HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys. I'm finally back in the world of hermies. Got a new 10gal tank set up and three Teeny PP's. My humidity is perfect and all three crabs have buried themselves. However the tank isn't hot enough. It's been at 65°F for about 12hrs now and i can't figure out how to bring it up. I have a heating pad on the side of the tank and I'm fairly positive two of the crabs are in front of it.

How cold is your house? Aside from rare cases involving evaporation cooling, the tank will never be colder than the room it's sitting in. If you have your house warmer than 65 there may be something wrong with your thermometer.

I agree with Wode. Your thermometer definitely has something wrong with it if your house is above 65.

Thanks for the feed back guys. I was saying the same thing- the house is upper 60s, low to mid 70s I was thinking it might be a few degrees below the house temp because it's on a tile table. We're moving it tonight.

If you get some indirect sun into the tank, that can help heat it up too, but be careful of direct sunlight - don't want to cook them. But yeah, definitely I'd fix the thermometer. A lot of folks on here (myself included) like this one (https://www.walmart.com/ip/AcuRite-Digi ... r/16888914). It's pretty accurate (though you should always calibrate it), and holds up great, especially for an $8.00 item. You'd place the entire unit inside the crabitat at the level of the sub. I put mine on my repti-hammock (about 4" above the sub) to try and minimize getting sand in it, and I check the substrate level periodically.

Good luck!

In the meantime, you can warm up towels or blankets in the dryer (without dryer sheets) to drape around and over the tank to get the temp up. (Recommend temp 80 degrees). PPs can survive in colder temps for short periods of time, but it isn't thriving. You could also insulate the tank. Not sure what kind of UTH you have. If you have UTH from www.reptilebasics.com or www.beanfarm.com those types can be insulated. Zoomeds, all living things UTHs cannot be insulated over the top. You have to insulate around them. You insulate them by either by purchasing Reflectix insulation or by using aluminum foil (shiny side facing inside of the tank), then using foam board or styrofoam on top of that. You can insulate all three sides of the tank. (Or all four if you really wanted). Of course double check the temperature before doing all of this