HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Dunno if I should post this here or in the habitat section...

I'm curious if anyone has an experience or opinion of adding terrestrial amphipods (lawn shrimp) to the crabitat as part of the cleanup crew (I already have some isopods in there).

A roach breeder is selling them online as a roach habitat cleanup crew. I've always liked terrestrial amphipods when I see them on the beach and thought they might make a nice addition to a "land-crustacean" habitat. They're small, about the size of isopods, and roach safe ... but are they hermit crab safe? Does anybody know?

Thanks,

Jonathan

I didn't even know that these were available, but the in formation that I can find seems to indicate that they don't burrow very far into the surface of the substrate (less than an inch). Not sure if anyone has tried these or not. They might end up being snacks pretty quickly lol.

fraksocks wrote:I didn't even know that these were available, but the in formation that I can find seems to indicate that they don't burrow very far into the surface of the substrate (less than an inch). Not sure if anyone has tried these or not. They might end up being snacks pretty quickly lol.

Thanks - the shallow burrowing is important to know, because my only real concern is that they might dig deep and molest molting hermit crabs. I agree, they might make easy snacks, but I get the impression they are very fast. In any case, I will try to establish a healthy breeding culture before I introduce any to the crabitat...

Yeah they seem to be proficient jumpers and I read that they only breed once a year? So I agree that establishing a breeding colony is probably best.