HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I know it's been a while since I've been on here, but I had to turn to you guys for help.I have guages for temp and humidity that have probes, which is great because I can still see the stats if the tank is foggy. However, the hermies have taken to climbing on the cords and removing the protective rubber coating, which has exposed the copper wiring which is now rusting. The guages still seem to be functioning well enough, but I know the exposed metal is a big no-no for the hermies. Is there anything I can do to cover up the exposed wires, or do I need to just buy new guages? And is there any way I can reinforce the wires or just deter the crabs from climbing on them? Please help!-Megan

The probe form a temp/humidity gauge isn't a live wire, so there's no fire hazard.You can cover it in electrical tape to protect the crabs from it. But there's not much to be scared about. Copper ions in water in high enough concentration are toxic to crustaceans (but relatively non-toxic compared to other heavy metals), but the amount of copper that would leach into moisture droplets on an exposed wire is immeasurably small. Water travels through miles of copper pipes before it reaches your sink with very little leaching.Copper is one of those things that's necessary/beneficial at low levels but toxic at high levels. But I don't think you have to worry about high levels from such a small surface area of copper.