HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I just put up our families first crabitat about 5 hours ago. The humidity is running a bit high 85-90%. I know removing the sponge would reduce humidity, but someone at the pet store told me crabs NEED the sponge to drink from.

I'm starting to get the impression that is not true. Can anyone "in the know" comment?

Thanks!

sponges are not necessary for hermies to drink from....they will drink directly from the water dish,,,,sponges help with humidity if your crabitat has a tendency to run low (which you said was not a problem)...they can also be a safety feature for smaller hermies in large water dishes....rocks or pieces of coral can serve the same purpose.....

I'm no expert but when crabs are in the wild they have no sponge to drink from. Just the ocean, fresh water puddles (from rain), whatever other form of water they find.

Yeah, my humidity is on the high side, so I don't use sponges in my dishes. Just make sure that the crabs you have are able to get out of the dish okay without a sponge. One of my crabs is smaller than the other ones, so I put a piece of coral right beside the water dish. I've seen her use it to get out of the dish. Good luck with the new family additions!

Nope, I don't use sponges either. The only time I used them, was to keep some of my micros from drowning in a deeper pool. When my humidity began to rise, I switched out the sponges in the water bowls for a piece of coral.

I use sponges for humidity, but I keep it completely out of crab's reach so they don't contaminate it w/ poop, food, mold, etc. Sponges are messy too. If you don't need it for humidity I would rinse it in saltwater, let it dry out completely, and put it in storage in case you have a humidity issue at a future time.

I got sick of spongs too - replacing them every couple days... blah - who cares if they aren't needed?

I don't use sponges just because I get too worried about the bacteria in them. If you are worried about a crab getting stuck in the water dish you can put a few pebbles or even some small shells in there for them to climb on.

I use sponges for the humidity because I am ALWAYS having these ANNOYING humidity problems!!!! I've noticed that the hermes don't drink from the sponge as much as they clean themselves on it. It's so funny. They just scrub their little claws into it and clean away. There have been a couple of times I haven't had a sponge in there and they seemed to drink more of the fresh water than usual. You always have to clean or boil the sponge every one or two days to prevent bacteria growth which can be very harmful to the hermies. I'm really only using them because of the humidity, but I truly agree that it is annoying to have to replace them every couple of days. Listen to Angelfaery if you are worried about smaller crabs not being able to get out safely. One tip: If you use sponges, do not use them in salt water dishes or pools!! They become really nasty rather quickly.

I'm curious....... for those of you who don't use a sponge for humidty, how do you keep your humidity up?

I have 1/2 and and 1/2 forest bedding. The forest bedding is great at keeping humidity. Also, I have an emergency home-made humidifier that I made in case the humidity drops. I wouldn't suggest putting a UTH under a water dish for humidity, as it will cause stress cracks in the glass.

I honestly never noticed that sponges did anything for the humidity levels. I'm inclined to believe that's only a hermie urban legend . The thing that seems to make the most difference for humidity is having a nice moist substrate. If you still have problems with the humidity after that, you might want to put bubbler stones in the water dish, or buy/make a humidifier.

I dunno how I keep my humidity up.... I guess it just goes up. lol actaully, every so often I spray these coconut fiber climbing mats. maybe that helps.