HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi guys,
Most likely a beating to death with a stick but with the winter time I need to heat my crabs tank and bought a pretty nice ceramic heat lamp that works really well but the humidity is just way to low!

Current set up is a
20 gallon long
Mesh top
Ceramic heat lamp usually on top face down
And for humidity I have two pools (one fresh, one salt) with sponges and daily misting.

But this is definitely not working well enough for the boys.


Are there any types of humidifiers that are electronic that could be used, also I suppose saran wrapping the top around the heat lamp could help also?

Any other ideas would be great! I know people suggest an under the tank heater but before I invest in another heater I would rather explore other options!

Thanks for the help!

Have you tried a moss pit? That helps some people boost the humidity. definitely cover the screen with saran wrap or foil; it'll help trap the humidity. Just leave a little area open for air flow.

You can always buy a humidifier designed for home use - I use a Crane ultrasonic cool mist one. I run a tube from the top of it to my tank lid and it works great. Cost me about $40 on Amazon, and it was well worth it. I have a 55 gallon tank. The humidifier holds just under a gallon of water and I only have to refill it 1-2 times a week.

Also, I saw you mentioned you have sponges - I would honestly ditch those since they won't help much with humidity and tend to harbor bacteria. They're generally more trouble than they're worth!

If there is a heat lamp near/on the Saran Wrap though, won't the heat lamp melt it?

Sometimes getting a plexi glass lid can help. If there is a glass shop in your area it shouldn't be too expensive and they will cut to size. You can have them cut a hole for the heat lamp and a couple small holes for fresh air. ..any humidity you're generating now is probably going straight out.

I have a ceramic heat emitter that has to stay IN the tank, it's an 80 gallon tall so there wasn't an easier way to do it. Mine has a cage like this http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/ ... lo_use.jpg around it, and I've started looking for some sort of pool mesh to wrap around because crabs climb all over it. They HAVE climbed the the metal cage part, but either I fetch them or they get off. It's tilted down at an angle in the corner. I've never had anyone get hurt, burned or shell cracked from climbing around it, and I avoid spraying that side, I either spray the soil, water up the shells or pour water in the spot right under where the bulb is.

For humidity, I have a mosspit with pillow moss and eco earth, two pools (tupperware dishes) two small water bowls by the food dish, and I soak all of my fake plants and vines with water. I also spray the roof down so that the water drips off slowly. The substrate is 8 inches at the lowest point, a mic of EE and sand for the first inch and the rest is just sand. The soil on that end gets dry quickly, but i check it weekly and pour water where it's dry.

I haven't had any issues with lid cracking, warping or burning with it. The lid is warm where the heater sits under it, but not flexible. I have NO idea what my lid is made of . I'm going to search the Home depo website and see if i can find out what it is, but the rest of the lid is some sort of plywood with the mystery material drilled into it. There's ventilation because the lid doesn't lay flat with the tank, can't find my measuring tape right now but it's a very small gap, it's been tested to be crab proof by my very own spidey crabs!

But I'll try to find what I used for my lid, my dad made it so I don't know. I got up and checked and there's no visible rust on the lamp except for the clamp part which is "sticky".

Foundddd it, it's this stuff. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-24 ... 5yc1vZbrdg It does crack easily, but my crack is because there was an investigating spidey crab on the roof when I was doing maintenance, I failed at carefully laying it on the floor, crab lived though!

But Tl;dr, Get a moss pit, suction cup vines and foliage, and keep the vines drippy and the moss moist. And spray the roof, but don't get it anywhere near the heat source. I blew up a heat bulb that way, most terrifying thing I've ever gone through

Is the acrylic panel easy to drill through? Like butter?
What is pillow moss? Sounds like heaven
Glad spidey crab made it!


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KellyCrabbieLove wrote:http://www.angelfire.com/wi3/cherrywood ... 88_IMG.JPG

Oh, so it IS supposed to go green!
Min's still a dead brown color, thinking about taking it out and soaking it again, not like the two crabs would throw too big of a fit over it.

This is just it before it gets bagged up. I think they would prefer it dried.

A cheaper alternative for a different lid would be to place duct tape over your mesh screen. It really helps my tank!