Is 90.4° ok for PPs?

[CrabbyMommy2017]

Good Morning,

I was recently able to upgrade to an ultratherm that covers the entire back of my 55 gallon (11x47 inch). Since then the temperature has remained constant at about 90.4°. Before, I was using a combination of smaller substrate heaters on one end (only covering less than an 8th of the tank), as well as an infrared 75 watt bulb for heating on the opposite end.

Since installing the ultratherm, I have removed the smaller substrate heaters as well as the infrared bulb. Removing the infrared heat bulb has really helped maintain the humidity levels. The crabs seem to be doing okay. But I'm wondering if 90° plus is too hot for them? Humidity is now ranging from about 75-80%, (in the morning, when i havent misted for about 12 hours), up to 85-90%, (which occurs shortly after misting the tank in the morning).

Before adding the ultratherm, and removing the other heat sources, the temperature ranged from about 80° to about 86°, and the humidity was ranging from 69%, (at lowest, before misting), to about 85%, (right after misting).

I have calibrated my gauges (a digital thermometer/hygrometer in one, from amazon). Since becoming a member of this board I've realized how important it is to calibrate your gauges often. So I have set a date on my calendar every month to make sure and do that. I've also been calibrating a little more often, since making changes to the environment.

I've read that PPs can handle a wider range of heat and humidity, so I'm not terribly worried; especially since the crabs seem to be just as active as they were before.

Im mainly just double checking to see if anyone here thinks that these higher temperatures would be detrimental, or if there are any tweaks or techniques that anyone might be able to share with me.

Thanks,
CrabbyMommy2017

[HeyItsEggs]

No, that is too hot. Temps should never go into the 90s


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[GotButterflies]

I would not recommend going over 86. You should remove all heat lamps, and purchase a thermostat for your ultratherm. Although pp do reside in Florida, and we have temperatures that climb higher than that, high temperatures can cause them to abandon their shells.


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[CrabbyMommy2017]

Okay, so here's what I just did. First I checked out the prices of thermostats online. I thought I would get lucky and they would be around 10 bucks. Nope! Lol. There is no extra money in the budget to go towards the hermit crabs right now. My husband's already upset with me for spending so much money on them in the past month. Even if there were funds available right now, we don't have another plug available.

The temperature was reaching 90.4 degrees with only the ultratherm and no other heat source. When we mounted the ultratherm on the back of the tank the night before last, my husband and I also put a piece of wall board insulation on the back of it. I was going to do the styrofoam and aluminum foil insulating trick, but my husband just so happened to have an extra piece of insulation from a recent project.

So the first thing I did just now was to remove the tape on the bottom side, and on the left and right side, which was holding the insulation on to the back of the tank. i monitored the temperature for about 30 minutes. It only dropped about 1 degrees.

Then I took plastic cups and stuck them in between the the insulation and the ultratherm, (which is taped directly to the back glass on the outside of the tank). Trying to just basically leave the tape on the insulation board along the top. By placing the cups on the countertop behind the tank, in between the tank itself and the board, i created a gap for air flow. I monitored this and the temperature still did not fall enough.

Then I removed the piece of tape on the top of the insulation board, basically leaving the board just sitting on the counter top behind the tank. It's been about 30 minutes now and the temperature in the tank has fallen to 86.1 degrees.

I'm going to carefully monitor it over the next few hours and see what happens. I think my problem was that it was too insulated.

So I guess this is the story of the plan that worked too well! LOL

I will update this thread tomorrow morning when I get it all straightened out.

Thanks for your replies.

[GotButterflies]

Lol! Funny! So, a few things...I only use insulation during winter months. Then it gets rolled up & tucked away in the closet.

The thermostat that I use is around $20. You plug your heat sources into it, therefore freeing up a plug for it. When temperature reaches the limit, heat sources shut off.


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[aussieJJDude]

If it works fine without the mat and stays around 80F you could give brief hot periods around noon to stimulate the natural climate....

But sounds like you have things sorted anyway.
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[CrabbyMommy2017]

@GotButterflies

I'm going to take away the piece of insulation board and hide it away for the winter time, so that it doesn't get used for something else. When reading all of the different articles and threads about insulating the substrate heater, I didn't really take into account that this might not be something that you do year round. Thank you for clarifying that. LOL.

We are living in a really old house that has had several additions built onto it. I think this house actually started out as a one bedroom, one bath house, (now its 3/2). It's over 70 years old. Our mud room (where the crab tank is), as well as the laundry room beside, it are add ons. These two rooms actually do not have their own HVAC vent, so there's no heating or air getting into them, except for leaving the doors open from the rooms adjoining them.

When we first got the crabs in February it was still kind of cool outside and my husband kept telling me that the mud room was the worst place to put the crab tank (with no heating or cooling in that room and it being right beside the windows). But the windows that are right beside the crab tank go out onto a covered porch so I wasn't that worried.

The temperature inside the tank this morning is 82.1 degrees. I had left the piece of insulation board just sitting on the counter top, behind the crab tank, not actually attached, last night for a few hours. The temperature fell to around 87 to 88 degrees, but never all the way down to 85. So I removed the piece of insulation board altogether. After that, the temperature finally dropped. Whew! Lol.

@aussieJJDude

Trying to simulate a hotter climate during noon time sounds like a great idea. I homeschool my children, although they are only two and three years old right now. What you're describing sounds like a really great activity for a science experiment that we might do. I might have to come up with a worksheet specifically for that so that the children can work through the scientific method and record their observations about the crabs behavior being different with different environmental external stimuli. But right now we are still learning to read and have not yet started actually writing yet.

I think what you said is a great idea. One of my initial thoughts when obtaining the hermit crabs was for scientific observation for our homeschool lessons. I will have to file this away in my memory for when the children are old enough.

[GotButterflies]

we are here to help one another


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