HCA: Hermit Crab Association

In Canada we are having a massive heat wave it’s the world record for how hot it’s been in this early into summer. We have never experienced this heat so unexpectedly. I just checked the hermit crabs thermostat and saw that it was 97, normally it’s in mid 70s I’m worried, my house is very hot and only some rooms have AC that’s where we have been hanging out. I immediately unplugged both heat mats and let it air out, but couple hours of gone by and it’s still about the same I’m not sure what to do. I know in the tropics it probably gets pretty hot but I’m not sure the range and they haven’t been in this temperature in quite a long time. What can I do to cool down there take the humidity is not as high as they would need so I can’t just keep the lid open.


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The sand naturally is pretty cool, and bathing does help cool them down. IMO, I wouldn't worry as long as they have deep substrate and water available.

Thanks for the reassurance, I was looking online and saw that over 85 is way to hot for them can cause a painful death but I now that may be not be totally true so what I have done is but in ice cubes in both of there pools along with a few drops of prime. So far it’s 93 but I will have to wait and see if that helps, it’s going to be like this for a while. One of my crabs is up currently the rest are digging around it molting I hope that they weren’t to hot. Any other suggestions on how to cool them down?


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Is a room with a/c nearby? If so, you can run a fan in that room and point it in the direction of the crab area. It will pull some of the colder air in that direction.
Something that may also work is using a bowl of ice and a fan. If you have it, get a nice size bowl of ice. Place it in front of a non oscillating fan. Put the fan and the ice as close to the crabby tank as possible. Turn the fan on and let it blow over the ice. It should help temporarily cool down the small area. If you can keep making/buying ice, you can do this until the heatwave passes.
Good luck!

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Do you have a fogger? You could use that, and put cool water in it, that might cool them down.

Fill a small container a little over halfway, freeze it, stick it in a corner. That would give them a cooler area they can move to if they want. Those little containers with lids you would use for lunch boxes would work. Or maybe a water bottle. Something with a lid so it doesn't spill out when they knock it over.

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Thank you for all the suggestions. Where they are there are no cool rooms near by. I think a may try to use a fan going in there but the humidity comes down in around ten minutes so I could turn on the fan for a couple minutes then close the lid until it gets to hot.


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If that is to much work I think I will try Wlfwo’s suggestion next. I don’t have a humidifier or fogger that would fit anywhere near the opening of there tank. It is supposed to be slowly coming down so hopefully it’s not like this for that much longer.


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Was the only thing I could think of that wouldn't lower the humidity too much, that is dangerous as well. My crabitat generally stays at 84-86.

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I have been airing it out for the past hour and just closed the lid. It’s says temp is 88 and humidity is 84. Not to bad but I do still want it a bit cooler so I think I am going to try the fan method now.


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Glad the temp came down a bit for ya.

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Cooler temps outweigh humidity right now. They wear shells and carry water with them to create their own microclimate, so being in low humidity isn't as impactful as many believe. Spray the tank good and use a fan to evaporate off the water, evaporative cooling can make an enormous difference! It's how aquarium keepers chill their tanks in summer.

For most crabs up to 95 is okay so long as they get a cool off period overnight. If it's staying consistently hot 24 hours a day then 85 is about max. Overheating in a crab is falling or hanging out of shell, bubbling, mass digging to try and find a cooler area.