Should I bathe my hermit crab?

Well the answer to that depends on who you ask!  This could be one of the most hotly debated topics in the crabbing community.  I’m not going to give you a answer, but I will try to offer both sides of the argument and you can decide for yourself.

Camp One: Actively bathing their crabs by the flip and dunk method.  This entails preparing a bowl of stress coat treated water and placing the crab upside down under water.  The crab will, hopefully, pop out and right itself.  Thus flushing out the shell of any matter. This is done on a weekly basis by most people who employ this method.  The crab should NOT completely abandon its shell during its bath.  Leaving its shell is a sign of stress.  If one of your crabs exhibits this behaviour, I strongly suggest you discontinue bathing it in this manner.

Camp Two: Actively bathing their crabs by placing them in a shallow dish of stress coat treated water to wade around.

Camp Three: Don't actively bathe their crabs at all, but instead offer them a wading pool in the crabitat at all times. Both fresh and saltwater. This allows the crabs to bathe themselves as they need to, just like in the wild.

Pros of Camp One’s method:

Con’s of Camp One’s method:

Pro’s of Camp Two’s method:

Con’s of Camp Two’s method:

Pro’s of Camp Three’s method:

Con’s of Camp Three’s method:
:::© Stacy Griffith :::

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