Shell Care

[Scarletfire]

How long after you polish the shells with olive oil can you put them into the tank?

Do you soak them in salt water before polishing them?

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[Scarletfire]

Also, do you olive oil the inside of the shell, or just outside?

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[Xenocrab]

I don't use oils of any kind. I just soak them in salt water and wash them that way. The crabs are attracted to them almost instantly!

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[JoeHermits]

I’ve prepared fresh snail shells but I’ve never gone as far as polishing.

I’ve heard of polishing them to make them shine but I’m not familiar with the process.


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[Motörcrab]

I'm in the same boat as Joe with polishing the shells. Would you be able to share a link or say where you have found out about this technique?

I have heard of this technique for sprucing up faded from being in sand or bleached from boiling in saltwater for too long. Xeno and I never tried it. I am assuming if you used extra virgin olive oil and nothing else the shells would be safe to put in right away. Extra virgin olive is on the safe food list.

[Scarletfire]

This is where I saw it before:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? ... source=app


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[JoeHermits]

I would think that the saltwater soak would come after polishing. Also I wouldn’t get the oil inside the shell if I can help it since that sounds messy, but that’s just me.

As I said before I’m not really familiar with the process.

[mention]aussieJJDude [/mention] Any insights?


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[aussieJJDude]

I've done it on the past. Its messy, but it does work in a pinch. Just use some olive oil on the outside (i like to 'wet' sime paper towel and then rub it on the outside... little goes a long way!). It can be added to the tank immediately after 'polishing'.

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[asiankanye]

Is it required to dip them in salt water after boiling?

[Motörcrab]

We usually boil our shells in salt water before we introduce them to the tank for the first time. Every few weeks we will just rinse the shells out in saltwater. Crabs do seem to be more attracted to shells soaked in saltwater more than fresh water. It wouldn't hurt. I never thought of it before, but it would be interesting to do half the shells each way to see if there is a real preference!