5 Ways to Keep Hermit Crab Habitats Free from Pests!
Hermit crab habitats can attract unwanted bugs, pests, hitchhikers plus mold, mildew, fungus, bacteria. Yuck! But there are easy steps to take to help keep hermit crab habitats free from pests and unwanted, unhealthy issues!
It’s pretty gross when you realize you’ve got fruit flies enjoying the food more than your hermit crabs! Or when you see teeny tiny mites crawling all over. Take steps to avoid the nastiness!
With these 5 ways to keep hermit crab habitats free from pests, your hermit crab habitat will be healthier and happier for many years to come!
What to look out for:
- mites
- fruit flies
- ants
- earwigs
- fungus gnats
- plus mold & mildew
Mites
Mites seem to be the one pest that is most challenging to hermit crab pet owners. They can hitchhike into the habitat, undetected.
They are tiny… really, really tiny! They can hitchhike in substrate, on food, with a new hermit crab, on wood or other elements you add into the habitat. And they can spread from another habitat you may have in the house (reptile mites are a common problem).
Mites reproduce quickly, and become quite obvious in a short amount of time.
There are SO many types of mites, some are easier to get rid of than others. The best way to rid your habitat of mites is to set up a quarantine habitat for your hermit crabs and move them temporarily. Then you can do a complete cleaning and overhaul of substrate/moss in your main habitat.
Not all situations are the same. What works for some may not work as well for others. Depending on where you keep your habitat, how many hermit crabs you have, if any are currently molting, if you have a quarantine tank or place to keep them for a few weeks. The larger the problem, the longer it will take to eradicate them.
Check out more info on Mite Infestations in reptile habitats and ways to eradicate them.
Fruit Flies
Fruit flies (yuck!!!) are very common pests in reptile habitats. Why? They LOVE moist food like fresh fruits and vegetables. The more rotten the food, the more these fruit flies are happy (and that’s where they’ll lay their eggs)! They reproduce rapidly (while flying, gross!), and will end up flying all over your house.
These tiny little fly eggs can easily hitchhike into your home on fresh foods, most especially fruits. WASH ALL FRESH FOODS as soon as you bring them into your home, and especially before placing in your hermit crab habitat!
Getting rid of fruit flies means getting rid of moist, fresh food. NEVER let food rot inside your hermit crab habitat.
Dry foods should be replaced every 24 hours.
Moist foods should be replaced every 12 hours.
Ants
Ants are attracted to things in a hermit crab habitat like food, water and substrate. One or two ants won’t cause a nuisance and will soon leave or die. It’s the big trail of ants busily going in and out that can be overwhelming!
Their scouters will identify and target the habitat as a good new food source or new home and eventually a trail of hundreds will be seen barging into the enclosure, grabbing food and carrying it out OR worse yet, making their home inside!
It’s important to note: if you see a trail of ants leading into your hermit crab enclosure, DON’T PANIC! First, do NOT start spraying insect killer! You can harm your hermit crabs! Chances are the ants don’t intend to stay.
Sometimes if you leave them, they will get what they want and leave within a day. It’s unlikely they’ll want to make their home inside, so sometimes it’s worth giving them a day and chances are, they’ll be completely gone within a day or two.
If you leave ants and their population grows larger, which can happen, try to get rid of them naturally first. They just want food and water. So remove food and water!
Move your hermit crabs into another temporary habitat (big brown box, your quarantine tank, big plastic storage box etc.) away from the main habitat with the ant issue.
Then take out all food and water from the main habitat, replace substrate and moss (which probably has bits of food in it). And while your hermit crabs are gone, clean the surface area and bottom of habitat with white vinegar or other non-toxic pet-safe cleaner.
Earwigs and Fungus Gnats
Earwigs and fungus gnats are other pests that have been reported by hermit crab pet owners. They can invade a hermit crab habitat fairly easily and quickly, but these insects are usually only a few at a time versus a full infestation. They usually hitchhike inside your home on houseplants. Once inside, they can find their way to your hermit crab habitat and if they can get inside, and find moist and/or slightly rotting food, they’ll want to hang around.
5 Ways to Keep Hermit Crab Habitats Free from Pests!
1. Hermit Crab Enclosures should always be raised off the ground
Don’t keep a hermit crab habitat, tank or enclosure directly on the ground, or on a surface that shares houseplants or other animal enclosures.
The further the enclosure is, away from the ground or other potential sources of bugs and pests, the better!
Note: never place insecticide products near a hermit crab habitat. And never assume ants eating ant-killer… can’t bring some of that toxin into your crabitat! Keep the habitat raised from the ground and keep toxins far away.
2. Remove all fresh foods within 24 hours
By removing all fresh fruits and vegetables within 24 hours, you’re preventing rot which attracts fruit flies and fungus gnats (as well as ants and other pests).
