In Need of Opinion on Misting/Humidity and Lid Selection

[TheCrabbyJohnsons]

Fairly new to crabbing here! We have one medium sized PP (hoping to adopt more whenever we can find some!) in a 10 gallon tank and while the temperature has been right at 80, the humidity is often in the mid 70s, sometimes even high 60s... I mist every morning and in the evening if the humidity is low again. I have a mesh lid, so maybe that's the issue? Is getting a glass lid ok? Since we just got him, he has been hiding a lot in his shelter, and I know PPs tend to be fairly inactive during the day, but I don't want to mistake his behavior for there being something less than ideal or harmful in his environment! Thanks in advance!

[doth]

Fairly new to crabbing here! We have one medium sized PP (hoping to adopt more whenever we can find some!) in a 10 gallon tank and while the temperature has been right at 80, the humidity is often in the mid 70s, sometimes even high 60s... I mist every morning and in the evening if the humidity is low again. I have a mesh lid, so maybe that's the issue? Is getting a glass lid ok? Since we just got him, he has been hiding a lot in his shelter, and I know PPs tend to be fairly inactive during the day, but I don't want to mistake his behavior for there being something less than ideal or harmful in his environment! Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I'd recommend getting a glass lid. They don't need much air flow so just opening the lid once a day to feed them is enough. If you can't get a new lid right away you can cover the mesh lid with saran wrap to help keep the humidity in.

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[GotButterflies]

I also recommend the glass lid

How high is your substrate? The deeper your substrate is, the easier it is to keep your humidity right. Also, I want to make sure that you mixed your substrate with dechlorinated marine saltwater or dechlorinated freshwater to make it sandcastle consistency. IMO, substrate should be at least 6" or 3 times the height of your largest crab if they are purple pinchers.

I don't recommend misting your tank. It can lead to flooding.

What do you use for lighting and heating? IMO heat lamps are terrible at making the humidity evaporate, so I personally do not like them. A vast majority of crabbers use the ultratherms to heat the air instead of heat lamps. Ultratherms: www.reptilebasics.com or www.beanfarm.com

With mesh lids you can cover them in Press-N-Seal, or cut open gallon sized Ziploc bags and tape them to the outside with packaging tape to help keep the humidity in the tank.
Humidity boosters: Bubblers definitely do help boost the humidity. Double dish bubblers: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... r#p1030806

You can also add moss pits to help. You would use organic moss (as well as moss that is on the safe list), and moisten it with dechlorinated fresh water. Then, put the moss in a shower caddy or a glass vase laying on it's side so the hermits can walk in and out of it. Glass tops also help keep humidity in.

[RiNiKy506]

Agree with above posts, a lot of great advice above, getting a glass lid will really help your humidity. Setting up following our recommended guidelines will make it so much easier for you. Sealed lid, 5:1 ratio of play sand to coco fiber, sandcastle consistency, with a good brand heat mat covering the back of your tank from the substrate up, and insulating you’re heat mat. I’m not a fan of misting bc it can lead to a flood very quickly. A lot of the water and condensation goes to the bottom of the tank and we don’t notice it until it’s too late. Unless you check your tank with something like a chop stick or knife, going to the bottom of the tank and making sure the water doesn’t fill the area you have gone down too. Use press-n-seal or something similar until you can get your glass lid. It can feel overwhelming trying to learn everything all at once but you’ll get there, we’ve all been there, it does get easier. Lol! I think I got my 10 gal lid at a local pet store, it was easier to measure and then return if it didn’t fit properly. Depending on the brand of tank and brand of lids, they all fit a little differently. I’ve had good luck with the MarineLand Perfecto brand glass canopy lids. I’ve bought a few at local pet stores and a few on Amazon. Let us know if you need anything else.

[TheCrabbyJohnsons]

Thank you all for the help!

We will look into getting a glass lid and sealing our mesh one until we can get one. The substrate is about 6" deep, sandcastle consistency, and we definitely used dechlorinated freshwater Thank you for the info on misting! I had no idea it could be harmful in the future.

We bought a side take heater for heating and light is just the natural light of the room. As to the humidity boosters, we feel like the tank is already so full and adding a moss pit or bubbler would make it very crowded even for our one guy. He is a medium sized crab. Any suggestions on spacing in the tank? The biggest thing taking up space is the shelter, but we are looking for a better one for him. Other tank items are a saltwater dish, freshwater dish, food dish, and extra shell (more coming). Also a climbing thing.

[GotButterflies]

Hello So, first of all, bubblers is kind of a simple term that us crabbers call air stones. The air stones would go into the crab's pools. Crabs are supposed to have pools that they can fully submerge in. Those pools that the "bubblers" would go into would replace your saltwater dish and your freshwater dish. Hopefully that makes sense.

You can make your moss pit from a shower caddy. shower caddy's have suction cups. Search on here or search on pinterest looking at hermit crab tanks. Everything doesn't need to go on the floor of the tank You can make your crab tank have two levels. The moss pit can have a ladder leading up to it. Get creative with your limited space

Heaters kind of do better on the back of the tank. You can try to insulate around your heat pad with aluminum foil (shiny part facing the crabitat), then cardboard. Don't insulate over your heating pad if it is a zoomed. If doing the insulation doesn't raise your temperature, you might want to consider getting a better heater. Most of us use ultratherms. They are great heaters. www.reptilebasics.com or www.beanfarm.com sells them.

[TheCrabbyJohnsons]

Hello So, first of all, bubblers is kind of a simple term that us crabbers call air stones. The air stones would go into the crab's pools. Crabs are supposed to have pools that they can fully submerge in. Those pools that the "bubblers" would go into would replace your saltwater dish and your freshwater dish. Hopefully that makes sense.

You can make your moss pit from a shower caddy. shower caddy's have suction cups. Search on here or search on pinterest looking at hermit crab tanks. Everything doesn't need to go on the floor of the tank You can make your crab tank have two levels. The moss pit can have a ladder leading up to it. Get creative with your limited space

Heaters kind of do better on the back of the tank. You can try to insulate around your heat pad with aluminum foil (shiny part facing the crabitat), then cardboard. Don't insulate over your heating pad if it is a zoomed. If doing the insulation doesn't raise your temperature, you might want to consider getting a better heater. Most of us use ultratherms. They are great heaters. www.reptilebasics.com or www.beanfarm.com sells them.

Thank you, that does make sense about the bubblers! Don't they have an attached pump? Wondering how to set this up with the lid and all. Thank you for the insight on tank use and levels! And I put the heat pad on the back of the tank so we'll see how that works.

[hermie3]

Does an ultratherm need additional insulation (when mounted on the back of the tank)? If so, what do you use for insulation?

[GotButterflies]

Yes, the air stones would be attached to an air pump. You can pick up air pumps for relatively cheap on Amazon. Here is the link again: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... r#p1030806

Ultratherms can be insulated if they need to be. Depending on the type, the size you get, and the temperature of the room that you keep your hermits in. You can try to insulate around your heat pad with aluminum foil (shiny part facing the crabitat), then cardboard. You could also purchase a product called Reflectix if you prefer. It looks like carshade material. You can purchase it from Lowe's, HomeDepot or Amazon. It comes in a huge roll that you would cut to size. They also make Reflectix tape.

Don't insulate over your heating pad if it is a zoomed. If doing the insulation doesn't raise your temperature, you might want to consider getting a better heater. Most of us use ultratherms. They are great heaters. www.reptilebasics.com or www.beanfarm.com sells them.

I hope this answers your questions

[HermitofHermitCrabs]

I have a glass lid and run an air stone in a deep pool and it keeps my humidity around 80-85%.