HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I know about the benefits of woodlice in a crabitat, and I want to add some, but I used a lot of salt water to hydrate the soil (2 cups of salt to 5 gallons of water [the substrate is 1:1 of sand and coconut]) and I want to know how well they'll do in that, since I don't want a few dozen dead bugs in the tank.

Hello!

I've never delt with woodlice so maybe one of the Moderators or Administrators could help out in this topic! I hope you find the information that you need!

Happy Crabbing,
Richard

Hi, you have a 1:1 ratio of silica based sand to coco fiber? Does it hold it's shape when molded? I farm isopods for my tank and they generally disappear into the inside of the cholla. If anyone has died the crabs probably ate it before I could find a body, which is just fine. The crabs sometimes like to hunt them If you put 20 in your tank and provide leaf litter and wood for them to hide under, they are very likely to breed.

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soilentgringa wrote:... If anyone has died the crabs probably ate it before I could find a body, which is just fine. The crabs sometimes like to hunt them If you put 20 in your tank and provide leaf litter and wood for them to hide under, they are very likely to breed.

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I found that if one dies (oops my bad) it seems the other Isopoda would deal with it too... Idk how but the little white body just vanished.
About the silica/salt debate, I used the same mix from my crabitat tank that I use for my wood lice/isopods. Do they get hurt/burnt from the salt? If the crabs don't and you don't then no, realistically if it was enough to kill your isopods then you would notice trouble with your crabs and your hands/arms. It's more than likely safe if your crabs are.
They WILL breed (no joke) and the colony will grow and have babies and eat EVERYTHING and leave nothing behind (just decaying plant matter mostly). Advice: don't dig up/throw away poop or moss or whatnot even if your isopods are few or 'none' because the little babies could be anywhere and you don't want to throw away a new colony of the future by accident. More importantly that moss and poop is vital to their survival as munchkin scavengers.

kornchaser wrote: I found that if one dies (oops my bad) it seems the other Isopoda would deal with it too... Idk how but the little white body just vanished.
About the silica/salt debate, I used the same mix from my crabitat tank that I use for my wood lice/isopods. Do they get hurt/burnt from the salt? If the crabs don't and you don't then no, realistically if it was enough to kill your isopods then you would notice trouble with your crabs and your hands/arms. It's more than likely safe if your crabs are.
They WILL breed (no joke) and the colony will grow and have babies and eat EVERYTHING and leave nothing behind (just decaying plant matter mostly). Advice: don't dig up/throw away poop or moss or whatnot even if your isopods are few or 'none' because the little babies could be anywhere and you don't want to throw away a new colony of the future by accident. More importantly that moss and poop is vital to their survival as munchkin scavengers.

Ok thank you, as long as the isopods will survive I'll definitely put some in since my hermit crabs have a tendency to bury everything. And as for the substrate consistency it's definitely moldable and well hydrated, I just like the sand since it helps prevent mold

Chipepper wrote: Ok thank you, as long as the isopods will survive I'll definitely put some in since my hermit crabs have a tendency to bury everything. And as for the substrate consistency it's definitely moldable and well hydrated, I just like the sand since it helps prevent mold

Yay! My big crabs tear the tank to bits and I can still spot a baby isopod every now and again. These are the first babies my colony has seen and their getting so big awe!

I have a cluster of Rollie's under my saltwater dish and every time a crab goes in it spills a little right there, plus the sub was mixed with salt mix seems fine in mine, I love my rollies