HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I picked up my crab Blueberry, who I think molted, and I saw a tiny orange bug crawl out of his shell. What could it be? I was thinking it might be a type of crab mite or a soil mite but I think I will bathe my crabs and see if there are any left. Please give advice. Thanks!

I gave Peach and Blueberry (the only known ones up) a saltwater and freshwater bath, and I don't think I saw any mites. there might have been only like one or two from each but the just looked like grains of EE so I'm not sure. It was fun taking the crabs out and playing with them (please no mean comments about playing with them )but now they are back in the tank. I think it was probably a soil mite now (and maybe a food but probably not). That is kinda a relief but that one was the only one I saw. Blueberry is in a pearly white snail shell, so I could see the color pretty well. I haven't seen any on any food scraps mixes or powders, in the EE or sand, and I didn't see any in the water dishes. Which I guess is a good sign.

Do you have a photo?

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Scarletfire wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:51 pm

Do you have a photo?

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Sorry no, and I haven't seen it since I saw it the first time and I didn't see it in the water after each bath. I can say it was orangeish reddish and it was very tiny. It was bigger than a grain of sand and It crawled across his shell.

Please help

Crab mites cling to the crabs on their eyestalks, antennae, and joints. They are primarily sedentary once they find a host.

It’s most likely a lost food mite. They’re harmless.


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