HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've again got myself completely confused again. Which moss is safe? Some say sphagnum is and some say it isn't. I'm so confused.

Spanish moss is bad. Moss from the craft store is suspect because of the mites and colorings, etc. Sphagnum from the pet store I use without issue. Here is a LHC conversation on the subject.

In the past, I had a hard time finding anyone on thie internet who had any success with plants in a crabitat. I grew a chia seed now and then by mistake if it fell out of the feeding tray. It never lasted though.I just found this site though, she has some suggestions for plants. http://hermitcrabcottage.blogs...tat-plant-ideas.htmlAlso this onehttp://thehappyhermitcrab.blog...or-hermit-crabs.html

In the fall gather maple and oak leaves that are dried out and rinse REALLY well make sure no bugs are on them. Then dry them out and put in your corner caddy. They hide in these and eat them to. Make sure you get your leaves from a no pesticides sprayed area

Leaves are another thing.Oak is OK, except for the red oak with pointy leaves. It is bad for arthropods.Maple leaves are great; If they are dried, they make lots of noise. I haven't checked out every type of maple for crab safety though, and I should. I can't get them in Arizona though. They are hard to find on the web, except occasionally chopped up. I know a nursery who will hand pick organic maple from a wild tree if you need a source.

The sphagnum moss sold in bricks at the pet store should be ok, but other than that I would avoid any moss sold at the pet store. You can also find safe sphagnum moss at many hardware or gardening stores such as Lowe's. Many people use the Mosser Lee's brand of long fibered sphagnum moss in their tanks.

Sphagnum moss is the most popular and widely used moss by hermitcrab owners and is by far the safest in terms of use because it was originally meant for tree frogs who are super sensitive to toxins in their environment because they absorb everything through their skin so if its safe enough for a tree frog to use then its generally safe enough for hermitcrabs.Peat Moss, Spanish Moss and Beaked Moss are not safe to use, the Beaked Moss can be if sourced properly from this place here its called The Hermticrab Patch and we have been doing business with Tammy and Kirk since they started the website and have been pleased with their professionalism and customer care because they actually care more about the hermitcrabs than the money. Peat Moss contains natural chemicals that are not hermitcrab safe.Spanish Moss though a true moss tends to attract a lot of predatory insects and if not properly sterilized after harvesting it can contain thousands of insect eggs which will hatch in the warm temps our of hermitcrab tanks which will result in an infestation not to mention the commercially available Spanish Moss is often dyed to give it a brighter color as it fades to a white ashy grey after being removed from the host tree and the dyes that are most often used are not hermitcrab safe.Beaked Moss comes from coniferous rainforests and so contains a lot of the resins from the trees that it uses as its hosts which can make the moss a severe irritant to hermitcrabs at best so if you want to use this type of moss you have to make sure its grown locally on organic soil away from coniferous trees and contains no dyes or artificial pigments.When you go to the store carefully inspect the moss packaging especially if the moss looks like it has been dyed it will say so on the package if it has then its not usable.