If possible, remove these foods within 12 hours. Main culprits of fruit flies, etc? Bananas, mango and other foods that are moist and rot more quickly.
If you have the space, keep two separate food bowls: 1) fresh foods that should be removed within 24 hours and 2) foods that won’t rot, degrade or mold (microgreens, hermit crab dried foods, fish food as a snack, etc (non-moist foods which are also good to use as vacation food).
3. Quarantine all new Hermit Crab pets
Want to add new hermit crab pets into an established hermit crab habitat? Make sure to keep your new hermies quarantined (isolated) for a few days.
Keep them in a box or plastic tub with all of their needs… and watch them closely. Give them food and water but no need for substrate.
You want to watch the plastic or box that you have them in for any creepy crawlies like mites or other pests. Watch their behavior to make sure they are healthy. Pick them up, watch how the recoil into their shell, check their legs closely, and make sure you don’t see anything out suspicious.
After a couple of days and as long as they look healthy (with no mites or anything weird or unhealthy in sight) it should be safe to introduce them to your other hermit crabs.
4. Wash all empty shells, dishes regularly
Empty shells: wash all new empty shells before adding them to the habitat. And do the same for your other empty shells 1-2 times per year or when you’re replacing substrate. Stay away from chemicals and toxins when washing.
For empty shells, soak them in cup of hot water with a drop of dishwashing liquid, them rinse them really well. Some people use boiling water. But don’t use any sort of spray cleaner or other soaps, there could be unhealthy residue left behind or caught deep inside the shell.
Food and water dishes: keep all food and water dishes clean at all times. The smaller the water or food dish is, the more often they need to be cleaned. We use two larger food dishes, one we wash once a week or so.
The other food dish we only use for fresh fruits and veggies and we wash that one every night when we remove old food and replace with new food. The other food dish is for dry food, sushi or fish food flake snacks and other treats that don’t rot easily.
Most water dishes should be dumped out and refilled once a day, and cleaned in the process. Hot water plus a drop of dishwashing liquid keeps everything healthy.
However, if you have a larger water pool, especially if you have a small filter in it, cleaning it once a week or so is usually fine. Remember: hermit crabs WILL poop in their water! Keep the water healthy. Unhealthy water can make them sick.
USE THE POWER OF THE SUN! WANT TO ADD SOME WOOD FROM YOUR BACKYARD? LAY IT ON A TABLE OUTSIDE FOR A FEW DAYS OR WEEKS AND LET THE SUN BLEACH AWAY ANY UNWANTEDPESTS, MILDEW, DECAYING ORGANIC MATERIAL THAT COULD ATTRACT UNWANTED PESTS. THE SUN WORKS GREAT TO PREPARE NATURAL ELEMENTS BEFORE ADDING THEM TO YOUR HERMIT CRAB HABITAT!
5. Clean Substrate and Hang-outs Periodically
The smaller the hermit crab habitat, the more often it needs to be cleaned. The top layer of substrate should be topped-off (add a thin layer of substrate on top), sifted (use a sand shovel to scoop poop) or replaced, regularly.
A full substrate replacement should be done every few months for smaller habitats, and 1-4 times per year for larger habitats. Frequency also depends on how many hermit crabs you have in your habitat (the more hermies, the more often you need to clean up the substrate) and depth of your substrate.
Also wash or replace moss and flat surfaces periodically. You’ll notice the favorite spots of your hermit crabs by the piles of tiny poop! Hanging coconut hideaways will end up with lots of poop at the bottom… it’s important to clean that out periodically as well.
Generally speaking, ants and bugs aren’t attracted to hermit crab poop. However, if a pile of hermit crab poop gets moist it could become attractive to unwanted pests. Best to keep the habitat clean and healthy!
AND... MAKE SURE TO KEEP MOLD OUT OF YOUR HERMIT CRAB HABITAT!
Top two ways to get mold in your hermit crab habitat?
- Rotting food
- Too much moisture
Mold in hermit crab habitats can start with a few spores and a few specks… but can grow quickly! It’s important to watch for mold periodically and make sure the parameters (humidity, temperature) don’t contribute to mold growth. More on avoiding mold in hermit crab tanks here!
Whenever adding anything from your backyard, outdoors, in nature, or purchased online… make sure it’s completely safe from pests, molds, pesticides!
There could be lots of tiny pests like mites, fruit fly eggs, mold, fungus or bacteria etc. that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to see. Clean them appropriately, leave them out in direct sun for a week or two or find other ways to ensure they are suitable before adding to your habitat.
It’s always a good idea to stick to the moss products that are marketed as “pet-safe” and “non-toxic” to ensure you aren’t exposing your hermit crab pets to anything bad for them. But even then, it IS possible to acquire some hitchhiking pests.
So use the above 5 ways to keep hermit crab habitats free from pests…. and you’ll maximize your chances of a healthy, happy hermit crab habitat for many years to come.
Last update on 2024-05-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API