mites, i think, again!
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Guest
Topic author
mites, i think, again!
i recently had mites (or what i thought were mites, the recent post has got me thinking) and i deep cleaned my tank. i bathed all my crabs repeatedly, at least 3 or 4 times. i baked wood, got new substrate, cleaned the sides of the tank, and boiled shells and toys. yesterday, about 3 weeks after the deep clean, i saw new mites, or whatever they are. I don't know what to do, two of my crabs are dug down, one of them i undug because of the first infestation. should i do another deep clean? will the bugs just keep coming back? I'm afraid they'll hurt my crabs but i'm also afraid of what will happen if i keep having to dig up and bathe them. any ideas?
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Guest
Topic author
hope this helps, I posted this awhile ago on another thread
Heres what I found
Mites are little bugs that may crawl all over your hermit crabs and in their cage. According to Christa, mites are about the size of an apostrophe ' and are the color of dried snot (green, or brown, or grey). They run away from the strong light of the sun. They will lay eggs and more will hatch. They are a real problem and can kill your hermit crabs. They are also a real pain to get rid of. If you see any sign of mites, eggs or other pests it is important that you remove it quickly! Some hermit crab owners have been mistaking in thinking the eggs of a larvae fly were tiny hermit crab eggs (they don't breed in captivity). If you see anything other than hermit crabs in your tank it is a PEST and should be removed as soon as possible. It is best to keep a good lid on the tank to keep flies and mites out of the cage and for many other reasons. There is no easy one step solution to getting rid of mites. You must get rid of both the mites on your hermit crabs and in your tank.
Keeping Mites Away From Your Crabs and Tank
Your hermit crab tank is an ideal place for mites to infest because it is dark, warm, and humid and it has food, water, and animals inside of it. Regular cleaning of the tank, bathing of your hemit crabs, keeping the bedding substrate dry, changing food and water regularly, keeping things that attract bugs out of the tank (like cardboard, strong smelling foods, and stuff from outside in nature which may already have bugs on it), and keeping the area around the tank clean and dustless (don't grow plants around the tank, mites are attracted to plants).
Getting Rid of Mites In Your Tank
You must empty your whole tank and either replace or clean and disinfect (by boiling and baking) your substrate. Also boil and/or bake and/or replace anything else in the cage (except your hermit crabs of course and don't boil sponges, nuke 'em in microwave). Clean the tank very well squishing any bugs you see with the paper towel pressed firmly against the tank(especially in the corners where they hide) and rinsing the tank out very good. Leave everything in the sun for awhile (except your hermit crabs), because mites hate sunlight and will most likely leave the tank if their still in there. Leave the tank upside down in the sun so the mites can easily run off.
Getting Rid of Mites On Hermit Crabs
The only way to do this is by repeatedly (about 1 or 2 times a day) bathing them in Stresscoat laced water really well. Dechloronated water will work too but you're better off with stresscoat laced. Turn the crab upside down and get ALL the air bubbles out. Then pour the water off the crab. The mites will float to the top of the water and drain out with it. Remove all of the mites from the water by pouring them out, and repeat bathing them. Drain them down the sink, not in the garbage, and rinse out the sink and it's pipes very good afterwards with hot water and soap. Pour the water out before taking your crabs out so that any mites floating on the top don't latch back on to your crabs. Do this a few times until you are sure ALL of the mites are off the crab and out of the shell. You can leave the crab under water for a minute or so, it won't drown and the mites might release themselves. Just be careful and don't leave it under water for several minutes or it will probably drown. You can also use a paper towel and gently squish the bugs on the crab, do this gently though so you don't hurt the crabs or stress them any further.
How NOT To Get Rid of Mites
Sharks unlimited gives advice to bathe the in a Clorox bleach solution. Don't do this, it will hurt your crabs and won't solve the mites problem. Clorox bleach has an extremely high amount of chlorine in it which will blister gills (check water section) and it as other chemicals in it. Also, don't use any mite or bug sprays, hermit crabs are related to spiders and insects. Mite spray will hurt or kill the hermit crabs too.
