Crabs making sand too wet

[Crabnado]

We have 7 crabs in a huge tank and while I thought it was perfecto, the crabs think otherwise. They've soaked their sand. We replaced it with stuff that was the proper amount of moisture and they've gone and soaked it again. They take the water out of the fresh water changing bowl in their shells and rain it down all over the place. They've been very thorough with the process: There's not a section of the 60 gallon that's not soaked. I'm concerned that they're going to end up drowning someone or the bacteria's going to flourish. I don't know why they keep soaking the sand when we keep the humidity at 80%. I sure wish I could tell them to keep the water in the bowl!

[Da_Stos208]

Does the sand hold it's shape well? If you squeeze some in your hand, does it form into a ball shape, like sand you could build a sandcastle out of? If it falls apart, it very well could be too dry, despite the proper humidity.

If it is indeed too dry, I would be pretty interested weather or not the crabs are purposefully moistening it to their likeing. Maybe they're smarter than we think

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G928A using Tapatalk

[Just Jay]

i really cant imagine crabs being able to carry enough water to flood a 60 gallon long though. i would almost be more likely to believe you are having a slow leak from a water fixture.

[DaJimmer]

What are all the water vessels/devices in tank?

[GotButterflies]

We have 7 crabs in a huge tank and while I thought it was perfecto, the crabs think otherwise. They've soaked their sand. We replaced it with stuff that was the proper amount of moisture and they've gone and soaked it again. They take the water out of the fresh water changing bowl in their shells and rain it down all over the place. They've been very thorough with the process: There's not a section of the 60 gallon that's not soaked. I'm concerned that they're going to end up drowning someone or the bacteria's going to flourish. I don't know why they keep soaking the sand when we keep the humidity at 80%. I sure wish I could tell them to keep the water in the bowl!

Well, I've never heard of crabs doing this...but it sounds like your substrate is flooded and this definitely is a cause for concern. Things that are more likely to cause this: Do you spray your tank? Do your water bowls leak? Do you have bubblers that have too much overspray?

Hermits keep very little water in their shells. If the substrate smells, then it will need to be changed. If it doesn't, then you can just add some fresh ecoearth to it to absorb the water - or you could bake it to dry it out.

If you are misting your tank to keep humidity up, you need to figure out another way - this is the most common cause for flooding in a tank. (imo) Glass tops are excellent at helping with humidity - but you cannot use heat lamps with them.

Hope this info helps!