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Big move. Tonight's the night! Edit: Added Pics

Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 4:21 pm
by BrisHermies
My big tank has finally stabilized, all readings within acceptable parameters for a full 24 hours! I'm so excited! I have five hermits up and about, ready to be put in their new home.

Any last minute tips to make it easier on them? I plan on putting some of their favorite stuff from the old tank in with them: their hides and climbing toys. I hope the familiar smell will make it less stressful.

This new habitat smells different even to me; it's less "earthy." I guess once they poop all over the place and drag leaves and bark everywhere it'll be more homey. :lol:

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Sun May 08, 2016 5:56 am
by BrisHermies
All see to be going well. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep. :lol: I've spent quite a bit of time watching them explore, and its amazing how much their individual personalities show when something like this happens.

Eugene was really timid for three or four hours, and wouldn't come out of the familiar hide. Poor little guy, he's been through so much. My big girl, Seren, wasn't too thrilled either, but a bit of pork chop changed her mind pretty quick. :lol: Grumpy (who isn't really so grumpy any more) was cruising around as soon as his shell touched sand. He even went for a swim. Tiny and Kermit are both slowly combing over the new habitat, checking out the nooks and crannies. Its been a while since I've seen everybody's antennae wiggling so hard. :D

Most of their time has been spent eating and playing the "can I fit through here?" game. I've seen a couple of isopods get decimated by quick claws. I guess now I know what happened to the ones I dropped into the other tank. :shock: Gruesome. I feed dried crickets, but I guess they like fresh meat. Yuck!

Nobody seems to be exploring the new vertical space yet. That's where I put all of the shells, so I hope they find it soon. They're not used to this taller tank, but with any luck they'll find the ramps and keep climbing. :crabbigsmile:

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 11:45 pm
by hprmom
BrisHermies wrote:... Its been a while since I've seen everybody's antennae wiggling so hard. :D

Most of their time has been spent eating and playing the "can I fit through here?" game.
These two things made me smile. :) How exciting! What did you move them from and what did you move them into? I'm hoping to have my new tank ready for a move by next week.

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Sun May 22, 2016 10:41 am
by BrisHermies
They went from a 30 gallon into my new 80 gallon. Everybody still seems pretty pleased with the new place. :crabbigsmile:

They're finally getting the hang of the second level. They bustle all over the tank all night long, then dogpile together in the morning. It's a blast to watch! :hlol:

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Wed May 25, 2016 1:41 am
by hprmom
BrisHermies wrote:They went from a 30 gallon into my new 80 gallon. Everybody still seems pretty pleased with the new place. :crabbigsmile:

They're finally getting the hang of the second level. They bustle all over the tank all night long, then dogpile together in the morning. It's a blast to watch! :hlol:
Wow, that's a BIG move, all right! How fun for your little guys.

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:30 am
by KayedeeLove<3
Can u add pics?

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Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 6:09 pm
by BrisHermies
KayedeeLove<3 wrote:Can u add pics?

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Sure, I just didn't think anyone would be interested. I'm still working out the kinks as far as arrangement goes. My big girl likes to follow my little crabs everywhere, and she demolishes the tank in the process. Fair warning, the pics are kinda crummy. The glass is really old and thick, and it makes getting pictures from the outside difficult.

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Its kinda hard to see past the greenery, but the big plant is hanging from a big shower caddy moss pit with a curtain of fake ferns to provide a dark corner at all times of the day.

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This is a view of the short side of the tank, behind the fern curtain. There's a big conch shell propped up on the right, and a deer skull on the left to hide under.

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The middle of the tank. Food dishes are in front, protein dish and calcium dish are the big white lions paw clam shells, and the one to the right is the main food dish, an abalone shell. The black bowl is plastic, and serves as the in-the-open ground moss pit. It has little shells in it because I acquired a baby hermit about the size of a nickel. The three pillar looking things are river rocks strung on fishing line. They like to climb them. In the back is a fake stump for hiding in, which they never use. On top of that is a big real oak branch about as long as my arm. Its hidden behind a vine curtain, one of their favorite sitting spots. Its bent at almost a 90 degree angle, and arches over the stump perfectly.

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And a random one of the abalone dish, because its pretty and I'm kinda proud of it. (That's Havel, my new adoptee.) You can see the hidden ground moss pit behind him.

