boiling shells?

[piccolo41099]

I have always boiled any new shells going into the tank, but is it really needed?

In the wild no one cleans the shells for them, so is it necessary? I received a new shell in the mail, and it just made me think. ha ha

[landlubber]

There is always a CHANCE some nasty thing such as contagious shell rot bacteria could be lurking in there, which does kill large numbers of crabs in the wild as well. I'll be boiling mine. I am happy to provide everything a crab needs, nice clean shells, food everyday, perfect temps and humidity, no predators-which certainly wouldn't be found in the wild. It's the trade off to losing freedom and the ability to procreate, it's the least I can do. I know you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to your crab if it could be avoided.

[orangefire]

contagious shell rot bacteria

Does this rot the sea-shell or the crab's carapace?

[landlubber]

Shell rot is a bacteria which eats away at the chitin in the crab's exo. It can be found on the carapace, but is commonly found on the legs or claws and looks like a rotten black hole (not the nice, shiny, smooth black of when they lose a leg tip and scab over). Many hermit crabs get it in the wild, and it's mostly been studied in crustaceans people consume like lobsters-because those losses cost companies money. It is not super common-but epidemics can happen. Boiling shells is an easy way to avoid it.

[rainbow_crab]

I think boiling is also kinda a way to clear out any trace chemicals that could be on a shell. You never know what a harvested shell has been exposed to whether in the cleaning process or storage. In the wild there aren't a lot of chemicals that are on or in shells, and they haven't been tampered with by humans, where the shells we purchase for our crabs have been harvested, cleaned/polished/painted, transported and stored. I like to boil just to keep them clean and cut out any chance of bacteria, chemicals, ext.

[orangefire]

Shell rot is a bacteria which eats away at the chitin in the crab's exo. It can be found on the carapace, but is commonly found on the legs or claws

Ah, I guess when I said carapace I was really referring to the exoskeleton as a whole, my mistake.

Anyway sounds like a pretty nasty disease. Any sort of flesh-eating type things whether targeting crabs or people or whatever freaks me the eff out...boiling shells always seemed more like a courtesy to the crabs which I was more than happy to do but now I see the real importance of this practice. Thanks.