Rescued crabbies from outside, never owned one before!

[Careyenz]

You've gotten a lot of really good advice. I just have two things to say. 1. Thank goodness you found these guys, and 2. thank goodness you were able to find the HCA get the advice you need to give them the life they deserve. Most people would have just walked by. Congratulations on your new little family!

[kayepaye]

Humidity went down to 40% this morning, and the sand is already drying out.
I REALLY need my ultratherm to come in, this heat lamp is killing me!!

I might just go to the pet store and purchase a little under tank heater(and mount to the side) or something in the meantime.

This is so stressfullll!!!! I'm so happy to have the wonderful HCA to help me with all of this, I would be so lost without it!

[Knibitz]

a temporary solution could also be a heated blanket or heat pad if you have one of those. Just don't leave it on if you leave the house and check it regularly to make sure it's not overheating.

In the past, I've also frequently exchanged their pool water with warm water (multiple times a day) and heavily misted the tank with warm water as well out of desperation. Though that's not something I would really recommend for a solution longer than a day or two. The additional handling and invasion into their space (in my opinion, but I try to bother my crabs as little as I can) could be a stresser to them, and too frequent of misting could lead to over saturation and flooding if done for a long period of time.

[Equinox]

Hi and welcome to this great forum!!

I would just like to add that humidity is really difficult to maintain and is a problem for a lot of us! A little trick that I used to do is mist the wood branches, silk plants, coco fiber wall and anything else that might retain water a little longer than just misting the air. Just be careful not to mist the windows, especially if they receive heat from the UTH or heat lamp.

Another thing that helps a lot is addind bubblers to your pools. By just buying a cheap aquarium air pump, tubing, a splitter and air stones you can add bubblers. When the bubbles pop they release tiny dropplets in the air.

If you let me know what size shells your crabs need, I might be able to send you some. Compare their openings with dimes, nickels, quarters and loonies and I'll check what I have. I have quite a few that are now too small for my guys and since I live in Canada as well, shipping shouldn't cost me too much.

I'm also in the process of making a batch of dehydrated food. It will contain apples, asian pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, spinach, shrimp, shrimp tails and chicken. I'll add some grain, seeds, spirulina also to the batch so it should make for a pretty complete meal. I also have a lot of bee pollen so I could send you some. Another good place to check is the dollarstore for freeze dried shrimp, liver, chicken just pop these in a grinder of finely chop and serve, great protein!!

A really good place for us Canadians to buy food is the Hermit Crab Patch. I buy most of my shells there as well and they are really nice and friendly. But if you look around the site you will find other good places...

Anyways, welcome to your new addiction

You can PM me if you would like me to send you some shells and food.

[kayepaye]

Hi and welcome to this great forum!!

I would just like to add that humidity is really difficult to maintain and is a problem for a lot of us! A little trick that I used to do is mist the wood branches, silk plants, coco fiber wall and anything else that might retain water a little longer than just misting the air. Just be careful not to mist the windows, especially if they receive heat from the UTH or heat lamp.

Another thing that helps a lot is addind bubblers to your pools. By just buying a cheap aquarium air pump, tubing, a splitter and air stones you can add bubblers. When the bubbles pop they release tiny dropplets in the air.

If you let me know what size shells your crabs need, I might be able to send you some. Compare their openings with dimes, nickels, quarters and loonies and I'll check what I have. I have quite a few that are now too small for my guys and since I live in Canada as well, shipping shouldn't cost me too much.

I'm also in the process of making a batch of dehydrated food. It will contain apples, asian pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, carrots, spinach, shrimp, shrimp tails and chicken. I'll add some grain, seeds, spirulina also to the batch so it should make for a pretty complete meal. I also have a lot of bee pollen so I could send you some. Another good place to check is the dollarstore for freeze dried shrimp, liver, chicken just pop these in a grinder of finely chop and serve, great protein!!

A really good place for us Canadians to buy food is the Hermit Crab Patch. I buy most of my shells there as well and they are really nice and friendly. But if you look around the site you will find other good places...

Anyways, welcome to your new addiction

You can PM me if you would like me to send you some shells and food.

Wow, thank you!!

Definitely sending you a PM! I will have to check out the hermit crab patch!

