Humidity

[Natpup]

Hi so I am worried that I haven't been able to keep the humidity up in my cage. My crabs have not be wondering around as much and have been staying in there coconut home. Yet when I take them out they seem happy. I spray there cage with water as often in the day as possible, which is about 3 to 4 times. I was thinking about trying a humidifier, will this work? Will it help? Anything else I can try? Thanks!

[jenok]

Please answer the questions in the link below you can copy and paste if you want. There is probably something simple in your setup that needs to be changed. Like do you have a lid if so describe it. You may need to block off some of the air flow. Your answers will help us help you fix your problems. Please describe your tank, lid, lighting/heat source, and setup in detail. Answer these questionsThank you!

[crazycrabber]

you should still answer the questions, but what works really well with me is putting a few sopping wet towels on top, and i have a digital temp and humidity guage that is very reliable. with enough air to breath, but also a lot of towels on the top, the humidity will stay perfect for about two days. and a digital guage is very reliable. if you have a screen instead of glass top, then humidity will be let out easily.

[Natpup]

I have had my crabs for a little over a month and they have only been acting this way for a few days. I have a 10 gallon tank with a wire lid. I use a heating mat under a little less then half the tank. I use dirt like substances and it is probably 1 inch to 2 inch deep. It is pretty dry (should it be wetter?). I use freshwater bottles from the pet store. Freshwater is also from the pet store. I feed them some type of food, don't know. I mist and handle my crabs. I don't have a humidity or temperature reading, should I get one? Thanks a lot! I will try the sopping wet towels Thanks for all your help!

[Geranium]

Below is what I have posted other places as well as here. It includes information about proper tank set up and heat and humidity. I did not go into all the reasons why, just the best most direct plan for beginners. If you want specific whys you can ask and most often you will receive a clear, if technical answer.Hermit Crab basicsTank: Glass Aquarium Tank 10 gallon minimum, they will quickly out grow it so I would suggest larger if you are willing/able, look for free ones on freecycle or craigslist.Substrate: Fill it 6-8 inches with playsand with some EcoEarth mixed in, more sand than EE twice the depth your largest crab is tall, at least 6 inches deep. Hydrate it with dechlorinated water, many advise dechlorinated aquarium salt water to inhibit mold growth. Playsand not calcium sand, the petstores are wrong, it is not good for them as a substrate, non colored/white sand is fine for a food. The substrate should be hydrated so it is sand castle consistency so they can easily create molting pockets/caves and tunnels. Some successfully use all playsand and all EE.Humidity and Heat: Gauges are important. The heat and humidity should be no lower than 75 each, preferably closer to 80, for exotics 85. For heat, UTHs (under tank heater) are a good place to start. They need to be side or back mounted, under is dangerous for many reasons due to the depth of the sub. You will need the equivalent of 3 times the heat of your tank, for instance a 10 gallon tank would need one or more UTH which combined are rated for 30 gallons. Lights can be used in addition to the UTHs in the larger tanks 20/30 gallon and up. On smaller tanks they usually sap the humidity. To keep the humidity up you want your sub at sand castle consistency and you want a good lid. Some use glass panes or plexi over a mesh lid or just the glass, some use tank lids, some use Saran Wrap or Glad Press & Seal. Either way make sure there are no escape routes, these guys can climb almost anything and are incredibly strong at times and in unexpected ways. If the lid and sub alone don't keep your humidity in a good range you can try adding a damp moss pit, larger pools near the heaters, pools with bubblers, humidifiers, etc.Food: They can eat most real food, shrimp, chicken bone marrow, bananas, popcorn, eggs, dry maple leaves and organic honey are some of the favorites of mine. Variety is important. Most of the commercial food in petstores is bad for them. There are several folks on this page who sell good stuff and there are websites such as The Hermit Crab Patch and The Hermit Crab Addiction Store which have good reputations as well. They will need all sorts of variety including fiber sources and calcium sources. Mine enjoy a mix of pulverized cuttlebone, egg shells, crushed oyster shells and calcium sand. To that I usually add worm castings which they are obsessed with!Water: They will need both salt and fresh water available to them at all times. Many love to soak in the bowls so they should be deep enough. You can add river stones or needlepoint canvas to make sure they can easily get out. The waters need to be dechlorinated with a product that breaks down the chlorine but also the heavy metal bonds to make the water safe for them. The salt should be aquarium salt, I use Instant Ocean because that is what I can find. Decoration/Entertainment: They need places to hide like huts or leafy plastic plants or even tipped plastic or glass bowls. They will also need stuff to climb on, sticks of safe woods, maple & oak are my favorites because they are in my yard. Make sure you soak them in declor salt water and bake to kill off bugs, etc. Or cholla branches are wonderful. I found some really nice big ones on sale in the bird section. There is a post with many photos of people's tanks which can give some really creative ideas.Shells: Spare shells in ever so slightly larger sizes and similar shapes to what they are in. Shapes being the opening rather than the outside. At least 3 shells per crab. No painted shells. The carved ones are really neat though.

[Natpup]

Thank you a lot!

[Crabber85]

The tap water conditioner has to say somewhere on the bottle that it neutralizes Chlorine, Chloramine and heavy metals if it doesn't do all three then it wont make the water safe for the crabs.