Is my crabitat good enough?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 8:47 pm

Hello,

I am going to be filling out the template listed in one of the forums, i want someone here to tell me if everything is ok, and if not, what i should do it fix the problem.

1. Substrate used?
Eco Earth

2. Humidity % level in crabitat?
72 - 80%

3. Temperature of substrate in crabitat?
I dont know, what do i use to check the temp of the substrate?

4. Temperature of crabitat?
72-80 F

5. Location of gauges?
On Right hand side of the tank, near the middle.

6. What is your heat source?
Nothing at the moment, What do you recomend me using?

7. Types of water available?
Fresh & Salt (I use instant ocean)

8. Dechlorinator used?
For bathing, yes, for drinking, i use spring water.

9. What do you feed?
FMR Hermit Crab food, and Treats.

10. How long have you had the crab in question?
4 days.

11. Do you know the species?
PP

12. Do you bath them, if so how often and with what?
Once a week.

13. What type of housing are they in? Tank? Plastic box?
10 Gallon Glass Tank.

14. What size is your tank?
10 Gallon

15. How many crabs are in the tank? What size are they?
2 Medium Size.

16. How deep is the substrate?
3 Inchs

17. If you take your hermies out daily to exercise, do you mist their gill area first?
No, But for now on i will.

18. Has there been any cleaners, paints, perfumes, air fresheners, candles, or smoking near the crabitat?
I have a glade pluging about 6 feet away from their tank, will that hurt them?

19. How often do you clean/sterilize and how?
None yet, how often should i clean it? And what should i use / do to clean their tank?

20. Any unusual odors?
No

21. Do you use sponges? Are they rinsed daily with dechlor water? Are they exchanged every 2 days for a sterile one?
I use sponges in their water dish, is it required to exchange them every 2 days? and how do i sterilize them?

22. Do you feed fresh food? When do you remove it?
Every 2 days.

23. Are your hands clean before handling?
No, but i will remember to wash them first.

24. Has there been anything new added to your crabitat recently?
No

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Please help me with the questions listed above, and tell me if i am doing anything wrong.

Thanks.

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:13 pm

it sounds like your crabitat has all the things to keep your hermies healthy!

you sterilize sponges by completely drying them, then sticking them in the microwave on high for 45 seconds or so. this should be done every other day.

commercial food can have bad preservative in it and is often expensive. your PPs would love fresh food, they can eat fruits, veggies, unsalted nuts, unseasoned meat, organic peanut butter, organic honey, and much more!

your crabs will be happier if they have some things to climb on (like netting from a craft store) and hideys (like cocohuts and half logs or you can make your own from a butter dish)

welcome to the HCA! have you named your hermies yet? we'd love to see pictures!

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:32 pm

Thanks for the information.

I havent named them yet, but i do have pictures of one of my hermies.

Here are 2 pictures of my most active hermie, the other one is affraid of me, and always hides in his shell on me.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:41 pm

Here are some pictures of my Crabitat:

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:06 pm

I was wondering, How do you monitor the temp of the Substrate? Do you put a thermometer in the substrate or something?

Let me know.

Thanks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:24 pm

Ok, yeah as annopia said if you are using sponges you need to sterilize them every couple of days and rinse them everyday. Many of us that have been around awhile have chosen to forgo the sponge because it is a hassle.. and a great place for breeding bacteria... bad. hehe.. Instead we usually just either put something in the bottom of the waterdish to prevent drowning like pebbles, shells.. whatever to help them get out.. the water dish should be at least half their body deep so they can clean out their own shells..

which leads me to bathing.. bathing is also something that many here are on the fence about some will tell you they swear by bathing at least once a week.. some will tell you they never bathe.. I'm of the second group, and mine do fine. The only time I bathe is when I get a new crab then only the new addition by itself and then it's only a flip & dip in lukewarm dechlorinated/salt water to get any ickies off.

The best substrate I've found as of yet has been half eco earth, and half regular playsand that you can pick up at almost any hardware store... a 50lb bag usually cost around $5 and can be baked to kill bacteria and reused!

I use eco on one side.. sand on the other with a mix in the middle. When you expand your eco be sure you use saltwater to deter mold growth. The damp eco will do a much better job of raising humidity than a sponge in the water dish ever could, and expanded with salt water it also aids the crabs in molting. Make sure when you add your substrate whatever it is you choose, that it is at least in one area 1 1/2 times the height of your largest crab so that they can properly bury themselves to destress or molt.

The most recommended heat source and a good one for a ten gallon tank would be a simple UTH (under the tank heater) it's sold in petstores.

Misting the gill area of your crab is not necessary ..and it stresses them.. I would just advise not to have them out of their enclosure too long.

As for your glade plugin, I'd move it to another room just to err on the side of safety.

If you choose to feed fresh food..and I recommend it.. be sure to change it out everyday to reduce the posibility of mold.

I hope this helped.. happy crabbin'!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:36 pm

Thanks for the info.

Now when you say to have the substrate at leats 1 1/2 the size of my biggest crab, is that including the shell? or is that their body without the shell?

starmaiden · Post by **starmaiden** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:11 am

Hi and Welcome to the HCA!

The depth of the substrate is including the shell. So if the crab you're holding in the pic is your biggest crab, your substrate should be about 4 inches deep because crabs like to dig tunnels for fun too! I always give me crabs lots of substrate for digging, and you can slope it so its shallower at one end. You'll need to do this when you get an Under Tank Heater for winter anyway.

Oh, and to measure the temp of the substrate, I just use one of my guages and set it on the surface of the sand. I'm sure there's a probe of some sort that gets a more accurate reading, but the guage on sand method seems to work ok for me.

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 7:33 am

cute crab!

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:24 am

Ok, Thanks for all the help everyone!

I Love This Place!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 8:26 am

One last question... What temp should the substrate be? i dont see anyplace that says what it should be.

starmaiden · Post by **starmaiden** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:27 am

It should be the same temp range as your crabitat: 74-84F. The reason I check the temp of the substrate is that it can sometimes get too hot over the UTH even though the tat is the right temp. When I first set up my tat, it was humming along at a nice 78F, but then I put the guage over the UTH and it jumped to 105!

The solution was to add more substrate over the UTH.

And I second annopia's comment: Your crab's a cutie pie! Do you know the sex yet? Female crabs have genopores on their last leg segment, male crabs don't. Genopores look like little dots. You can go to the image gallery to see pictures of crab's genopores to help with sexing.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 9:58 am

Thanks for the info starmaiden, and i will see if i can check the sex on him/her later today.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 11:34 am

Ok hon, here's what you'll be looking for if it's a girl.. they'll be there, if it's a boy.. they won't.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 10, 2006 4:59 pm

Hi All,

I took a look at him today, and i didnt see any Genopore's, so i think its a male.

Although, he wouldent hold very still, so i had a hard time looking, but im pritty sure its a boy