Willow Bark/Ant questions

[ErikRasmussen]

I recently acquired a really cool piece of a willow branch. All the bark is stripped but it is still fairly green. I was wondering if willow is safe for hermit crabs or not. If not I was just going to leave it outside until it became dried out and weather worn.

I also found ants in my tat the other night. They were attacking this peach I put in for the crabs. The crabs dont seem bothered by them. I pulled the peach and as many of the ants out as i could. I am moving back to Utah in a few days so i am not super worried about them but i realized i have no idea what to do if they ever come back or become a problem. Any advice?

[Rebecca C]

I believe it is still unknown as to whether Willow is safe or not, so I wouldn't recommend using that branch in the tank.

As for the ants, I would have imagined that they were harmless, but I searched through the forum to be on the safe side, and I found that recently enough someone lost a crab to ants.

If you only find a few ants in your tank, removing them as you did, and putting vaseline around the rim of the tank to prevent more coming in, might be enough to deal with them.

[Crabinski]

Willow sap contains salicylic acid, the basis of aspirin and acne treatments, so I would steer clear.

[ErikRasmussen]

Good to know! I may stick it outside for like 2 years until it becomes super weathered and see what it looks like. And yeah since i moved back to utah i haven't seen them again.