HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Do we clean the items to protect the crabs or to help keep mold and mildew down?

jdick2 wrote:Do we clean the items to protect the crabs or to help keep mold and mildew down?

I'd say both. When you get something new, a lot of people may have touched it. You never know what things they've had on their hands (chemicals, perfumes, lotions, etc). So giving something new a quick rinse is a good idea. Things like wood and twine can be soaked in salt water, dried, and returned to the crabitat. This helps inhibit mold growth.

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Plus the lady who had the oldest known living crab in captivity was a microbiologist who kept their main enclosure as clean as possible, so there is some evidence for cleanliness being a good thing!