HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi,I recently bought an undertank heater for the coming fall.I test it and put it under my tank in the evening these days, today I try to replace the substrate (which is eco-earth) and find that one of my crabs dig so down that the heat kills it , though it is not hot at all on the surface.What can I do to prevent it from happening again? That poor crab might be just burry itself to molt..Thanks

Well we never recommend bottom mounting a uth pad as they were not created for the purpose of being used with hermitcrabs but instead reptiles that don't need deep or moist substrate so we recommend always side or back mounting the pad on either the side or back wall with just a little bit of the bottom of the pad below the top of the substrate.As this is a much less efficient but safer means of using the pad you will need to have a pad rated for an enclosure 3x's the size of the one your crabs are in so for a ten gallon you'd need a pad rated for a thirty gallon.

quote:Boagrious, Sampson, Eddie ,Hawkeye, Mike and Radar.And three e's Lea-Lu, Theo and Lenard.RIP Delilah, Dan, Carl, Herman, B.J, Harra, Ned, Cool, thanks!I will change the arrengment next time I use it, it never says in the instruction but it's designed for other pets.. I wish I have known this earlier.

Yeah UTH pads were originally designed to be used under reptile enclosures but have been re-purposed in the last ten years for use with small animals like hamsters, guinea pigs and such but have never actually been safe for hermitcrabs when mounted according the package instructions.I think the different manufacturers should re-do their mounting instructions to take into account that these pads are also being used on unusual animals.lolYour welcome for the info and if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.

Sorry about your poor crab! It's so hard to know what's the right way to do things - especially when they don't give proper instructions on the equipment. If you mount it on the side like Crabber85 recommends, you will have no more problems like that!

quote:about your poor crab! It's so hard to know what's the right way to do things - especially when they don't give proper instructions on the equipment. If you mount it on the side like Crabber85 recommends, you will have no more Thank you, Sara!