need advice

bavila1981 · Post by **bavila1981** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:51 am

OK need a lil help I don't have a uth for my crabs I had them in my bedroom with just air temp the other day I brought them in the living room and put them in the DVR that has good heat coming out of it it makes the humidity awesome but I have been worried about them getting too hot I took a digital thermometer and temped the tank at the bottom 92 degrees in the middle 95 on the sides where the heat comes up from the DVR my question is is this too hot is it within range r they smart enough to come up and surface if they get too hot any comments r appreciated

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:58 am

It's way too hot in my opinion. You might get away with it if the room is cool and its making the glass cool, but I think it will fry them.In Arizona, my crabs are active between 77-79 degrees. At 80, they slow down and may stop moving except to eat. That could last weeks if necessary. Any hotter than that, and they are stressed. They just stay docked.Can they find a comfortable spot? There might be a gradient in there somewhere. If there is something for them to climb on, they may get away from the hot sand.I'd say don't go over 80 degrees.

bavila1981 · Post by **bavila1981** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:18 am

Two r up moving today one who usually stays up buried but is alive u can see her chillin thru the glass I have one I need to check on we lost power over night last week with the ice storm not sure if she made it maybe I can find something to put between the box and tank so it still gets heat but not that much but yes they have sticks to climb and seem to b doing well so far thank u

bavila1981 · Post by **bavila1981** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:23 am

Just checked under the tank my last one is alive she molted very happy right now lol

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:21 pm

@bavila, hermitcrabs in the wild can tolerate temps in the nineties because they have the opition of seeking shelter from miles of habitat which they don't have in captivity you combine the high temps with high humidity levels and your exponentially speeding up the process of mold growth in the enclosure and on the crabs gills and once the mold on the gills gets a good foothold it will continue to cover them until the crab suffocates.This is why we suggest that your temps in the enclosure don't go over eighty five, my personal panic temp is anything over eighty six since I have a 121 gallon enclousre I feel comfortable with this as I have three different temp ranges for my crabs to choose from.With smaller enclosures the lack of space combined with higher temps and humidity levels is just asking for problems in my opinion.Since hermitcrabs don't sense heat the same way we do they will just sit in one spot as the temps get higher and they will allow themselves to slowly cook alive.I'm in complete agreement with Keg you need to find a cooler place for your enclosure as ninety degree temps are not beneficial for your crabs unfortunately.