[soilentgringa]

I recently got two pieces of 1/16 inch thick lexan (polycarbonate plastic) on Amazon for less than 8 bucks. I got thin sheets so I could score and break the edges down to size. I used a paring knife to bore the holes for aquarium tubing for the bubble pools. I was having humidity issues with my screen lid and cardboard wrapped with Saran wrap under the lid but when I added the lexan and bubbler, the humidity jumped up to over 80 percent quickly. I just slide one sheet back and forth to create an opening to allow moisture to escape if it gets too high. I got all the tubing, pump, stones, and connectors for under $20 on Amazon as well.

[kayepaye]

I bought a humidifier second hand. It's a black plastic jar with a blue spongy thing inside, and 2 tubes sticking out of the lid...

I have NO idea how this thing is supposed to work!
I have an air pump and aquarium tubing.

It is almost identical to this one http://www.amazon.ca/Imagine-Gold-SIM90 ... B000634980

[Equinox]

I don't know much about this humidifyer... but if you start a new post in crabitat conditions a lot of people will be able to jump in and give you advice.

Getting that top closed, if you haven't done it yet should help a lot and of course misting at least twice a day.

I bought a room humidifyer and stuck a tube in it and ran it up to the tank. At first it was on a timer until I had more money and bought a HygroTherm™ Humidity & Temperature Controller

http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDeta ... SearchID=5

It's a little expensive but so well worth it...

And it look absolutely awesome when the fog is released in the tank, the crabs love it too and are really active

Hope this helps

[gotta-crab-em-all]

Its a little time consuming, but you can fill water bottles with hot water and put them in the tank to help keep it warm without drying out the air as much. They need to be replaced every couple hours though, so it wont work well for somebody who has to go to work, school, etc

There's a thread here about homemade humidifiers. If you cant figure out the one you have, you can try making this one with things you probably already have laying around: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=26260

[kayepaye]

SO GUESS WHAT I DID LAST NIGHT!?
My Ultratherm came in, so I went to bring my 40G upstairs to set it up, and I DROPPED IT DOWN THE STAIRS. I got the the very top and slipped backwards, bye bye tank

Needless to say, the 40G is now $100 WASTED as it is smashed and unusable.

I cried, like a huge baby.

I'm going to buy a new one when I get paid. But for now, I'm sticking with the 10G. I did get an ultratherm for it at well, so thankfully I can get rid of this god awful heat lamp!

[megmaholm]

SO GUESS WHAT I DID LAST NIGHT!?
My Ultratherm came in, so I went to bring my 40G upstairs to set it up, and I DROPPED IT DOWN THE STAIRS. I got the the very top and slipped backwards, bye bye tank

Needless to say, the 40G is now $100 WASTED as it is smashed and unusable.

I cried, like a huge baby.

I'm going to buy a new one when I get paid. But for now, I'm sticking with the 10G. I did get an ultratherm for it at well, so thankfully I can get rid of this god awful heat lamp!

Oh my gosh!! I would cry too. I'm really sorry that happened!

[Ryry]

Oh my goodness that is so sad!

[kayepaye]

Not the end of the world, I get paid on the 18th so I'm going to get another 40G. For now they seem content in the 10G.

Sighhh, c'est la vie!

[wodesorel]

OMG I would have CRIED! Not to mention the mess - my cats knocked a 10 gallon down the stairs once and I was finding shards of glass for weeks, mostly with my feet. You have a wonderful outlook on things!

Check out Petco - they should be running their $1 a gallon sale soon. That should help a bit with the replacement costs.

[kayepaye]

OMG I would have CRIED! Not to mention the mess - my cats knocked a 10 gallon down the stairs once and I was finding shards of glass for weeks, mostly with my feet. You have a wonderful outlook on things!

Check out Petco - they should be running their $1 a gallon sale soon. That should help a bit with the replacement costs.

I don't have a Petco nearby, I have a Petsmart, a Pet Supplies Plus and a Pet Valu.
PSP usually has a $1/gallon sale twice a year, and actually I think their sale might be coming up too!

Thankfully there wasn't too much glass to be picked up. It shattered but stayed together mostly, so I VERY carefully took it outside, vacuumed and swiffered and mopped. I was more worried about my dog stepping in glass than myself.
Thankfully I'm not easily phased by much haha, it's just an aquarium, it can be replaced. At least I didn't fall down and break my neck, or hit my dog who was standing at the bottom of the stairs and moved JUST in time.