HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I need help!!!

My humidity is NOT where it is should be..im looking to get a mist humidifier but not sure what one to use...I saw one at petco yesterday but it was super expensive....I have soil mixed with my sand but it is not helping..I have live moss but that is not helping either...Temp is running around 75-79, but the humidity is going between 54-68..i know i need to get it up but not sure how without the mister i do not have yet..I also just added 2 more medium size crabs to the tank..SpongeBob changed his shell last night..I saw him out and about this morning when i got up..hes now back under his hut......


Thank you

What kind of lid do you have for your tank? And what kind of hygro/thermo do you have?

If you have a mesh lid, completely cover it in Saran wrap. This will help hold in moisture. I use glass lids for both of my tanks. The humidity is always in the 90s for both.

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I have a mesh lid that I duct taped glass to. Keeps the humidity at 85% or better

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I do have a mesh lid...I put towels over it...I will try the saran wrap? Do I just do the outside of the lid (on top) not around the whole thing? will put on top only until I get a reply..Should I also spray my sand with a mist spray? I have a spray bottle..if I do, do I need to remove everything like the huts so they are not getting wet and then start smelling like mold?

You can wrap the entire lid in saran wrap. There will be air exchange when you do tank maintenance every day or two. If you only have towels on top (no wrap), the towels will absorb the moisture instead of keeping it in the tank.
Is your sand moistened to sand castle consistency? If so, you don't need to spray it. Over spraying the sand may cause flooding. If you need to temporarily boost the humidity, you can spray the tank sides (no need to remove decor). Once you wrap your mesh lid, I think you'll notice a big difference in your humidity %.

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Crabby...I hope so..I feel like a guilty mom...It is not sand castle consistency..I will spray the sides for tonight and in the morning i take out stuff and mist the sand and mix it a little to help with the moisture...'

Crabby thank you..

Moto,

The saran helped with the humidity, now it is so high that it isnt reading on my hydrometer "HI" is what it is showing..After I sprayed the glass I ended up dabbing the side of the tank with a towel to take some of the mist away..think i might have to poke some holes in my saran wrap in the front to help a little and see if it brings it down some..I noticed my heat has also gone up which is good..It is reading 77 now...

Thank you all that replied for help call in need..

Not related to hermit crabs, but can I ask you what Tapatalk is? Ive been trying to sign in using my iphone, but i seem to be having issues with that..cause i am not always on here and i get notifications on my phone but no way to log in. I did put a message in to the admins hoping they can help with this issue..

thank you,
dolphinlover

Tapatalk is an app, I will assume you can get it from the apple store.

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HURRAY!!! Thank you, thank you...

After putting saran wrap on the top of my mesh lid my humidity is resting at 89 right now...my heat is at 76.8..I have my under the tank heater on the side of my tank, but is just one enough? I saw SpongeBob out and walking around this morning..Everyone else is still sleeping I think...Im not sure where Jengles is in the tank...The I have Patrick and Squidward...not sure why I am going with the characters of a cartoon..Just fits I guess...

Thank you all for the comments and the help. I greatly appreciate it...

dolphinlover

Yay! Glad your humidity is good now. 76°F is a good temp. The average range to shoot for is 75-85°F. If you want to boost your temp even more, you can add another uth, but that's up to you.
And I love your crab names! Not sure how old you are, but I'm 35 and LOVE SpongeBob. I have a 40 gal freshwater aquarium that has a bunch of SB decor lol! I have snails in there too, and of course they are all named Gary!

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Hello Crabby,

LOL...Im actually 51...I have never cared for the cartoon, but my boyfriend picked SpongeBob for one of my smaller ones. Im not good with names so it stuck, then decided to look the characters up and picked Patrick and Squidward..Jengles is kinda funny actually.. I was laying in bed and listening to the tv.. A commercial came on and i swear i heard it say Jingles, so i am like yup my other smaller one is going to be Jengles, then I listened a bit closer and it happened to be they were saying Shingles not jingles...I just hope my babies are okay..I havent seen any movement in a couple of days. spongebob moved from his spot, have no clue where Jengles is, Squidward is under the log, and Patrick in the one corner..the 2 larger ones arent hidden in the sand they are on top, but my smaller ones are buried some where in there..I changed the water yesterday cause there was sand in both dishes..I did read the spring water ingredients and no chlorine in the water...I read every bottle..I have well water (tap), can't use it to drink, but i can use to cook with..Im nervous about using our water because it does have a lot of calcium in it, it has built inchs on the inside of coffee maker so i have switched to distilled for that..

