Cleaning A Sponge

[charcoal44]

Hi all,
I received 3 crabs for my birthday, great little pets, I've been reading up on all the info on caring for them, and put a natural sponge into to their crabitat soaked in spring water.

I read that these need to be cleaned by boiling them in spring water to kill of any mould/bacteria, would a burst in the microwave be as good?

[Wai]

Hi there, you don't need to put a sponge in the water. The bacteria will quickly regrow in the sponge anyway and the increase in humidity is likely to be negligible.

[ladybug15057]

I use to use sponges in our early days, but quit using them due to how high maintenance they are. Putting them in the microwave wet will make about a baseball size sponge turn into a golf ball size sponge. (and water does not make it swell to the original size either) They can be used dry, the hermies will nibble on them. They do have a low percentage of chitin in them.