Olive oil!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 12, 2008 1:06 pm

Around here I've been hearing about putting olive oil on new shells!
So, today I did it.... AND IT WORKS.
Olive oil really does work.
I had one crab swap shells immediately (and I could tell she was also eating the olive oil off!)

I just wanted to put that out there, that I swear by olive oil.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 12, 2008 1:11 pm

I have never heard of using olive oil on the shells! I was told about boiling them in the saltwater mix and then letting them air dry so that the salt dries into/onto the shell.

How much olive oil are you putting on them? Are you dunking them in the oil, or just putting some drops INTO the shells? How are you doing this? And is it really good for them?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:52 pm

It's fine for them. You just rub a little bit on the outside and wipe the excess off. It shines them up after all the salt boiling we do and the hermies seem to like eating it off of the shells. Just make sure you use Extra Virgin Olive Oil and you're good to go.

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Mon May 12, 2008 2:54 pm

Hmmm...I never heard of this.

What I have heard is that (I think Dogydutch posted this) some land hermits, rugosi, I think, have a greater tendency to use shells that had the scent traces of the dead hermit crabs which previously owned them.

Might try this olive oil thingy, unless someone else says otherwise. Fortunately, my crabs at the moment are in adequate sized shells...I think......

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 12, 2008 5:03 pm

I'm not dunking them, don't worry!
I put a drop or so on a paper towel and dab it onto the shells.
It's extra virgin.
I figured it was fine because may crabbers use olive oil when cooking for their crabs.

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Tue May 13, 2008 10:51 pm

It's funny, I tried it, but I think it attracted the wrong crab.

I dabbed it on a med-large shell to attract my medium C. brevimanus; what ended up happening was that it attracted my small C. clypeatus. So, there is a med-large shell in my tank, with a small b.spirata shell (which the small PP is wearing) sticking out of the opening...

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 14, 2008 9:19 am

Toooo funny, Joel!! lol

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 14, 2008 4:17 pm

I've no idea why that works but I'd imagine something in EVOO smells like something from a dead crab? We prob can't detect it ourselves but the crabs can. That's my educated guess anyway.
rich

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 14, 2008 5:14 pm

Dodgy, since they actually consume the olive oil off the outside, I'd say what initially attracts them is the thought of a yummy olivey treat and they wind up checking out the shell in the process. I don't use it to necessary encourage a swap so much as to shine the shells after a boil... But it works for some of the little guys, never the less.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 21, 2008 5:12 pm

I think I may have to do this on my next day off.

If I do it tonight, I'm bound to get plenty of weird looks from the wife!

I'm worried that the oil would make dirt and EE stick to them more though. Any thoughts?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:52 pm

I have used it on my shells and it did attract my babies. Only one changed shells, walked around in it for a while, then switched back. He did that a few times before he decided to stay in the shell that had EVOO on it

And yes, the substrate (sand) did stick to the shells, but it didn't matter anyway. They were still attracted to the shells.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 23, 2008 9:02 am

I do this, too. It always brings a lot of activity afterward

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:50 am

I boiled all my shells, but some how did not get a trace of butter out of the pot from my earlier meal. All the shells smelled faintly of butter, which did not rinse off. My E-crabs loved it!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 30, 2008 12:16 pm

I use oil to polish shells that have become dingy looking. But I really try to rub as much of the oil off before I put it back in the tank so the sand won't stick as much.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 30, 2008 8:30 pm

Maybe my crabs are happy with the shells they got right now. I polished over half of the shells in the tank with evoo and only one seemed interested but no one switched shells as of yet.