Keeping Mites From Returning
You may want to only feed your crabs dry food for awhile because strong smelling foods or fresh foods may bring the mites back. Replace the food and water every day. Pay extra attention to keeping the bedding substrate clean by scooping out any poop or buried food and nuke the natural sponges regularly in the microwave.
Heres what I found
Mites are little bugs that may crawl all over your hermit crabs and in their cage. According to Christa, mites are about the size of an apostrophe ' and are the color of dried snot (green, or brown, or grey). They run away from the strong light of the sun. They will lay eggs and more will hatch. They are a real problem and can kill your hermit crabs. They are also a real pain to get rid of. If you see any sign of mites, eggs or other pests it is important that you remove it quickly! Some hermit crab owners have been mistaking in thinking the eggs of a larvae fly were tiny hermit crab eggs (they don't breed in captivity). If you see anything other than hermit crabs in your tank it is a PEST and should be removed as soon as possible. It is best to keep a good lid on the tank to keep flies and mites out of the cage and for many other reasons. There is no easy one step solution to getting rid of mites. You must get rid of both the mites on your hermit crabs and in your tank.
Keeping Mites Away From Your Crabs and Tank
Your hermit crab tank is an ideal place for mites to infest because it is dark, warm, and humid and it has food, water, and animals inside of it. Regular cleaning of the tank, bathing of your hemit crabs, keeping the bedding substrate dry, changing food and water regularly, keeping things that attract bugs out of the tank (like cardboard, strong smelling foods, and stuff from outside in nature which may already have bugs on it), and keeping the area around the tank clean and dustless (don't grow plants around the tank, mites are attracted to plants).
Getting Rid of Mites In Your Tank
You must empty your whole tank and either replace or clean and disinfect (by boiling and baking) your substrate. Also boil and/or bake and/or replace anything else in the cage (except your hermit crabs of course and don't boil sponges, nuke 'em in microwave). Clean the tank very well squishing any bugs you see with the paper towel pressed firmly against the tank(especially in the corners where they hide) and rinsing the tank out very good. Leave everything in the sun for awhile (except your hermit crabs), because mites hate sunlight and will most likely leave the tank if their still in there. Leave the tank upside down in the sun so the mites can easily run off.
Getting Rid of Mites On Hermit Crabs
The only way to do this is by repeatedly (about 1 or 2 times a day) bathing them in Stresscoat laced water really well. Dechloronated water will work too but you're better off with stresscoat laced. Turn the crab upside down and get ALL the air bubbles out. Then pour the water off the crab. The mites will float to the top of the water and drain out with it. Remove all of the mites from the water by pouring them out, and repeat bathing them. Drain them down the sink, not in the garbage, and rinse out the sink and it's pipes very good afterwards with hot water and soap. Pour the water out before taking your crabs out so that any mites floating on the top don't latch back on to your crabs. Do this a few times until you are sure ALL of the mites are off the crab and out of the shell. You can leave the crab under water for a minute or so, it won't drown and the mites might release themselves. Just be careful and don't leave it under water for several minutes or it will probably drown. You can also use a paper towel and gently squish the bugs on the crab, do this gently though so you don't hurt the crabs or stress them any further.
How NOT To Get Rid of Mites
Sharks unlimited gives advice to bathe the in a Clorox bleach solution. Don't do this, it will hurt your crabs and won't solve the mites problem. Clorox bleach has an extremely high amount of chlorine in it which will blister gills (check water section) and it as other chemicals in it. Also, don't use any mite or bug sprays, hermit crabs are related to spiders and insects. Mite spray will hurt or kill the hermit crabs too.
Keeping Mites From Returning
You may want to only feed your crabs dry food for awhile because strong smelling foods or fresh foods may bring the mites back. Replace the food and water every day. Pay extra attention to keeping the bedding substrate clean by scooping out any poop or buried food and nuke the natural sponges regularly in the microwave.