Climbing Objects & Humidity

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:08 pm

Hey everyone

I am having trouble finding a piece of wood that wont mold in my crabitat. I have tried Zoo Med's Mopani Wood, and some other wood that claimed to be designed for hermit crabs, but they always started to mold. [smilie=banghead.gif] I dont usually look at the fake wood, because it doesnt seem like the crabs could climb it. Can any one recomend me to a piece of wood , or tell me about a decoration that they can easily climb that wont mold?

Also, I am having a tough time keeping the humidity up in my crabitat. The lid doesnt have any big holes, just one that i covered with plastic wrap. It is usually 60%, until I mist it then it will turn to 75 or 80%, but then it goes back down. I dont want to spend money on an expensive mister either... any help?
[smilie=huh.gif]

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:15 pm

I think I can help you.

Cholla wood is an easy-to-climb (and eat) wood for the crabs. Soak it in saltwater overnight and it really become mold-resistant. Make sure you continue to soak it overnight every month or so to keep it mold-resistant. I've never had any problems with my cholla wood. Fake plants are also pretty mold-resistant, and the crabs love to climb them. Hemp nets are naturally mold-resistant and crabs love those. Just make sure the net has no wax coating or such.

As for the humidity, you can try adding a bubbler pool. It's a system of air that blows bubbles into the water dish. The crabs love them. Also, you can add a moss pit (using Fluker's natural moss) to help boost humidity. Keep your substrate sand-castle consistency and continue misting. Moss pits aren't too expense, but I'm not sure about the pool.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:17 pm

No wood is mold-resistant, unfortunately, but there are other options. You can try boiling cholla wood in salt water every month and it will keep it mold resistant. Fake plants dont mold, resin decorations don't, fishnet (mine go crazy for this) is great, you could try cholla wood, mine doesn't mold quickly at all, but that's just mine.

For humidity, make sure the substrate is sand-castle consistency. You could also add a moss pit. Try Fluker's all-natural (not the dyed stuff) moss and put it in a 2nd level...the crabs love it. You can also try the moss you get at craft stores, but not Spanish moss. It also helps with humidity.

You can also try making Bundy's DIY Humidifier. Look at the top of the DIY section...it's a sticky.

hermietastic · Post by **hermietastic** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 1:18 pm

I had the same problem until I started using ecoearth. It raises it like crazy!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:03 pm

I have a piece of resin driftwood in the tank and the crabs have no problem climbing it. It has little green patches of "moss" on it, and apparently to a crab it looks real, cause I saw one of my crabs trying to eat it the other day. He eventually gave up when he realized there wasn't anything in his pincher. Silly crabby :roll:

hermiefanatic · Post by **hermiefanatic** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:30 pm

i have this one rubber climb branch that my crabs LOVE to climb. even the one with not points on his legs and a broken little claw climbs it with ease. also dry driftwood. btw do you mist the tank? i mis the tank a lot and one time the wood got mold on it because i had acidenly misting the wood

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:32 pm

Wood in tropical climates mold. To prevent the mold, just make sure you boil/soak it in saltwater. Molds don't like to grow on saltwater. It is basically a poison for the mold, but the crabs will love to eat the salt and wood.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:11 pm

Hey, thanks for the replies...

I had an aquarium bubbler, so I put that in the freshwater bowl and it raised the humidity 10%! I had known other ppl used the bubblers, but I dont like to use it cause it is kinda noisy but oh well.

About the climbing wood, I guess I will just look around the petstore next time and try to find something, and I will also look for some netting for them to climb.

Thank you!

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:22 pm

Congratulations on the 10% raise! I'm glad we all could help. Cholla wood is a good choice because hermies can eat it and it has holes in it for them to climb. A boil/soak in saltwater will be perfect for mold-resistancy.

dbolack · Post by **dbolack** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:25 pm

dancinhermielover wrote:No wood is mold-resistant, unfortunately, but there are other options. You can try boiling cholla wood in salt water every month and it will keep it mold resistant. Fake plants dont mold, resin decorations don't, fishnet (mine go crazy for this) is great, you could try cholla wood, mine doesn't mold quickly at all, but that's just mine.

Not to contradict you, but the only time we've ever had mold on the cholla is when food + bedabeast caused mold popped up right next to it and it spread. Now we don't let the cholla rest in the cocofiber. But it does sit ( and gets slightly buried in, wet sand.

We don't do the salt water boil - so we've probably been lucky in that regard, but I think this supports the argument that it's very mold resistant.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:47 pm

I have only boiled mine once, and it has never molded, so I'm not saying it molds easily, I'm just saying that you should boil it every once in a while to keep it mold resistant.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:49 pm

if you go in the bird section of a pet store, you can get some awesome climing wood. There are some with a screw and nut attached at one end, I secured it in my tank and the crabs love it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:56 pm

Hmm, i have some of that wood [cause i have a bird], so maybe i could try that...

And I dont think im going to get any real wood and soak it, its just easier if I get something fake...

thank you!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:51 pm

I would be careful when buying wood from the bird section cause it may be pine or cedar. Just make sure you know what type of wood it is before you give it to your crabs. You would be very upset if you accidentally gave them something that is harmful.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 6:40 pm

If you mist your tat, using salt water for misting will help keep mold levels down. Another thing you might think about is using fresh oak or maple branches and then tossing them when they do mold. Changing to new branches frequently will give them a new challenge to climb and also new leaves will give them a snack.