HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Yes Gentlemen and ladies, but mostly ladies *tips hat* Rowr


I am going to buy a 260 gallon Reptarium and a 100 gallon Reptarium, but out the mesh screen stuff. get custom cut class and...well...merge the 2 and stuff. YAY!

I will start building/buying later in the month....So Stay tuned

Oh heavens No, I already have a good plan. Obviously the amount of Gallons could change but...it shall be done!


[Joker] I'm a man of my word [/Joker]

I have a 260 rept for my sugar gliders but I don't understand what you're trying to do. The rept cover is just a big zippered screen envelope that slides over a pvc frame. The pvc frame supplied by the company is flimsy and made of brittle, poor-quality pvc. I built my own rept frame out of pvc from the hardware store because of that issue and so have many of my friends.

sugarselections wrote:I have a 260 rept for my sugar gliders but I don't understand what you're trying to do. The rept cover is just a big zippered screen envelope that slides over a pvc frame. The pvc frame supplied by the company is flimsy and made of brittle, poor-quality pvc. I built my own rept frame out of pvc from the hardware store because of that issue and so have many of my friends.

Silly Suger person, I cut out the Screen and stuff and get some custom cut galss and put it where the screens were. Then you got a aquarium!

Plus the glass makes it stronger. No?

If you cut out the screen you'd have nothing left. The reptarium is just a fabric sleeve with a zippered door. It has no structure and it's completely separate from the pvc frame. The pvc frame (even if you buy higher quality pvc poles to build your frame) is nowhere near strong enough to support glass panels or a large amount of heavy substrate.

Have you seen an actual reptarium in person? Most Petsmart stores carry them in various sizes so you may want to check it out.

Wait....It is? well....doop!

Guess I could buy some pipes or something for some kind of structure :shrugs:

Dog Lips

You may not be able to use the reptile habitat for that purpose,but your idea is still possible. If you have $150 to spend,You can buy plexiglass for your project and not need a frame.

Check into it at a hardware store,that may be the way to go. Plexiglass is easy to work with,need a good sharp utility knife to cut it. Use the utility knife to make a cut,then snap it off with a quick downward pull.

Here's a link to Professional Plastics where I get my material from. http://www.professionalplastics.com/PLE ... T-EXTRUDED

At the bottom of the page is a price calculator,size calculator to figure out what and how much you need. .250 is 1/4 inch thick and is plenty thick enough for your project.

There are cheaper plexiglass suppliers,this is just the ones I use and trust. I can't get plexiglass at a local hardware store,so I have to get it online. You might get lucky and have it avasilable at a local store,maybe cheaper. Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

BEHOLD! I am smart!


Without the netting, there Is a structure, that you could easily glue glass onto to make a aquarium type thingy.

oh yeah.

(that pic is not mine, I just found it on the internet...)

sugarselections wrote:I have a 260 rept for my sugar gliders but I don't understand what you're trying to do. The rept cover is just a big zippered screen envelope that slides over a pvc frame. The pvc frame supplied by the company is flimsy and made of brittle, poor-quality pvc. I built my own rept frame out of pvc from the hardware store because of that issue and so have many of my friends.

And then when you glue Plexi glass for walls, It becomes Stronger

This is a great idea! If you use plexiglass, you may want to have them cut it for you there...I got some plexiglass and tried to use the score and snap technique with one of those plastic cutting knifes, and it ended up being to thick. I had to use a table saw

Heh, right now I'm just worried about the Pexi-Glass warping because of the heat....

Dog Lips wrote:Heh, right now I'm just worried about the Pexi-Glass warping because of the heat....

If you use a UTH there wont be any warping. If you use a heat lamp,then you will have better luck mounting the heat source inside the tat. OR you could try heating the pools,like I do with submersible aquarium heaters. Provides heat to substrate and heated humidity to the rest of the tat,but mine is only 55 gallons,not sure how it would work on that large of one.

Little update, No construction yet....but I am getting a job later in the fall so funds could be there. There is a company in Calgary called riverfront aquariums.....and they can do custom sized aquariums for you. I could go with the reptarium thing but I think professional hands are in order.

And now I have room for the thing. I am moving into the basement where I will sleep and there is plenty of room for a massive tank. I think there are 2 or 3 sockets or plug ins or whatever there called and besides, I have extension cords.


The expanding foam thing is a go, thoughts says it is fine and it does harm. woohoo! Plus I can conceal all the wires inside the foam in some sort of box inside the structure, no crabs will get there!

Right now I KNOW there will be a salt water pool, fresh water pool. maybe a fresh water water fall. Definitely a moss pit. maybe a large foam cliff with shells at the top and some caves throughout the tank with shells inside. Food bowls right at the front so there easy to find.....many grapevines and fake plants and stuff like that.

Now here's a idea, at the front there could be a door, I open it up, put things in, done and done. I'd have a lid that could be bolted down or something like that after construction. The reason for a door? No need to put things down or the heat lamp/s down and stuff......Just one less hassle


any thoughts on my ideas?

soldieroffortune1974 wrote:OR you could try heating the pools,like I do with submersible aquarium heaters. Provides heat to substrate and heated humidity to the rest of the tat,but mine is only 55 gallons,not sure how it would work on that large of one.

I second that. I have 2 25W heaters in my crabitat with two 5 gallon pools at either end. The heat radiates about 6-8 inches into the substrate and it really helps the air temp and humidity as well. You should be able to cut back on the UTH and lamp usage by keeping some heated pools.

MrCheeks wrote:I think I just went into a sugar coma there sugarselections

Sorry about your coma Even seeing them every day, I still think sugar gliders are adorable beyond words. In fact, they get cuter once you get to know them and realize they have a lot of personality packed into that tiny body.