Mites

[krabby_katie]

Haha, awsome. I want Xena to come up soon. I miss her waking me up from chirping for no reason. If she doesn't make it through this molt, I think I might cry. She better come up soon!

[Carrie]

I had one crab who "talked" a lot like that. They all have so much personality!! I am soo attached to AK b/c I've had her forever and the loss of Aleta will hurt for a while.

Given that this is supposed to be about "mites" originally... hehe... cleaned out the big tank today. I used a small amount of Dawn dish detergent and a lot of water; I left the tank outside w/ water w/ a very high amount of salt (Instant Ocean) in it overnight. It's drying in the sun.

Substrate this time will be genuine beach sand mixture w/ "jungle earth," but a higher sand content this time. Also going to make a 'hot/cool' division as to where the UTHs go. In Claude's (iso) tank I noticed they mostly stayed on the "cool" side (it was too hot in there!) and I noticed last spring when I used CalciSand for 2/3 of the tank and "jungle earth" for 1/3 they again stayed on the cooler (earth) side. The pre-molters just go to wherever the most moisture is and dig on in and don't seem to mind the extra heat. The ones in the mass molt who molted in the earth 1/3 survived, but there were 3 molts in one night before I even realized they'd happened. The later ones (including Claude) survived. in theory they need differing temps for different parts of the molting cycle. And if they have the options available in the tank, they will know where to go and what to do.

I boiled, baked and even microwaved the tank toys and things (driftwood, coral, rocks, water/food dishes, natural sea sponges).

Given the increase in protein (chicken drumsticks being offered 2x a week) the crabs' coloring seems to be improving; also resumed calcium supplements in the water. It's amazing how fast relatively simple changes take effect. I've been giving them extra protein (Bloodworms, etc.) and only calcium (BabyShrimp) instead of Treat... and it's already showing. I think the crabs who molted in March are the paler ones; the two pre-molt guys look darker now.

Good luck, Katie!!

[krabby_katie]

Good to hear that they're getting darker! Whenever I need to clean my tank for mites, I use vinegar. I had to do that with my turtle tank when I had it. Anyways, it works pretty good. You just have to rinse it like a 100 times after.

[Carrie]

I ended up using a ton of "Instant Ocean" in the main tank and letting it soak overnight... and then a small amount of Dawn dish soap on the iso tank (since they had to live somewhere in a hurry!) Rinsed a ton, as you said1 The salt water is something mentioned in a post somewhere on here about mites a while back, from my search for previous 'mite' posts. I washed all the blankets on my bed just in case, too. I even microwaved the water dish and food dish, as last night was considered an emergency, when I cleaned out the iso tank everyone was living in! They've since also been boiled. Everything else, either boiled or baked.

I hadn't thought of vinegar. Turtle care would be a good segue into hermie care... b/c turtles are just about as complicated and prone to more complications in their environment that would require extensive cleaning. I always wanted a big box turtle who'd roam the house like a cat or dog would. Or a COCONUT CRAB.

[krabby_katie]

Yeah. My turtle was about the size of a dinner plate. No joke. I had to give her away though. I was loosing sleep because of her. She would constantly bang her shell off of the tank.

[hermitcrabsrock]

Glad the mites are gone (they are, right?)

Yeah. My turtle was about the size of a dinner plate. No joke. I had to give her away though. I was loosing sleep because of her. She would constantly bang her shell off of the tank.

That's odd, because my turtle is the size of a quarter. Hehe. But I had tortiouse named Floid who was pretty big.

[krabby_katie]

I want to get a little turtle sometime. I bet they would be better to have.

[Carrie]

Like Aleta... she'd get active in the tank and wake me up all night sometimes. I used to get frustrated and just put her and AK on the floor (the biggest) and just let em go. (Back when I still lived at w/ my parents they'd ask "are the crabs in the tank YET??") i used to worry that they'd hurt one another or the little ones. (My original biggies, Trauma and Phobia, back pre-2003 days--got this honor. Honour?)

The big turtle sounds cool... Kinda like what I want running around my house now that i have one. I worked w/ one mgr who had some small turtles and they molt and everything, so for once someone wasn't bored about my hermit crab stories. We'd trade.

I THINK the mites are gone. Only time will tell.... I suppose?? I've done everything I've read about on here, at any rate, and anywhere else. I'm cheating and doing the big tank tomorrow. In a smaller tank hopefully the little ones have a chance to get extra food, since the chicken drumsticks are all around, plus the calcium-infused water, plus the food dish w/ bloodworms.

I want a coconut crab...

I had this big shell when I was 10 and I swore one day I'd find a crab big enough to live in it. So far Phobia (1999-2002) and Aleta have been big enough to try it on.

[krabby_katie]

I found a big shell a few weeks ago. It's pretty big. I want to get a crab big enough to fit in it. It's about the size of a freakin softball!

[Carrie]

I have a shell like that, too. We can only dream!!

The "big house" has been reconstructed. I hope they like it. I added some new things to climb on and hide under, etc. In the meantime I've gotten to know the Miscellany better... I've always been afraid to get them out b/c they're small and they might get lost... but I can tell that Dolly wants out for sure (she climbs everything) and she's not afraid. (She earned her name by using the escape route Benazir had memorized so I think she's Benazir, really, in a different shell.)

Claude can have his own tank now (w/ the smaller UTH on it). It really was a bit hot in Claude's tank.

I hope.. no more mites. I washed the blankets, too, just in case?? It's been a 3 day long project. **whew**