HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I currently have my crabitat 99% completed. I found this nice 20 gallon tank on FB marketplace but it came with a mesh lid. I haven't looked for a glass lid that fit the dimensions so at the moment I use the mesh lid (to prevent my crabs from crawling out) and I folded this thin blanket that I stack on top of the mesh lid. Thus far, I mist my crabs twice a day (one in morning and evening) and then I keep the makeshift lid on. The humidity will sit around 80% until a few hours after where it will drop towards a 68-72% range. Should I be super concerned about the lid/humidity scenario? But my primary concern is with misting my environment, I do have some wood structures for the crabs to burrow under/climb onto, and I'm very worried about mold. Does anyone have any advice?

With the high heat and humidity in our tanks, mold is almost unavoidable. It is not harmful for the crabs, so you can just remove it when you see it on the surface (usually this is from bits of food that have been dragged around), or remove items that have mold on them to scrub it off (like with wood or textile items).
Yes, you should be concerned about the humidity being that low, and about misting so much that you might cause a flood. The blanket that you put on top of the lid isn't holding in the humidity. You can us plastic wrap (like Saran Wrap) over the top of the screen to hold in humidity. I used plastic wrap over my first two tanks (so probably the first 4 or 5 years I had my crabs). I will often put a folded up blanket on top if I need to hold in more heat.

curlysister wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 16, 2023 7:01 pm

With the high heat and humidity in our tanks, mold is almost unavoidable. It is not harmful for the crabs, so you can just remove it when you see it on the surface (usually this is from bits of food that have been dragged around), or remove items that have mold on them to scrub it off (like with wood or textile items).
Yes, you should be concerned about the humidity being that low, and about misting so much that you might cause a flood. The blanket that you put on top of the lid isn't holding in the humidity. You can us plastic wrap (like Saran Wrap) over the top of the screen to hold in humidity. I used plastic wrap over my first two tanks (so probably the first 4 or 5 years I had my crabs). I will often put a folded up blanket on top if I need to hold in more heat.

Ok, thank you very much! Sorry I responded so late because two of my little hermit crabs molted and one changed shell. But I really appreciate your help. Tomorrow I'll be getting a glass lid so this problem shouldn't be a problem for much longer.

crabdad13 wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 16, 2023 9:54 pm

Ok, thank you very much! Sorry I responded so late because two of my little hermit crabs molted and one changed shell. But I really appreciate your help. Tomorrow I'll be getting a glass lid so this problem shouldn't be a problem for much longer.

Oh yeah, a glass lid will solve the problem too!