HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi all - I introduced myself over in the New Crabs area but a brief intro: I adopted a purple pincher over the weekend and am working on getting his crabitat set up.

Right now he's in a 10 gal tank. I have one heat mat stuck to the side and I got a hygrometer. The humidity has been holding at 82% but it's only 70 degrees in his tank which I know is way too cold. He's in the warmest room in my house but I clearly need to do more. The heat mat doesn't seem to be helping much at all.

Should I order another heat mat? A heat lamp? I know the heat lamp can't stay on 24/7 though. Should I position a space heater close to his tank while I figure out what to do?

He buried himself yesterday and hasn't come back up. I hope he's ok and just de-stressing but since he's cold I'm worried he won't be able to hang in there for a few more days while I get all this figured out!

Let me know what you think please!!

I would get another heat mat. Heat lamps are known to zap humidity.

A good heat mat that covers the back of the tank will provide enough heat. Two brands that can be insulated further for a heat boost if needed are Ultratherm and Flukers.

A heat lamp can be left on 24 hours a day if you can do so safely, but they are harder to use because of the humidity issues. They also cost more in the long run because of replacement bulbs.

70 isn't that bad. We recommend 72 as the coolest, though people note more activity around 80.

I use a UTH on the bottom of one end of the tank and a combination of heat bulbs on the other end.

UTH's should never be mounted on the bottom (ie- underneath) a hermit crab tank. They are not meant to heat through the amount of sub we have, and are a fire hazard if used that way.

Well, you know my stance on this so we’ll agree to disagree I suppose.

While you're stance may differ, I would refrain from suggesting others to follow your methods as its a big fire risk if things go wrong, not to mention, the (deep) sand acts like an insulator, and will do nothing the heat the air, so may still cause heating issues for crabbers that try. ^_^

I will refrain from arguing with you because warm substrate often creates the molting area of choice. I will suggest what provides the best life of the crabs without causing problems in my experience. Caution should be exercised with electrical heat no matter what, which is exactly what I do. I've been doing this for a long time without any deaths from my own actions.

Yes, however, the risks associated with your methods are far greater than the methods crabbers may use on their setups. Under tank heating should only be done in applications with thin substrate layers - aka, not the crabitat. Ask the manufacturer, and they will also warn of the dangers associated with deep beddings and UTH mounted underneath and will recommend *against* doing so.

And while you may not ran into issues yet, there's no way to say you may so in the future. While the forum is a place for crabbers to share their tips and experiences, the staff will step up and comment if procedures one 'use' could be damaging or cause issues to themselves or their pets. The method you *choose* to use, can be an example of such. As a result, its best to recommend against others from doing so! ^_^

This is my friend's UTH. It had a towel accidentally thrown over it for a couple of hours. Now imagine if it had been placed under 8 inches of wet heavy sand and left there until it got everything too hot.

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