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And the other end. The shell shop is a giant hanging basket with burlap lining the bottom, to prevent little crabby legs from falling through. It hangs over the water dishes and has two bamboo ramps. (But mostly they climb the vines. My hermits like to do it the hard way.) The net is polyester, my hemp ones kept rotting into pieces.

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A better shot of the shell shop from above. A fox skull sits on the ramps. You can see my big girl Seren in the fake plant on the floor. I scatter millet, chia, or flax in there for them to mow down, which she's doing at the moment.

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A better shot of the water pools. Seren is still munching millet sprouts on the left.

Its not as impressive as a lot of the habitats I see on here, but its mine. :D It took me a year to put together, and ended up costing me under $100, but it was definitely worth the wait. I slowly change their environment to keep them entertained, so objects and toys come and go. The only thing I don't like so far is the sand. It started out at nine inches and has settled to seven and a half. I hope to add in the sub from my 30 gallon when the last of my molters come up, so that should fix the problem.

The habitat isn't great for pictures. A lot of the stuff is under plant cover to give lots of hiding places. I designed it with the crabs in mind, but that kinda left something to be desired when it comes to watching them. There's actually five shower caddy moss pits and two ground moss pits in there, but you can't see most of them because they're hidden. My 30 gallon was really open and kinda bare. When I was new I worried about crowding them or taking up their digging space. After watching them for six months and them choosing to dig in the most awkward spots, I decided that they preferred the more crowded spaces. Image

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night! Edit: Added Pics

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 7:39 pm
by KayedeeLove<3
Can't see pics :'(

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Re: Big move. Tonight's the night! Edit: Added Pics

Posted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 9:04 pm
by BrisHermies
Grrr. PhotoBucket stinks. Did that fix it?

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night!

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 1:53 am
by hprmom
BrisHermies wrote: Sure, I just didn't think anyone would be interested.
Ahhhh, pics are a MUST! :wink:

The river rock pillars are BRILLIANT, I'm going to file that idea away for a future change-up! I love the abalone dish, and is that a coffee mug?

Do your hermies pick at the oak branch? I have a small branch in my 10g and the crabs stripped it clean within two weeks! It's still in there since it's a good shape for climbing, but every now and then I toss them fresh sticks (we have four HUGE oaks in our yard), they love to pick at and eat the bark.
BrisHermies wrote: Its not as impressive as a lot of the habitats I see on here, but its mine. :D It took me a year to put together, and ended up costing me under $100, but it was definitely worth the wait.
I think it's plenty impressive, and very creative. Like, I have a whole pack of bamboo garden stakes and it never occurred to me to lash them together into ramps (another idea to file away). And cost effective, wow!
BrisHermies wrote: When I was new I worried about crowding them or taking up their digging space.
That's me now. :lol:

Thanks for posting the pics and thanks for the inspiration!

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night! Edit: Added Pics

Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 2:22 am
by BrisHermies
Now I'm blushing. Yes, they eat the bark off the branch. Between that and the other natural bits in the tank, they don't visit the food bowl much except for fruit or seeds.

And yep, that's a large coffee mug. It was the only thing I could find that was big enough for Seren to get her shell in when I first got her. All my other hermits were less than half her size. When I moved them, she was so attached to it that I wanted to put it in as a comfort object. She still sleeps in it a lot, but it kinda looks silly in the tank. Its stoneware, and the inside is plastic. Seemed safe enough, so I let her keep it. One of my others naps in the handle.

The river rocks already had holes in them. I used to sit on the bank and fill my pockets with rocks with holes. Originally I planned on making a chandelier or some such thing out of them, but it would have ended up being way too heavy to hang overhead. They really seem to like them. So do the isopods, come to think of it.

I change things around here and there. My early pics looked kinda bare compared to these.

Re: Big move. Tonight's the night! Edit: Added Pics

Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 5:02 pm
by hprmom
BrisHermies wrote: And yep, that's a large coffee mug. It was the only thing I could find that was big enough for Seren to get her shell in when I first got her. All my other hermits were less than half her size. When I moved them, she was so attached to it that I wanted to put it in as a comfort object. She still sleeps in it a lot, but it kinda looks silly in the tank. Its stoneware, and the inside is plastic. Seemed safe enough, so I let her keep it. One of my others naps in the handle.
That must be so cute! I think the mug adds a bit of whimsy. Makes me want to put a vintage teacup or something in the tank.