicker (ex. when you usually change the food in 1 day, how about removing uneaten portions within 12 hours?)

A surface clean may help, as would probably moving the tank to a different location. You may also need to start checking the dark corners and hiding places of the tank to see if there are little fly colonies being established there...

As for making dry food, well, unfortunately I have no ideas as I just go buy and use the stuff made by the other members of the HCA...

There's also a little trick for catching fruit flies and basically eliminating them from your tank. It really works! It over there ~~~~~~~> under Crab Care FAQ....under fruit flies. There's instructions to make a little trap!

I have tried just dry food, but the flies don't seem to care. I think they just like the moist environment.

i'll deffinatly look there but its not fruit flys its actual flys

Oh... Wow... I'd say you'll want to do at least a surface clean and look in all possible hiding places. You might also consider boiling all hideys/ plants/ dishes in dechlorinated double strength salt water. ~*shrugs*~ That's what I would do.

i was thinking about doing that too but how many inches should i clean? 1-2?

I would definitely say at least two. And be prepared for what you may find.

watcha mean/

You'll be looking for larvae, hun. Maggots.

oh gross! should i bake the sand or just throw it away/

If you already have new clean sand I would just throw the old stuff out and replace it.

Tidytourniquet wrote:If you already have new clean sand I would just throw the old stuff out and replace it.

Ditto. Baking will work fine for killing eggs and larvae, but it's just easier to replace it, in my opinion. ~*shrugs*~

whelp i did a surface clean...there was no larva that i saw. so that baffles me:(