ExoTerra Terrarium.....

This is where you discuss the conditions of your crabitat -- temperature, humidity, substrate, decorating, etc.
Locked

Topic author
Guest

ExoTerra Terrarium.....

Post by Guest » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:31 am

Just wanted an opinion on this, I am planning on buying the 18"x18"x18" and having a second level. I noticed that almost everyone has a ten or twenty long for their crabbies and was wondering about this terrarium. I love its design. But it is a bit expensive and perhaps I should save some money and get a twenty long...? Opinions would be great, the link below offers some images of what the terrarium looks like.

Thanks guys!!!!

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 006+114048


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:36 am

that seems ok, i have a long tat with one floor, and my high one has a second level

User avatar

OIF_VET
Posts: 431
Joined: Sun Aug 21, 2005 4:30 pm
Location: Ft. Myers Area, Florida!
Contact:

Post by OIF_VET » Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:38 am

I would be Leary. I would think it would be difficult to maintain Humidity.
And the "PolyStyrene" I just wouldnt trust it. Nice Idea! May be good for a Reptile/Snake...
Just my Thoughts.
Welcome to the HCA! Advice for the Stressed, Owners and Crabs alike.
Been Crabby Since 8/16/05 Land, Marine Hermit Crabs Since Summer '04
Currently Have 4 PPs. I have Countless Successful Molts!
MY "Lil Dudes"


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:31 am

I would worry about the humidity and space but the polystyrene background should be fine that's just a fancy word for styrofoam, like Crabber, myself and others here have used as climbing backgrounds :)


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Tue Jun 26, 2007 11:11 pm

Cool, thanks for the replies! I'm thinking alot about it so I'll keep everyone posted. I'm getting some supplies and the tank set up this weekend so we'll see how things go.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:08 am

hi, i looked at the exo terra ones- the main problem is floor space. Its probably fine for 2 hermies tho.


Topic author
Willow

Post by Willow » Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:01 pm

For that price you could get a 40 gallon breeder tank, with a LOT more room. I don't think those terrariums are worth the price. And you can't have much substrate in them (it falls out the doors), so you'd have to only have small crabs in it. If you don't have room for a 40g breeder, you could get a 29 gallon tank. They're the same floorspace as a 20g long, but they're higher, so you can fit more levels in.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:55 pm

Those tanks work great for things like reptiles and tarantulas you can take out the background and make your own like other people have done or you could leave it bare. The main problem that I see is that you can not have very much substrate because, it would fall out when you open the doors, however if you filled it just below the doors, that would be enough for micro sized crabs. The other problem is the small amount of floor space, which does not leave alot of room for water and food dishes, not to mention at least one hide, so you could realistically only have 2 micro or small sized crabs, however there is alot of vertical space, which would be fun to take advantage of. One of the members on here tonycoenobita (?) created wonderful little micro crab tanks and all his crabs looked to be in excellent condition. As a matter of fact, I enjoy making tanks for smaller hermit crabs, rather then big ones because, you don't have to make alot of room for large crabs to move around. And as for the amount of space for a hide you could have one big piece of wood, on the substrate, that has little nooks and holes for the crabs to hide in . Above on the glass you could have things like shelf's and netting and maybe even silicone wood to the glass for all sorts of vertical hides and places to climb on.

If you worried about humidity because of the screen lid you could always just get a piece of plexi-glass cut to fit with holes drilled for ventilation. However, I think you would be ok if you had a humidifier such as the Tropic Air, works great on my tank.

http://www.petdiscounters.com/Humidifie ... p3117.html

The only other problem is the price, because it is true you could get a much larger tank like a 40B for almost the same price, however the over all setup for a 40B would be alot more. If you got the Exo-Terra tank the rest of the setup price would probably be at the most $40-$50 or cheaper if you did not get the Tropic Air Humidifier

I think you could make a wonderful little tank for 2 small hermits if you put thought into it. The only thing that would really take up alot of the floor space, would be the water dish's but ,there are many different types and I'm sure you could find some that would fit well, and be adequate for the crabs.
Last edited by Guest on Sun Jul 01, 2007 12:45 am, edited 3 times in total.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Thu Jun 28, 2007 11:56 pm

You can actually see a better picture of the top of that thing if you go up a level in the menu, (or just click the Reptile Cages link on the left). Looking at that, it's enough like the ExoTerra or ZooMed 20L terrarium I use that I think I can start you in the right direction modifying it.

First off, to compensate for my screen lid, I was given some excellent advice from the members here: damp towel. Even if the towel in question begins to dry out, it'll still hold in humidity and keep the screen relatively insulated.