Dolphin

I live in Indiana, I've always referred to our water as liquid rock. I also have a well. Because our water is a bit high on the iron side we run it through a softener. Hasn't bothered the crabs. My crabs have been with me for 3 years, will be 4 at fair time (grandkids won them at the county fair).

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I grew up in the 90's, so I still love my Nickelodeon cartoons LOL.
I def think Jengles is a better name than Shingles haha! What a funny story.
It's totally normal for crabs just to hang out and not move much in the beginning. They are just destressing and getting used to their environment, so try not to worry (easier said than done for sure!).
Bottled water is pretty unregulated, and so are the labels, so we never can be sure of the source or what what was in the containers used to ship it. So if you do used bottled water, be sure to still treat it. Prime is great for removing chlorine, but is good at detoxifying heavy metals too. It's totally fine to use your tap water treated with Prime. I get a calcium build up on my fish tank lid from my water, but it's never bothered the crabbies or my fish.
For appliances, it probably is better to use distilled, that way nothing gunks up the working parts.

dolphinlover wrote:Hello Crabby,

LOL...Im actually 51...I have never cared for the cartoon, but my boyfriend picked SpongeBob for one of my smaller ones. Im not good with names so it stuck, then decided to look the characters up and picked Patrick and Squidward..Jengles is kinda funny actually.. I was laying in bed and listening to the tv.. A commercial came on and i swear i heard it say Jingles, so i am like yup my other smaller one is going to be Jengles, then I listened a bit closer and it happened to be they were saying Shingles not jingles...I just hope my babies are okay..I havent seen any movement in a couple of days. spongebob moved from his spot, have no clue where Jengles is, Squidward is under the log, and Patrick in the one corner..the 2 larger ones arent hidden in the sand they are on top, but my smaller ones are buried some where in there..I changed the water yesterday cause there was sand in both dishes..I did read the spring water ingredients and no chlorine in the water...I read every bottle..I have well water (tap), can't use it to drink, but i can use to cook with..Im nervous about using our water because it does have a lot of calcium in it, it has built inchs on the inside of coffee maker so i have switched to distilled for that..

Dolphin

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CrabbyLover77 wrote:I grew up in the 90's, so I still love my Nickelodeon cartoons LOL.
I def think Jengles is a better name than Shingles haha! What a funny story.
It's totally normal for crabs just to hang out and not move much in the beginning. They are just destressing and getting used to their environment, so try not to worry (easier said than done for sure!).
Bottled water is pretty unregulated, and so are the labels, so we never can be sure of the source or what what was in the containers used to ship it. So if you do used bottled water, be sure to still treat it. Prime is great for removing chlorine, but is good at detoxifying heavy metals too. It's totally fine to use your tap water treated with Prime. I get a calcium build up on my fish tank lid from my water, but it's never bothered the crabbies or my fish.
For appliances, it probably is better to use distilled, that way nothing gunks up the working parts.


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Crabby,

I so nervous when I haven’t seen them move around. Patrick is under the log and has been there for a few days now. I did at least lift the log to make sure he was okay and he is! Jengles and SpongeBob were out and about this morning. I’m really hoping that Patrick and Squid changes shells soon. When I got them from Petco they were in painted shells. And not sure how they did it but Patrick’s shells has a unicorn on it. It sticks up off his shell too. That worries me. I remember reading some where that the painted shells aren’t good or safe for them. I had read you should give them a bath once a week. So when I got my tank I bought AquaSafe from Walmart. It neutralizes chlorine and chloramines. For a 16.9 oz bottle of water how many drops should I use! I also drink purified water I probably won’t use that because it has calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate in it.

Thank you for all your help! It is greatly appreciated. Not sure but will try posting a pic of my tank. I have so much work to do in it. I think they also don’t move around that much because I don’t have much for them to climb on. Everything is setting on top of the sand.


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