HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I am going to try and go with 3 to start... (back, and both sides). I feel like I can always add or subtract if need be. At minimum the bulk of my crabitat will be significantly warmer, so they should like that better.

I hate using the heat lamp I have b/c it just sucks all humidity out ASAP

Hi everyone. I've been trying to get the heat up in my crabitat, and want to make it work. It's currently 70-73 degrees normally, with only a small UTH. Will adding in a larger or multiple UTH raise my temp enough to get me to 85+ degrees? Crabitat is 96 gallons, and I can add one on each side, but ...

I’ve seen people say this before. How do you know your crabs what’s to molt? What are the signs?

I didn’t either.

The issue is I have the crabs in the basement and even in mid summer it won’t get above 70. I can’t use an UTH on wood, so this looks like it could solve my issues.

What are people’s thoughts on these: https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zoo-med-repti-heat-cable-1475-length It’s a Repti Heat Cable. It can run along wood and now be an issue. I could use this to bring my temp up just enough since I’m still struggling with it. I can even place it behi...

I would be careful. My crabs like to molt in my moss pit. If I were you, I would wait for nighttime to see how many crabs come out of the moss pit on their own- if one or two remain, they're probably just buried, but there's a possibility they are molting. I would pick a day when they all come out ...

I am not an expert, but I dont think it's an issue if you move them out of the moss pit for cleaning. They aren't molting there, which from what I know is the only time not to disturb them

Ok that absolutely makes me feel better. I was planning on at least 4-5 going down almost immediately bc who knows when they last were able to and they were past due

Hi everyone. I currently have 10 crabs in a 96 gallon tank. The setup has plenty of climbs, hides food etc. The humidity is typically 77-88 %, and heat from room temp of 67-77, but I have a couple heating units inside that keep in warmer in some areas certainly. I have a salt & fresh water pool, tha...

Well I can't find one today, so he either escaped or went down. Either option should be fun

Motörcrab wrote: ↑

Thu May 07, 2020 8:26 am

With the heat from the lamps it will dry out. See if you can poke your finger into the sand. When you pull your finger out and there is a hole, it's good!

Yup just checked, there is a hole when I do that

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Thu May 07, 2020 7:57 am

A radiant heat panel set onto the lid may work with this setup.

Interesting, didnt think of that. Will check it out. Would this suck humidity out as well though?

Is your substrate mixed with dechlorinated water? Does the substrate hold its shape like if you would try to build a sandcastle ? If it doesn't the crabs will not be able to properly dig and form tunnels and caves. That's the only reason I can think of as to why a crab wouldn't dig. The two links s...

They molt on their own terms. Some crabs like to molt as soon as they find fresh substrate, others wait months until they go down. Smaller crabs tend to molt more then bigger crabs, just make sure your feeding them the right food and you should expect them go down once they finish exploring the new...

To clarify, the entire enclosure is made of wood? So the moist sub sits on and against wood? Do you have a lid/ cover for it? What is the humidity? What is the current temperature? Yes the entire thing is made of wood, but has tarp surrounding where the substrate goes to prevent mold and decay on t...