Black Jelly like substance on my crabs abdomen and one died

[ladybug15057]

Your hermies need a much more varied diet and off of the Hermit Crab Cakes.
http://www.petco.com/product/5063/Tetra ... Cakes.aspx

Ingredients
Cracklings, fish meal, fish oil, crab meal, wheat germ meal, dried whey, starch, feather meal, lignin sulfonate. Calcium propionate and ethoxyquin as preservatives.

For a wide variety of foods to offer with the vitamins and minerals they need, see:

http://crabbywiki.com/tiki-index.php?pa ... tion+Table+

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=25

http://www.hermitcrabcuisine.com/

[coledofner12]

I've already tried all the possible sands but they don't like it. Every time I put sand in the tank they start crawling on things and not coming down. I should have a picture by tomorrow or Friday but on the package of the walnut shells it said recommended for hermit crabs,lizards,turtles,etc. I can't order food online because it takes to long, shipping cost to high, and I'm not old enough and parents will not order. I don't know what to say other than the crab cakes have been working fine for the past year and a half.

[ladybug15057]

coledofner12, if you are referring to the links of foods that I mentioned in my post, did you click the links and look? Not one of them are to an online store but to information about foods. In fact many of the foods listed in the links I provided, chances are you already have some of them at home. So please do take time and click onto them for food.
As for the Hermit Crab cakes you are feeding, they contain ethoxyquin which is an insecticide. Hermies are from the arthropod (insect) phylum. Apparently from eating foods with this chemical in them a hermie is not going to drop over dead. But it is more like a possible slow poisoning process.
CrabbyJo already stated it is recommended NOT to use walnuts for a substrate.
As for "suppose to be for hermies" or "sold for hermies" is NOT a solid basis to use a product. It is a known fact manufactures do NOT have the hermies best interest at heart but instead the good ole $$$ and the more of it they can get. Pet store employees... 98% have not one clue as to what is needed for a hermie to thrive and live by while in captivity. Most pet shops don't even have their own tanks set up with the criteria the hermies need while they are at their stores waiting to be sold. Please, do your hermies a favor, read through the Crab Care section here at HCP.

[emmac350]

Ethoxyquin is a slow-acting poison for hermit crabs. Crabs tend to eat foods with it less because they don't like eating the same thing every day, which lets them live longer than if they were eating it daily, but it will kill your crabs, with no two ways about it. I'm sorry, but it's the truth.

Just because things list 'for hermit crabs' doesn't mean they really are for hermit crabs. Hermit crab water treatment products are bad for hermit crabs, most hermit crab foods are bad for hermit crabs, and even "hermit crab sand" is bad for hermit crabs. Some are worse than others - for instance, cypress bedding which is often advertised for being for hermit crabs will cause them to drop their shells and die.

You don't have to buy food online. Crabs can eat most of what your family eats every day, and if you ask your mom for a small piece of the meat you're eating before she seasons and cooks it and some of the veggies and fruits too, you can give it to your crabs and they'll be much healthier for it. I really advise you to check out the links that ladybug15057 gave you because they tell you easy ways to feed your crabs without having to use the poisonous commercial foods or anything really that you can't find at the grocery store.

[Wai]

I've already tried all the possible sands but they don't like it. Every time I put sand in the tank they start crawling on things and not coming down. I should have a picture by tomorrow or Friday but on the package of the walnut shells it said recommended for hermit crabs,lizards,turtles,etc.

Recommended for hermit crabs? Manufacturers of these products don't have a clue how to look after hermit crabs. Don't be fooled by a label that has a picture of a hermit crab or says "hermit crabs" on it. You need to realise that literally any product claimed to be suitable for hermit crabs is in fact not true, because the people who manufacture such products probably have never owned hermit crabs before.

I can't order food online because it takes to long, shipping cost to high, and I'm not old enough and parents will not order. I don't know what to say other than the crab cakes have been working fine for the past year and a half.

Commercial dog food is safe for dogs, but that doesn't mean that commercial hermit crab food is safe for hermit crabs. Dog food is tested thoroughly for safety and nutritional value. On the other hand, I'm not convinced that manufacturers have done any proper research on the hermit crab food. How many of their other products do we recommend? None? Have you had a particular hermit crab for a year and a half yet? If not, there's probably something wrong with the crab cakes. Ethoxyquin is known to be a dodgy substance and should never be found in any food offerred to hermit crabs.

I don't mean to be rude or dominating here, but please, for the sake of your hermit crabs, listen to us. If there are cheaper and safer workarounds for things, we will tell you. If there aren't any, we aren't going to make some up.

[ladybug15057]

Commercial dog food is safe for dogs,

I cannot say for Australia or Canada, but here in the U.S. one cannot feel that all commercial dog food is safe. Some manufactures play on the consumer ignorance and do still put harmful chemicals in the commercial food. (as well as cat foods) One must read the entire label and be VERY selective as to the food they buy for their dogs (and cats) even.

[Wai]

Commercial dog food is safe for dogs,

I cannot say for Australia or Canada, but here in the U.S. one cannot feel that all commercial dog food is safe. Some manufactures play on the consumer ignorance and do still put harmful chemicals in the commercial food. (as well as cat foods) One must read the entire label and be VERY selective as to the food they buy for their dogs (and cats) even.

Oh lol, I'll remember that one.

[CrabbyJo]

Also, Ethoxyquin is a very common preservative in cat and dog foods, and there are arguments about it's safety for even dogs and cats. The only human food you will find Ethoxyquin in in paprika, used to retain color, and that is only approved because of the very small amount that is used. It is not generally approved for human consumption. There have been vetrinarians who argue that EQ also is causing neurological and other problems in dogs and cats. Just an fyi. Do a search for "dangers of ethoxyquin" and I'm sure you can find an article or two.

[ladybug15057]

Not to mention the BHA and BHT found

[CrabbyJo]

So Cole, can you get some pics, or ask your friend who has had hermies for a while to look at the crabs and tell you what he thinks?