My substrate will NOT retain moisture

[CrabbyLover77]

What exactly is "sand castle consistancy"? Is it wet to the touch and shapable, but not dripping when you squeeze it?

Yep, you worded it perfectly.

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[Serendipity]

Sorry for the late response, but I believe that is correct. It should be able to hold a sand castle but yes, it should not be dripping wet.

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

My tank is 29 gallons and I have three pp crabs with about 6 inch deep sand and eco earth substrate. Though it may have too much sand? No matter what I do, my substrate won’t retain moisture. At first I thought my heating mat was too low, so I moved it up above the substrate and used a whole gallon of prime treated water to remoisten all of the substrate (I did this a few months ago). At the time we went on vacation so they were in a separate tank for the petsitter. Anyway, since they were in another tank I was able to painstakingly remix all of the sub with water and add more since it sunk down it was so dry. After I remixed it, I put the crabs back in and they all immediately started digging and molting which told me that I should have done that a lot sooner. Another big reason I did it was because just before, two of my crabs had surface molts (they were successful in their molts but it was still very scary). Sadly, about a month or more later, the substrate was completely dry even after all of my hard work of remixing it! Its been a while later and I have tried misting it, thinking that was doing something but it only moistened the top of it because I noticed when I put my finger in, it doesn’t hold a hole. On top of this problem, I haven’t seen two of my crabs for a few weeks so I assumed they have been molting but I haven’t seen any molting holes on the side of the glass even though I usually do. Obviously, they could just be molting in the center of the tank, but I’m worried their caves could have collapsed from the dryness! I went on vacation for two weeks (I got a pet sitter) so I haven’t noticed their disappearance until recently. I can’t remix the substrate because some crabs are molting. Even if I could remix it, it would just dry up again. I’m not sure what to do because misting isn’t doing anything. It’s strange because the tank humidity is perfectly fine, but the sand feels like the desert. How can I help my substrate retain moisture while my crabs are molting? And how can I ensure that it stays that way?

There is no such thing as to much sand! You have the perfect minimum amount

[Serendipity]

I think I meant I had too much sand compared to eco earth, not depth lol! But thank you!

[C: ClareCrabOwner :)]

Oh, sorry!

Your welcome