HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My hermie Hymes died in March of heat related stress. A representative from the Florida Marine Research Center (FMR) told me to use a mixture of 1 tablet of Tetracycline to 1 half gallon of water and spray my hermie 3 times a day to try to save him along with iso and water and honey and cuttlebone mix. Sadly I still lost him. Is using Tetracyline common to crab illnesses? Please educate me.

Hi sweetie,

Sorry for your losses. Tetracyclene is an antibiotic used to treat bacterial related illnesses only. I don't know why FMR would tell you to use this as treatment for your crab suffering from heat exposure. That was not good advice. Tetracyclene is very dangerous to use on hermit crabs, which is why it should only be used as an absolute last resort when there is evidence of a bacteria infected tank (foul odor following spillage of long-standing or unclean water, food spillage) and the crab is near death (lethargic, drooping eyes). I have never heard of a hermit crab pulling through after a tetracyclene treatment. Perhaps FMR has had more luck with this method which is why they endorse it.

i dont believe crabs can get ill. i think FMR is a horrible crab care site and facility because of this and other things. i think crabs can get salmonella but cannot spread to humans. FMR thinks you should do that because they are clueless of crab care. that chemical can be fatal if he drinks the chemical on his claws and legs and it can also be fatal if they inhale it.

I'm not sure why FMR would recommend it either, but I assure you crabs can get illnesses. Take it from me, I have been fighting a chitin eating bacteria that I'm unsure of where it came from, and has claimed the life of many of my crabs since January, although I was able to save and am trying to save another one. I have been using an organic, herbal remedy that has more effectivness than other treatments I have read about.

I would recommend if you have any questions about a crab's health to log on here and anyone here would be happy to help you! The HCA's combined expereince is over 100 years, that's a great pool of knowlege to draw on. It's amazing how hobbiests can have such a wealth of information we've gathered, because like you, we love our pets and we all work so hard to keep them with us.

It would be interesting to know when and why FMR uses the tetracycline treatment at their own facility. I don't know why they recommended it to you for heat related stress.

Tetracycline is indeed an antibacterial drug, often used as an anti-acne table. I certainly wouldnt be exposing hermies to it tho.

It doesn't make any sense at all to give an antibiotic to a crab suffering from heat-related illness.

As for illnesses in general, I believe that crabs can become ill with external or internal bacterial illnesses and possibly virus's.
After feeding half-shell oysters to my hermit crabs many months ago(once and only time, there were no other changes), I lost half of my tank of crabs to a bacterial/viral illness.
The conditions were perfect in my tank, but the crabs that were affected all showed the same symptoms such as black spots over their abdomens and exo and black goo coming out of their mouth as well as exo deformities. The bacteria was eating away the exo.

FMR has always recommended tetracycline for various hermie ailments. Don't listen to them---they don't know anything (anything good, anyway), and are basically an evil company. They sell wire cages and KKs as habitats, when they're really death traps for hermies, and their food contains preservatives that can cause moult deformities. Anything for a buck.

One another note, what makes you believe your hermie was suffering from heat stress? Hermit crabs are tropical animals, and can take temps up to 95 degrees with no problems. So unless you left him in a hot car, it probably wasn't heat related. It was probably PPS (post-purchase stress), which is caused by bad conditions at the supplier and pet store (not that supplier FMR is going to tell you that). I'm sorry you lost him, it's always hard.