Molting? Sand dryness near UTH

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andyasdgfh
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Molting? Sand dryness near UTH

Post by andyasdgfh » Fri Feb 25, 2022 12:53 am

Hello,

I'm a fairly new owner, but I'd like to think we have all of their needs met. :)

Our crabs have been super active since rescuing them. Eating like crazy, exploring, and even changed out of their stupid painted shells!

The humidity ranges from 85%-92% and heat ranges from 75-80 (it's a bit cold recently where we live). Substrate is 5:1 playsand to eco earth about 6" deep.

One of the crab recently started digging where the UTH is located on the back of the tank. The rest of the tank's sand is good (we poke a finger in and the hole stays) but the UTH dries out the sand right up against the back of the tank. Last night our crab switched shells (yay!) and looks like she dug right in the drier part of the tank. There's no hole entrance, but the sand looks uneven and there's a bit of a mound? if that makes sense. We haven't seen her all day/night, and she is the most active one out of both of them.

I'm worried the sand might collapse if she dug in that area. I'm your typical worry wort, and have posted many worry wort questions already haha Am i just worrying too much? Am i underestimating my crabs? When should I start being legitimately worried? Can you usually locate where the crabs dug under?

-A very worried wort :anon:

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wodesorel
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Re: Molting? Sand dryness near UTH

Post by wodesorel » Fri Feb 25, 2022 5:11 am

They tend to dig down and then travel across the tank underground. They rarely go straight down and stay there! The sand can be rewetted by spraying or pouring water on the dry area while the UTH is off and cooled a little. (Cool water on hot glass can cause cracking, though I've yet to have it happen by being lazy and leaving the heat on.) I have to rewet againt my UTH about every two months to keep things good.
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