Crabbie eating mould? Not safe?

Metamorphize · Post by **Metamorphize** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 11:02 am

I noticed some mould on the substrate, and decided to clean my tank out very well the next morning. However when I came downstairs the next day, the white mould was gone. I'm assuming one of my babies ate it, is that very safe? Should I be concerned one of them is going to get sick?

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:02 pm

Mold is very dangerous to crabs and can kill them. There are dif types of molds. Where ever there was mold you really should clean anything that was around that area and take a good 2 inches off the top of the substrate, and check to make sure no more comes back and you know why it was there in the first place. Food left in to long, humidity to high and not enough air flow, damp woods??

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 1:44 am

Hermitcrabs are know to avoid naturally occurring toxins like mushrooms because they have a built in safety mechanism that stops them from eating these things so its highly unlikely that your crabs ate the mold as they simply just avoid these things.White mold is the least toxic of all molds to hermitcrabs and generally only occurs where low air flow, high humidity and left over foods combine which causes the white mold spores which are present at all times everywhere to take hold and grow.Interestingly enough most kinds of molds wont grow in high intensity lighting like what we like to use as simulated sun light for our crabs so this leads me to believe that your lighting may not be right in combination with low air(the damp air in your enclosure isn't exchanging with fresh air from outside it properly which is causing the air inside it to go stagnant)flow into the enclosure and constantly high humidity levels.I'd strongly recommend following what Laurie has said to do and also try to increase your day time lighting and try to vent the lid a little more to allow for better air exchange, you may have to tinker with this a bit to find the right balance but when you do your days of getting any kind of mold will be long behind you.

Metamorphize · Post by **Metamorphize** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:27 am

Thanks everyone for your advice! I completely cleaned the tank out and replaced the substrate and food just to be on the safe side. All of the crabs seem to be acting normally so maybe they didn't eat it, just moved it elsewhere. I'll fiddle around with the lighting and airflow a bit and hopefully that will fix the problem.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sun Mar 09, 2014 5:04 pm

I put food in at night usually around 8 or 9 p.m. then remove food in the morning before I leave for work. Then only things halve in from night to night then remove are dried foods, like freeze dried, seeds, maple leaves things like that.meats, fruits nd veggies I take out cause they draw gnats and ants.

Tetra4CClyPtus · Post by **Tetra4CClyPtus** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 6:33 am

Laurie I do the same with my crabs food too. About the lighting, you can put it on on a timer. I got my Crabitat light a 20 wat strip light in an aquarium hood. It's a power glo from Hagon, and full spectrum . Also I think when heat is up and that lowers humidity. It's a bit trial and error and needs tweaking around to get it stable