Secondly, floor space is an issue. If you molt in an ISO tank, it's not much of an issue for multiple crabs. If not, it will be, since your colony will inevitably follow Murphy's Law if the entirely wrong conditions are presented. Otherwise, build up. Hit up Walmart or the nearest shower supply store and pick up a few good shower caddies with heavy duty suction cups on them. Now either thread vines or chola wood between the different caddies and levels to make a sort of jungle gym setup in the tank. Make one or two a moss pit, have a shell changing area, etc. Maximize the floor space you do have by putting the water dishes in the two back corners. If you have something like Crabbage Patch's twin bubble pool setup, this will be easier, they tend to fit in corners well.

I've been looking at these at Petco lately, and judging by the dimensions I see, I estimate that you've got about 4-5 inches of substrate there before you're going to hit the bottom of the black part. That is deep enough for a smallish Large crab, or a biggish Medium to molt in, mine have done so in those conditions. Typically they'll head under the nearest water dish when they do it. The appearance of windows in these areas might be a good signal to ISO if you do that for molters.

To recap:

1. Damp Towel
2. Build up, 3rd or 4th levels are allowed.
3. Water dishes on the main floor in corners.
4. Maybe a hut or two on main floor, nothing else.

Oh, and on the towel front, you can also use a lighting system if you want, just try to find one that's relatively well insulated. I like the dual-bulb EsoTerra, (EsoReptile? It's the one in the long pink box), setup I have with a 25W night bulb on one side and a 25W day bulb on the other. Using the plastic spacers to keep it off the screen, that will usually not put off enough heat to even get the towel more than slightly warm, while still heating up the crabitat to the point the crabbies enjoy basking under it.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:59 am

I don't know much about these kinds of tanks, but I was thinking as I was reading this, for the substrate, you could always angle it a bit from the back to the front. That way you could probably get in at least 6" at the back for larger crabs. Just a thought.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Fri Jun 29, 2007 1:03 pm

B-Dog77 wrote:You can actually see a better picture of the top of that thing if you go up a level in the menu, (or just click the Reptile Cages link on the left). Looking at that, it's enough like the ExoTerra or ZooMed 20L terrarium I use that I think I can start you in the right direction modifying it.

First off, to compensate for my screen lid, I was given some excellent advice from the members here: damp towel. Even if the towel in question begins to dry out, it'll still hold in humidity and keep the screen relatively insulated.

Secondly, floor space is an issue. If you molt in an ISO tank, it's not much of an issue for multiple crabs. If not, it will be, since your colony will inevitably follow Murphy's Law if the entirely wrong conditions are presented. Otherwise, build up. Hit up Walmart or the nearest shower supply store and pick up a few good shower caddies with heavy duty suction cups on them. Now either thread vines or chola wood between the different caddies and levels to make a sort of jungle gym setup in the tank. Make one or two a moss pit, have a shell changing area, etc. Maximize the floor space you do have by putting the water dishes in the two back corners. If you have something like Crabbage Patch's twin bubble pool setup, this will be easier, they tend to fit in corners well.

I've been looking at these at Petco lately, and judging by the dimensions I see, I estimate that you've got about 4-5 inches of substrate there before you're going to hit the bottom of the black part. That is deep enough for a smallish Large crab, or a biggish Medium to molt in, mine have done so in those conditions. Typically they'll head under the nearest water dish when they do it. The appearance of windows in these areas might be a good signal to ISO if you do that for molters.

To recap:

1. Damp Towel
2. Build up, 3rd or 4th levels are allowed.
3. Water dishes on the main floor in corners.
4. Maybe a hut or two on main floor, nothing else.

Oh, and on the towel front, you can also use a lighting system if you want, just try to find one that's relatively well insulated. I like the dual-bulb EsoTerra, (EsoReptile? It's the one in the long pink box), setup I have with a 25W night bulb on one side and a 25W day bulb on the other. Using the plastic spacers to keep it off the screen, that will usually not put off enough heat to even get the towel more than slightly warm, while still heating up the crabitat to the point the crabbies enjoy basking under
it.

I use the Esu-reptile lighting dock. I mainly it use for heating rather than than being the main lighting for the tank for that I use a different set of bulbs. In the day I use a 60watt Zoo-med Blue Day light bulb and that keeps the tank nice and toasty, however I rarely turn it on in the summer months. And for night time, or for occasional lower wattage heating, I use a 40watt Zoo-Med black light which heats and adds lighting for nocturnal viewing. The Zoo-Med Day bulbs work great for heating and for UV lighting, I just prefer to use Repti-Sun bulbs.


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Sun Jul 01, 2007 10:34 am

Wow thanks for the in put guys! I decided to simply opt for a twenty long and its already set up, im going to "water" the sand so that i can have a sand castle consistency...since hermies need and love that!! so I should be posting with in the week pictures of my tat and the new hermies!!

thanks again to everyone who posted, you guys really help make crabbing really enjoyable!!!


Topic author
Guest

Post by Guest » Sun Jul 01, 2007 3:36 pm

Glade we could help :D . Can't wait to see pics.


Cheers ^_^V

Locked