You want to do your best to keep your hermit crabs safe. This is why you put effort into maintaining the hermit crab’s habitat.
Cleaning the habitat now and then is important when you don’t want it to get stinky. These pets can get smelly if you don’t clean up semi-regularly.
Have you noticed that there’s mold in the hermit crab tank recently? Sometimes this happens in hermit crab tanks and it catches owners by surprise.
What does it mean when you see mold in the hermit crab tank? Should you take a specific action to keep this from happening again?
Read on to learn about this issue. It’ll make it so you’ll understand exactly what you need to do.
Mold Isn’t Good for Hermit Crabs
You likely suspect that mold isn’t good for hermit crabs. Seeing mold in the tank is something that should act as a call to action.
Allowing mold to remain in the tank is going to put the hermit crabs in danger. Thus, you’ll want to work to clean it up.
Later, you’ll learn exactly how to go about cleaning up mold in a hermit crab habitat. For now, you might be wondering just how bad this can be for your crab.
When mold starts growing in the tank, it’s possible that the mold will spread. It might even begin to grow on the hermit crabs themselves.
Some types of mold will be very dangerous for hermit crabs. Others won’t be concerning at all, but it isn’t always easy to tell which is which.
It’s possible that the mold might cause hermit crabs to get a fungal infection. This fungal infection can erode the hermit crab’s shell and it’ll even kill the crab over time.
Even more troubling is the fact that this fungal infection can spread from one hermit crab to another. If you don’t take care of issues such as this, it’s possible that all of your hermit crabs could die.
Whenever you see mold in the tank, the best course of action is to take things seriously. It could be an extremely dangerous mold that will take your pets out.
Tips for Cleaning the Mold
Cleaning the mold off of the tank isn’t too difficult. You still want to do things the right way to ensure that it’ll be safe for your pet hermit crabs.
To start, remove the hermit crabs from the habitat and place them in a safe temporary habitat. Now go ahead and remove all of the shells from the tank as well as any decorations or toys.
You want to begin cleaning the substrate thoroughly. Clean it all out and then scrub the tank with a bleach and water cleaning solution.
Water that contains three percent bleach will get the job done. Some also choose to buy commercial cleaning products that are meant for reptile habitats.
Either option is going to be just fine. What’s important is to be thorough when scrubbing the tank.
You’ll also need to scrub the shells, decorations, and toys. When you’re done, rinse the shells, decorations, and toys with lukewarm water to remove any traces of bleach.
Rinse the tank itself with lukewarm water, too. Allow the tank, shells, decorations, and toys to dry in the sun.
Get rid of the old sand from the tank and get it out of the house. Put it in a garbage bag and get it out of the door and into a garbage can.
Grab a new bag of sand and fill the habitat with as much of it as you need. Place the shells, decorations, and toys back in the tank.
Now you can add the hermit crabs back to the tank. Things should be much better now.
Preventing Future Issues with Mold
Preventing future issues with mold will involve cleaning the habitat regularly. If mold starts growing in the tank, it’s a sign that you haven’t been cleaning enough.
To get the best results, you should do a bit of cleaning each day. Clean up little messes and do some spot cleaning on a daily basis.
Do a larger cleaning session once per week. If you keep up with a schedule like this, it’s less likely that mold will become an issue in the tank.
You can also buy mold-inhibiting saltwater spray instead of standard water when misting the tank. This should make it harder for mold to grow.
When you add new decorations or toys to the tank, soak them in saltwater before you put them in the habitat. Do this for at least ten minutes and then allow everything to dry in the sun.
Little precautions like this help to prevent issues with mold. You’ll do a good job of protecting your hermit crabs by being a proactive pet owner.
Final Thoughts
Now you know how to deal with mold in a hermit crab tank. It can be annoying to see mold start growing in the tank, but you can keep this from happening in the future.
To start, you must clean the mold out of the tank as soon as you can. Scrub the tank down with a bleach and water solution after removing the substrate.
You want to thoroughly clean the tank as well as any decorations, toys, and shells that are present. Do your best to scrub the tank down and then rinse everything off with warm water.
Allow the tank and the items that were in the tank to dry in the sun. This should get rid of the mold and your hermit crabs will be safe.
Keep the mold from coming back again by doing your best to clean the tank regularly. Do a bit of cleaning each day and then do a large cleaning session once per week.
Sticking to this schedule makes it simpler to keep the tank in good shape. Your hermit crabs should do just fine under your care when you’re putting in the effort.
Always take issues with mold seriously. Some types of mold could wind up killing your hermit crabs.
Never take any chances when you see mold. Clean it off right away and then be more careful to keep mold from growing in the tank again.
Jeff has always enjoyed having pets, but as a child, he was drawn to his family’s fish tank. Being able to maintain a small ecosystem and observe the behaviors and interactions in the underwater world peaked his interest early on and has kept him hooked until this day. On Avid Aquarist, Jeff shares everything he’s learned about helping aquatic life survive and thrive in a home aquarium.