HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey everyone. My dad just told me that hermit crabs carry Salmonella. IS THIS TRUE? I told him that hermit crabs do not carry any diseases but he insists, along with my sister, that they do carry Salmonella. Help me out with this one...


xoxo

candace

hermit crabs don't carry any known disease that can be transmitted to human. Lizards and young turtles carry salmonella....but not hermit crabs

I've never heard of a confirmed case of salmonella transmitted by hermit crabs. Some reptiles can be carriers, but I believe salmonella is fatal to hermies (or so I remember reading somewhere, anyone else remember?), so that they would die before spreading the disease.

And remember that lots of people keep aquatic turtles (notorious carriers of salmonella---not just the young ones) without ever being infected. Normal precautions should always be taken.

They do not, and cannot, carry salmonella. However, a google search turned up Petco's care sheet which insists that they can, and offers links to the CDC.

**sigh** :roll:

After exhaustively searching the CDC website, there is no mention of hermit crabs. There is great detail about REPTILES carrying salmonella, which can be true, and all hand washing and other precautions SHOULD be taken when handling reptiles.

Hermit crabs however, are NOT reptiles and Petco should know better. I wrote them a nice letter asking them to please remove this info from their caresheet and I'll let you know what I hear back.

Good luck convincing your father and sister, it can be an uphill battle with so much mis-information out there.

thanks everyone for replying so quickly

As far as being able to convince my dad and sister, I doubt this will be possible. They are the type of people who are very set in their ways, despite the fact that they have absolutely NO knowledge on hermit crabs!! But it is nice to know that I was right all along, hehe.

Again thanks everyone for replying. I'll let my dad know what everyone said.

xoxo

candace