Humidity of tank when I first get crabs

jasonmom · Post by **jasonmom** » Sun Jun 28, 2015 9:13 am

I think I read that some people recommend that you should start out a tank in lower humidity when I buy new hermies. They said it was because they are usually in wire cages at the pet stores & I should go up gradually. Been awhile since I read this & I could be completely mistaken.What should I have my temp & humidity set at when I get my new little friends?Don't know if it matters, but I plan to get the smallest little guys (usually PPs you get at Myrtle Beach) I can find that seam active.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:11 am

@jasonmom, yes ideally you should start your tank off as close to the store tank temp and humidity conditions as possible and then work them up by a value of two percent/degrees every other day over the course of the four weeks of iso time and by the end of the third week you should have the temp and humidity at 75 for each this process will slowly acclimate them to the accurate temp and humidity levels.If you don't acclimate them slowly putting right into a tank with perfect conditions will only stress them out more because this will force them to quickly adapt to the new conditions and often leads to premature death in severely neglected hermitcrabs.If you don't know what the store conditions are then start your tank off at seventy for the temp and fifty percent for the humidity and then concentrate on getting the humidity up slowly to seventy five percent over the course of three weeks the temperature should also be slightly adjust over the course of two weeks to seventy five degrees this will still slowly acclimate the crabs.

paperheartz · Post by **paperheartz** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:48 am

Personally I did not follow this method when I got my hermit crabs. In fact I didn't iso them either. They went straight from the store to the main tank and recommend conditions. The buried immediately came up ate and buried again soon after to molt. I have had no deaths and they've all molted at least once since. But because I had success with that doesn't make it full proof. But as JMT said I recommend researching all the info out there, to know what all the different methods of care are, and what the facts about each method are, and choosing your own methods of crab care.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 6:45 am

There is an accepted set of basic guidelines that we all here at LHC.com use as the basis for our individual crab care techniques or methods and following the ISO standard practice is one of the basis tenants that we all try to follow as a rule because it does help to lower the odds of newly purchased hermitcrabs succumbing to PPS or Post Purchase Stress.While no one thing will guarantee a 100% success rate with keeping hermitcrabs alive we have found that following the basic crab care guidelines established in 2002 when Sasha and Roland first created this community does help to increase the survival rate to seventy percent and while this does not sound like much of a benefit it really is.When I first got into crabbing 23yrs ago there were no hermitcrab communities like this anywhere in fact the internet as we know it really didn't exist as a public option it was still largely under government use so I like so many early crabbers back then was on my own and my success rates were very very low and only improved when I found this place and started following the basic guidelines put in place by Sasha and Roland.I do agree with JMT that everybody has differing needs based on their specific conditions which is why we like to say that the basic care guidelines are there to build off of so that we can tailor our own crab care methods to best suit our needs though the fundamental tenants shouldn't be altered much if at all otherwise there is no use in having them in the first place.I do however disagree with one thing and that is pulling information from multiple sources as not all sources have the most accurate information and often times will spout the old myths and falsehoods that the corporate giants have been pushing on the masses since hermitcrabs became a commercially sold pet.This is why we only recommend getting your information from us or from our sister site the Hermitcrab Association because we have been around as communities long enough to know the right info from the wrong and unfortunately I have not found another website or community that actually teaches the right information though this is my personal experience.Do as much research as possible and compare the information against reputable sources and see how much your seeing elsewhere is wrong and you'll be just as surprised as I was.I know that we have based our information on actual science and anecdotal reports from crab owners over the last twelve years or so and 99% of our information has been validated time and again.I also know that we have changed our beliefs a few times on what is and isn't safe and what is and isn't right about the most commonly accepted crab care information so please don't hesitate to start friendly debates on care topics you feel strongly about because that is how we grow as a community.

jasonmom · Post by **jasonmom** » Mon Jun 29, 2015 11:07 pm

I just seam to remember toward the end of my last try with hermies people saying that you should get them into optimal humidity immediately because any time out of proper humidity was causing damage to pseudo gills (probably not right term).Now I got to figure out how to do this - slowly raising temp & humidity . I had plans to have the tank in optimal conditions before I got crabs.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:11 am

@jasonmom, hmm I don't think I've ever seen any threads where that was advocated and I've been here a while.lol What we know is that hermitcrabs need a certain humidity level for their fixed gills to function properly if the air is too dry the gills can't effectively or efficiently draw in oxygen because the tissue is too dry to allow for the gas exchange to happen.I can see what your saying but its easier on the crab to deal with the lower humidity just coming into your home tank and then having the humidity raised slowly this causes less stress and less damage to the gill tissue than if the crab were just tossed into the perfect conditions right off, in this case the crab has to quickly adapt to the new conditions which doesn't allow any time for the physiological change in the gills to happen it forces the change to happen nearly spontaneously which actually does damage to the tissue.If you have adequate water dishes in the enclosure with the crab/s they will pump water through their gills to hydrate them in low humidity conditions but there is the catch most pet stores don't offer proper water containers on top of having low humidity levels and its the combination of the two that causes the irreparable damage.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 9:08 am

The best way to vary your humidity that I can think of is to have your substrate moist (sandcastle consist so it will hold together) and start with your lid or in my case the plastic wrap on my lid opened where there is more air flow coming in and out then towards the end of a week close it off a little more which will hold in more humidity. Next week do same close off a little more and do this until its between 75 -80%. For mine (mesh lid with plastic wrap) to keep that humidity I have to have about 99% of my tank lid covered. However yours may be different depending on your local conditions.This should also adjust your heat in the tank as well. Practice with how much of an air opening you need before getting your crabs.PS if having to lift the lid to the tank for air flow make sure crabs can't escape.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 12:31 pm

I agree with jenok using the correct substrate in conjunction with a cover will best allow you to control or meter the humidity levels in the enclosure by adjusting the amount of fresh airflow coming in from outside the enclosure through the lid you can slowly adjust the humidity levels up.

jasonmom · Post by **jasonmom** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:10 pm

Thanks for the plastic wrap idea on how to get humidity / heat slowly up. I have read that before (probably multiple times) but guess I forgot.Think I will try to get tank to optimal conditions - just to make sure I can do it with supplies on hand. Then before I go to beach I'll turn off the heat and open up the lid to let humidity down.Thanks again Crabber85, jenok, and PaperHeartz.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Wed Jul 01, 2015 5:46 am

Sounds like a good plan to me.