Skip to content

Contact Us

crabstreetjournal@gmail.com

The Crab Street Journal
The Crab Street Journal

Good friends in a pinch!

Primary Navigation Menu
Menu
  • Community
    • Blog Posts
      • General
      • ArtWork
      • Ask Milo
      • Caresheets
      • Crabitat
      • Contest Voting
      • FAQ
      • Noteworthy Crabbers
    • Calendar of Events
    • Chewin’ the Choya (Forums)
      • Contest Entry Forum
    • Contest Rules
      • Calendar Crab
      • Crabitat of the Month
      • Hermit Crab Pumpkin Carving Contest
    • CSJ on Social Media
      • Crab Street Journal Instagram Feed
    • Testimonials
  • Resources
    • The Newbies Guide to Hermit Crabs
    • Hermit Crab Emergency Help
    • Adoptions
    • Market (Food Shop)
    • Teacher’s Pet/Claws in the Classroom
    • Advocacy and Outreach
      • Animal Cruelty Laws
      • Pet Store Report Form
      • Pet Store Reports
      • Say NO to Painted Shells
    • Caresheets
      • Crabitat
      • FAQ
      • Food and Nutrition
        • Market (food shop)
        • Recipe Book for Hermit Crabs
          • Hermit Crab Recipe Submission Form
      • Biology
        • Hermit Crab Species
      • PDF Library
    • Shopping Directory
    • Activity Pages
      • Coloring Pages
      • Word Find
      • Mazes
    • There’s a map for that!
      • CSJ/LHCOS Approved Adopters Maps
      • Local Reps Map
      • Hermit Crab Species Map
    • Product Reviews
      • Product Review Submission Form
    • Back issues of our print magazine
    • Media Kit
  • About us
  • Support CSJ!
    • Amazon Promotions
    • Hermit Crab Clothing and Goodies
    • Purchase a Hermit Crab species poster
    • Donate-Paypal

Ask Milo – Flying bugs in tank

Bri4321 submitted the following question :

There are tiny flying brown bugs in my hermit crab cage. I think that they might be gnats or fruit flies. I really need to get rid of them without hurting my crab. How do I get rid of them? Thanks so much if you can help! My hermit crab cage looks like this:

Wire Cage - Unsuitable

Dear Bri4321,

Firstly I would recommend you upgrade from the wire cage to a glass tank with lids as soon as possible. You will continue to have problems with gnats or fruit flies as they are attracted to the hermit crab food and can fly in through the gaps in the wire. There is also no ability to retain humidity or temperature without a closed enclosure. You can pick up some cheap tanks on eBay and Craigslist.

To get rid of the gnats you will need to remove the food from your wire cage, change the substrate (if you have any), change the food on a daily basis and avoid giving them foods which include wheat germ. I would avoid placing fresh fruit for the time being.Just until you have a glass crabitat. There may be gnat larvae in your wire cage so you might need to remove the hermit crabs from the cage, wash out the cage and scrub it, then give your hermit crabs a bath in water with stress coat. Gnats and fruit flies can irritate them.

I would put a towel or blanket over the tank at night when you put your food in to stop more gnats from entering the tank. I hope this helps.

‘Your friend in a pinch,
Milo”

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

2015-05-03
In: Ask Milo
Tagged: advice, askmilo, fruit flies, fruit fly, gnats, hermit crab care, wire cage
Previous Post: Cannibalism
Next Post: The Miss Crustacean Pageant Ocean City, N.J.
Log In

Or Login with your social media account:

Facebook Google Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Amazon Windowslive
logo


Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • Because of Crabs
  • A Guide to Land Hermit Crab Pools
  • 2019 January Voting Polls
  • Shipping to Canada is here!
  • 2018 December Voting

Our other websites

Land Hermit Crab Owners Society (our parent org)
Land Hermit Crab Species
Stacy's hermit crab blog

Proud Member

The Crustacean Society
The Crustacean Society

Designed using Responsive Brix WordPress Theme. Powered by WordPress.

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
%d bloggers like this: