HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I went to my grandma's for...I guess it was about 50 hours and we just got back today. And of course I see that the tank went down to 60 degrees and the humidity was at 93 I think. It turns out that the thermostat stopped working. I rushed around and found a new one and everything is fine now. I'm just worried about the crabs getting sick. I don't know how long it was that low. The humidifier was out of water too, but I don't know if that helps to find out when it happened.

They were slow when I first found them, but they're mostly okay now. James, my E, seems a little weak, but he's walking around and I think I saw him eat some dirt or something. Goliath is really stressed out and is hiding in a corner. He hasn't done that since I first got him. The others don't seem slow or anything. None of them were underground. Well, except Georgette because she's molting. I also haven't seen Pinkie, a tiny crab.

I gave them peanut butter and honey, but I haven't seen them eat it yet.

I was just wondering how long I need to be worried about them. Could they still get sick? Do you guys think Georgette's better off underground? I've had her the longest and she's the best. It's particularly stressful because I'm leaving to go to Florida for 5 days on Tuesday. my parents are going to fill the humidifier and stuff though. And my fish, who'd been sick for a while, also died when I got back and that seems like a bad omen.

It’s not a super emergency. The temps can drop down into the 60’s and even in some cases lower in their natural habitat (PP’s). I’m not saying don’t address the situation but they should be fine if you can warm the tank up a little. They may seem to slow down or just sit around a lot, and they may even bury themselves, which is fine.




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I wouldn’t leave a humidifier on if you’re at 93. If your tank has a solid lid and you can insulate it, you shouldn’t have an issue maintaining a safe temp and humidity while gone. I’d be more worried about too much moisture building up from the humidifier because if you aren’t keeping an eye on it you can get soggy sub or even a flood, since moisture that isn’t evaporating off the top layer of sand sort can sink down to bottom.


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Because of the way relative humidity works, as the temperature cools off the humidity levels goes higher. As you warm the temperature of the air, the humidity will lower. So yes, you may end up needing the humidifier!

It's already up to regular temperatures and the humidity went back down to around 80. I'm just really concerned about them getting sick from it getting that low at all. But you think they'll be okay? The humidity was stable around 80 when I left, but I think it started getting really humid after the thermostat broke. How would I know if it's flooding? There's about a foot of sand and some of the heat comes from a ceramic bulb and a red bulb that's for baby chicks or something. I would think that would help dry it out.

You can check how much water is in your substrate by taking a pencil or chopstick and pushing it into the substrate along the glass. When you pull it back out, you should be able to see how much moisture is in the tunnel and if there is any standing water.

They seem to still be okay. All of them (except Georgette, who's still underground) are acting pretty normal, so I assume they aren't going to get sick.