HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Okay, I noticed last night that the sand (playsand) in the warm/dry area of the crabitat was a bit warm...most of the hermies have been avoiding the sand area...we just added a 10-20 gallon UTH on that side of the tank.

So...what's the recommended thickness of the substrate above an UTH? It looks to be about 2 inches deep right now...the sand is warm but not necessarily the rest of the tank...does it need to be deeper?

Thanks for the help!

Hmmm, Mine is closer to 3 inches but it doesn't feel warm to the touch. Does the actual heater feel hot? It might be malfunctioning. What size heater is it for what size tank? Does that make sense? lol

I should post before I've had my tea.

I personally am a big believer in the more substrate the better! I have about 4 inches in my tank. I feel it give the hermies lots of room to dig down and molt without others disturbing it.

the UTH was not designed to be used with deep substrate, it was designed for reptiles who do not need a lot of substrate to dig in. Thus, it needs a maximum of 2" to be truly effective and warm the substrate. if you want nice deep substrate, id recommend usung overhead lighting and heating.

I just installed one and the directions say no more than 1.5 inches. I spray the area over the heater, it keeps it from getting too hot and adds to the tank humidity better.

TS

I have a thin layer of gravel just above the UTH because I'm paranoid about burning the crabs. I have about two inches over the gravel on the UTH side and it gradually rises to about 4 inches on the other side of the 29 gallon reptile tanks. Of course the crabbies mess it up so I just "re-distribute" the sand about once a week.

Ugh...will I ever get this right! lol

Okay, right now we have a 20g long tank. Half of the tank is FB, approx. 3" deep but it is a lil higher here, lil lower there, depending on their digging and moving of the FB. The other half of the tank is playsand, about 2" deep. It just feels warm to the touch...not hot...warm...I'm considering adding more playsand to make it a lil deeper.

So far Bear (Rug) seems to like the sand and so does Swirl (PP). Petey (PP) now hangs out in the FB, Lime (PP) is digging in the FB, and Sweetie (PP) just does whatever she wants.

Here's the wierd part...

Swirl used to ALWAYS dig and hide in the FB...now hangs in the sand.
Petey used to hang out in the sand...now lays in the FB.
Lime used to hang out in the sand...now digs in the FB.

Sweetie and Bear are too new to have any established patterns.

Also, none of them are climbing any more! We used to call Petey and Sweetie the Adventure Crabs because they climbed everything...but not now...UGH

Oh yeah, forgot...the UTH was made for a 10-20 gallon tank. I have propped the tank up about 1/4" to allow air circulation underneath.