HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I’ve been spending a couple days getting my crabitat set up and I’m having a hard time getting it warmer than 72 degrees is that because the thermometer is not in the part of the crabitat that has the heaters? I have one attached to side and a light hanging over it. Should I turn light off when I go to bed or does it matter? Would it be ok if I sent picture of my crabitat so someone could tell me if all looks good or what I should change ? I’m very excited to be apart of this I’m already very attached to Steve, Sebastian, Shelby and Adam lol yes all my crab babies . Thank you I’d love any advice I could get. Kimberly aka KimzKrabs

Yes! Please attach a picture! Nice to meet you! I'm not exactly sure about your light, though. I would assume you should turn it off for at least part of the day. What type of heaters do you have?

Hye Kim, welcome to the forum! If you want to attach photos, the easiest way is downloading the Tapatalk app. Otherwise, you can link photos by uploading it elsewhere and hyperlinking to it.

From the sounds of things, it seems like you're using a light for heat? Post a pic, and we can certainly help some more.

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Hi and thank you both for your replies I wasn’t sure how to reply on here not sure how to do it individually but anyhow thank you! I actually use the lamp and I have an attached heat pad on the side. The bulb is only a 60w maybe I should increase that? I also noticed after my first post that the humidity kept going down so I would spray and it would come up then again and again so I just now covered half the top with plastic wrap maybe that will work with both the heat and the humidity. I am going to download the app that Scarletfire mentioned right now so I can add a pic of my crabitat. Hopefully ile get that right out and thanks again for both of your replies!

Here is a pic of my crabitat I can take better ones if I need to


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Welcome! A heat lamp will zap humidity. You can seal the entire lid. They will get oxygen when you feed them. Of course make sure the heat lamp doesn't melt the plastic wrap. Maybe it's the picture, but the substrate needs to be a minimum of 6 inches or 3x the height of your largest crab, whichever is deeper. The guage you have is notoriously inacurate. Digital is better. Accurite at walmart, lowes. The heater should cover the entire back of the tank, from top of sub to lid. Ditch the sponges. They harbour bacteria. You can add a second level to give them more climbing space.

Thank you so much !!! That was some great information I’ve been online for a couple of days looking for some straight up answers. I really do appreciate it! I will get to making some changes and send you pic of them when I’m done.

Hello and welcome to the HCA. You made the first good choice for crab care by coming here! hermiesguardian gave some great tips. I always recommend new members to look over and read our care guides. Just about everything is there in great detail from setting up a crabitat, molting issues, shells, foods, and even breeding. There are a ton and not everyone will be needed.

viewforum.php?f=120

Just know too that you need 6in of substrate or three times the size of your largest crab, whichever is bigger.

Just know too that you need 6in of substrate or three times the size of your largest crab, whichever is bigger (also do you have wood chips in there? If so what type of wood are they?).

Hey Kimberly Welcone to HCA. Others above me have listed great advice. I also sugguest you look around thr forum. There are several helpful topics from favorites foods to basic care that can be helpful.

Thanks again for all the great advice! Last night I turned the lamp off and covered the entire lid with plastic wrap and the humidity went up to 80 and has remained there. The temp has stayed at 72 and I suppose it will until I get a new heat pad to cover the back glass. I also added some cutterbone in there. They have been pretty active and one thing I did notice that when I add more substrate I will put water dishes down in it more. I saw 2 of the crabs try to get in one of the bowls and they fell backward so that’s adding more substrate and sticking those dishes in further are first on my agenda today. I’m interested to see what happens to humidity when I turn lamp back on. If it decreases then I will replace it with a non heating bulb so I can view them better. Thanks again everyone!!


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