HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I just picked up the thermometer hydrometer set at Petco here and I read the calibration things and I'm gonna go calibrate it right now! I already stuck the thermometer to my glass because it has to be correct, yes? And if not how do I figure that out? I'm getting all the more excited for this business... EEEEE!!

Also the people there must not have known too much about hermies because they did have them (in painted shells... eww) BUT ONE WAS AN E AND NOT A PP and they said on the tag all were PP's. I almost snatched it right out of there but save for the crabitat that isn't even close to being set up yet..... gr. It was active and friendly looking and I hope that a person that hasn't done the research for them doesn't make off with it and kill it! UGH!

I also picked up a metal lamp from the hardware store, and a UVB bulb and I've figured out where I'm going to plug that sucker in. I must have dropped a chunk of my wallet today but it was needed.... it was definitely needed.

Calibrating a hygrometer: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92540

Sounds like you got analog? Be careful, those are not reliable.

It's not that they aren't reliable, they just tend to get out of whack a bit quicker, and have to be calibrated a bit more. (I'd say at least once a month.) As far as a thermometer goes, you either just have to and compare 2, or I compare it to the ambient temp in my house. As long as it's the same by a few degrees, I call it good.

WhimsyMimsyMo wrote:I just picked up the thermometer hydrometer set at Petco here and I read the calibration things and I'm gonna go calibrate it right now! I already stuck the thermometer to my glass because it has to be correct, yes? And if not how do I figure that out? I'm getting all the more excited for this business... EEEEE!!

Also the people there must not have known too much about hermies because they did have them (in painted shells... eww) BUT ONE WAS AN E AND NOT A PP and they said on the tag all were PP's. I almost snatched it right out of there but save for the crabitat that isn't even close to being set up yet..... gr. It was active and friendly looking and I hope that a person that hasn't done the research for them doesn't make off with it and kill it! UGH!

I also picked up a metal lamp from the hardware store, and a UVB bulb and I've figured out where I'm going to plug that sucker in. I must have dropped a chunk of my wallet today but it was needed.... it was definitely needed.

It's super common for pet stores to not know about different species. Chains just order the volume they want for the most part, and if an E is mixed in, they aren't going to know. Unless you have a place that specifically caters to exotic animal aficionados, rarer species will crop up really randomly. There are straws ($15.00) at a place near me, but it's a place with a really good reptile & fish selection that occasionally carries rarer fish species and expensive reptile morphs. They have enough clients who really want speciality animals, so their staff have to be knowledgeable (and for reptiles & fish, they are really quite good). That said, in talking to one or two of them about hermits, I wasn't impressed with their understanding of crabbie needs. So high levels of hermit knowledge is still really random even in fairly savvy pet businesses. (At lease they don't sell hampster cages and pellets for crabs. Ugh.)