I was with the family in OBX NC this summer and we returned home with a few hermit crabs from the local tourist trap super store. Probably not the best way to get into it, but after exploring the forums here and elsewhere I was determined to give them the best life possible.
I've spent about 7 or 8 weeks now trying to keep these guys alive, but they've been underground for several weeks now. 1 has been under for 6 weeks, two have been under for 3 weeks and the last is hiding underground during the day and only coming out for a little while late at night.
So I don't know if it's molting, Post Purchase Stress, or if they are all dead under there, but this morning I found something floating in the water dish, and when I put it under the kids cheapo Discovery microscope it turned out to be mites. I think I'm hoping they're just food mites, because If these are parasitic mites I don't want to have to dig up these hermies if there is any chance they are mid molt.
Can any one tell me what kind of mites these are, and if they need to be removed?
The big metal thing in the image is the tip of a pin for scale. Sorry for the horrible picture quality, these were taken on my kids junky microscope with a 5 year old nikon coolpix held up to the eye piece. These things are VERY small.
Any and all help identifying these things would be greatly appreciated, as well as advice on whether or not remediation is required. Thanks in advance.
