HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello. This summer I am making my own crabitat. It will be roughly 200 gallons. It will. E plywood and glass.ni was wondering if I could out chicken wire on the back for them to climb, thanks.

Sounds amazing. Please document the construction.

I don't really see a problem with your materials the chicken wire should be just fine as long as it isn't coated with anything like chrome which is seriously toxic to hermitcrabs.The wood needs to be pressure treated not chemically treated to ***** mold growth and insect activity like termites and so forth,I would love to see the finished product once you get done with it.Just make sure to keep the enclosure as humidity retaining as possible as it wont do much good to have such a large enclosure if you can't keep the humidity level in the right range.

quote:Originally posted by Crabber85:I don't really see a problem with your materials the chicken wire should be just fine as long as it isn't coated with anything like chrome which is seriously toxic to hermitcrabs.The wood needs to be pressure treated not chemically treated to ***** mold growth and insect activity like termites and so forth,I would love to see the finished product once you get done with it.Just make sure to keep the enclosure as humidity retaining as possible as it wont do much good to have such a large enclosure if you can't keep the humidity level in the right range. Thanks for the help. Would a water proofing paint for aquariums work? I will have 2 waterfalls and I have a humidifier.

I don't know about the aquarium paint though one would assume that since its for aquarium use that its safe for fish once properly dried and cured and would therefor be safe for the crabs again once properly dried and cured.

I would be cautious of any kind of paint just because if it starts chipping they are going to try and eat it.

I would be wary of wire that has a galvanized coating which contains Zinc and other heavy metals. It helps to prevent rust, and is not allowed in the human food industry, so it probably isn’t good for the hermits too. A rusty wire would be less harmful, imho.